Attack on Chechen Parliament kills 6

6 Persons were killed and 10 injured when suicide bombers targeted the Chechen Parliament in Grozny early on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s attack is the second such large terrorist attack in the republic in recent months and a major setback for the Kremlin, which claims to have brought stability to the troubled republic.

The attack began when militants’ vehicles followed cars taking lawmakers to Parliament in Chechnya’s capital city, in the Muslim- dominated North Caucasus region.

“ Preliminary information suggests that three militants entered the premises of the government complex in Grozny on Tuesday morning. One of them blew himself up just outside the building,” a spokesperson for the investigative committee under the Russian prosecutor general’s office told Interfax news agency.

“ The other two entered the building and barricaded themselves on the ground floor. They blew themselves up during the police operation. Investigators have already confirmed the death of three people, including two police officers and one civilian,” he said.

There is still some confusion as to the exact number of attackers, with estimates ranging from three to six, reports from Grozny said.

As Parliament was being hastily evacuated, the militants reached the fourth floor before being “ eliminated”, the head of the Russian Parliament’s security committee, Vladimir Vasilyev, said in Moscow.

Shouting Islamist slogans, they launched a bomb and gun attack as deputies arrived for work, and two guards and an official were killed. A spokesperson for the Chechen parliament, Zelim Yakhikhanov, said the deputies had feared they would be taken hostage when they heard shooting outside the building.

All the attackers were killed, according to Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s Kremlin- backed leader. The deputies inside the building managed to escape by moving to an upper floor. The attack coincided with the visit of Russian interior minister Rashid Nurgaliyev.

“ We will not allow anyone to come to us with a sword. They should know that they will die by the sword,” Nurgaliyev told the Chechen Parliament shortly after the attack.