Chechnya: 7 killed in attack on Grozny orthodox church

Four insurgents, two police officers and a civilian were killed today in Chechnya, a Russian republic, in an attack on an Orthodox church in the predominantly Muslim region, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.

The attack targeted the church of Archangel Michael in the center of Grozny, the Chechen capital, according to the statement. "According to the first information, two police officers who were in charge of the security of the church (…) and a citizen were killed," the Commission explains, adding that two other police officers were injured.

"Four guerrillas were neutralized," knives and a rifle were found on them, according to the same source. "The professional actions of the police have made it possible to prevent more serious consequences from the attack and to cause more casualties," the commission said.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov had earlier told Russian news agencies that the rebels, who he said were acting "at the behest of a Western country", "intended to take worshipers hostage".

After the first Chechen war (1994-1996), the separatist insurgency gradually Islamized and spread beyond the borders of this Russian republic to become an active armed Islamist movement throughout the North Caucasus in the mid-2000s.

In late June 2015, an armed Islamist insurgency in the Russian Caucasus declared allegiance to the Islamic State organization, which remains fertile ground for fighters fighting jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.

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