At Least Two Killed In Islamist Attack On Chechnya Parliament, Hostages Seized
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The parliament in the restive Russian republic of Chechnya has come under attack, Russian news agencies report.
At least three guards were reported to have been killed at the building in the capital, Grozny.
Local news agencies report shooting taking place in or near the parliament, with one suggesting a suicide bomber had attacked the building.
Other reports say hostages were taken, but Russian news agencies now report all the militants have been killed.
According to some sources the shooting broke out around the office of the parliament speaker, but the speaker is thought to be alive and inside the building.
Russia’s Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev is visiting Chechnya and is thought to be in an emergency meeting with the Moscow-backed President, Ramzan Kadyrov.
The Kremlin is struggling to contain a growing Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus, a strip of poor, ethnically mixed provinces along Russia’s southern border.
The Kremlin had declared victory in its battle with Chechen separatists, but analysts say continuing shootings and bombings over recent months show Moscow has failed to stamp out the insurgency.


