ISIS takes responsibility for 3 attacks in Chechnya
4 police injured as strongman rejects terrorism
MOSCOW — At least four police officers were injured Monday in a series of attacks in the mountain republic of Chechnya, Russian law enforcement authorities said, raising fears of renewed violence in the restive region.
Three attacks occurred around the same time in different locations, the Investigative Committee, a Russian security agency, said in a statement: an assault outside a police station by two men armed with knives, an attempted suicide bombing and the running over of two officers with a vehicle in Grozny, the regional capital. No police officers were reported killed.
Message from app
The Islamic State group’s official news agency claimed responsibility in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, describing the assailants as “fighters from the Islamic State.” It did not use the phrasing typically employed to describe an inspired attack, suggesting that it viewed those who carried out the violence as core members.
That represents an embarrassment to Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman who rules Chechnya. The republic is formally a part of the Russian Federation, but the Kremlin, which has fought two brutal wars against a separatist insurgency there over the past three decades, gives Kadyrov a high degree of autonomy to crush dissent.
Kadyrov said in a statement that the main goal of the attacks Monday had been “to create an illusion that some forces can still organize armed actions and terrorist acts.”
“There is no doubt that the young men were brainwashed via social networks,” Kadyrov added, saying of groups like the Islamic State: “The real picture is that they have absolutely no support, no social base in the republic. The situation in Grozny, in Chechnya is absolutely calm and stable.”
The assault by the two men with knives took place in Shali, in central Chechnya, according to the Investigative Committee. Two officers guarding a police station were injured. The assailants were killed.
In the apparent attempted suicide bombing, the committee statement said, a young man detonated explosives near a traffic police checkpoint in MeskerYurt, a village near Grozny. He survived, according to Kadyrov’s statement, and was being treated in the hospital. Investigators said no one else was injured or killed.
Officers struck
Shortly after, an attacker ran over two police officers in central Grozny while being chased by other police officers, the Investigative Committee said. He was later killed.
A video said to depict the incident circulated on social media. It showed a white car rushing through an intersection and running over a police officer, who was standing on a pedestrian crossing.
The investigators opened three criminal cases on charges of attempting to murder police officers.