Gunmen storm Chechnya parliament, three killed

LONDON - At least three people killed by Chechen militants after the latter stormed the Chechnya Parliament and shooting broke out in cabinet room.

The Guardian quoted reports from Moscow as saing that the shooting broke out this morning and that several people had been killed and injured.

According to the news agency Interfax, citing sources in Chechnya’s law enforcement agencies, the shooting took place in the building’s cabinet room. The attack appears to be the work of Chechen militants who have been fighting against Chechnya’s pro-Moscow leadership.

One report suggested that a small group of rebels had stormed the building. Another said that a suicide bomber had blown himself up near the parliament, with other rebels involved in a shootout with security forces.

According to interior ministry sources, the gunmen took hostages inside the parliament building. Other reports, though, indicated that the rebels had made their way into a government complex close to the parliament and had taken control of the agriculture ministry. At least three security staff are believed to have been killed in the shootout and one injured.

The speaker of the Chechen parliament, Dukuvakhna Abdurakhamanov, was said to have survived the fighting and was still inside the building.

The insurgency by Islamist rebels has got worse over the past three years, with shootouts and bomb attacks between militants and security forces taking place on a daily basis. The rebels are fighting to establish an Afghanistan-style Islamic emirate across Russia’s northern Caucasus. (ANI)