16 killed in bombing in Chechnya
At least 16 people were killed today in northern Chechnya in what appeared to be a suicide truck bombing at a district administration building.
Initial reports said the bomb-laden vehicle blew up as it crashed in Znamenskoye, Nadterechny district.
The blast hit the local administration headquarters, the local office of the Federal Security Service, and a police station.
Chechen administration head Akhmad Kadyrov said at least 16 people were killed and many others injured.
In December, a truck bomb attack at the headquarters of the Moscow-backed administration in the capital Grozny killed at least 70 people.
Northern Chechnya is considered the safest part of the region and was the first area to come under the control of Russian forces that entered the republic in 1999, starting the region’s second war in a decade.
The head of Chechnya’s Security Council, Rudnik Dudayev, said today’s blast happened at about 10am (7am Irish time).
