A suicide bomber killed five police officers and wounded 12 others on Sunday in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, at a security checkpoint near the entrance to where thousands of people were gathering for a holiday concert and fireworks, the authorities said.
The bomber, who was identified as Apti Mudarov, 19, had intended to attack the festivities but was intercepted by the police, said Ramzan A. Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed president of Chechnya whose heavy-fisted rule has brought a measure of tranquillity to the Caucasian republic where Russia fought two wars against Muslim separatists.
Russia’s federal Investigative Committee, which handles major criminal cases, said in a statement that Mr. Mudarov had been stopped around 5 p.m. at a bank of metal detectors on Isayev Avenue, in the center of Grozny.
Photographs and video from the scene posted on the Internet showed the bloodied bodies of uniformed police officers crumpled on the street.
“An illegitimate bandit with a gun introduced himself as a police serviceman at a checkpoint and tried to walk to the square where a range of holidays was being celebrated,” Mr. Kadyrov said in a statement. “The courage and professionalism of the policemen prevented numerous potential victims among the civilian population.”
Mr. Kadyrov said the killed and wounded officers would be nominated for state awards, and he blamed fundamentalist Muslim insurgents, often referred to in the Caucasus as Wahhabists, for the attack.
“The Wahhabists wanted to show that they exist,” Mr. Kadyrov said. “And we will prove that they should not be in Chechnya or in any other place. We will eliminate them anywhere they are.”
The authorities had tightened security because of a confluence of major holidays: City Day, celebrating the 196th anniversary of the founding of Grozny on Sunday, followed by Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival known as the Feast of Sacrifice, and which also marks the end of the hajj, the holy pilgrimage to Mecca.
Sunday’s events included dozens of activities, culminating with the concert and fireworks, which took place as planned, along the Sunzha River in the center of the capital. The celebrations were dedicated to World Teachers’ Day and Youth Day, as well as City Day, which since 2007 has been held on Mr. Kadyrov’s birthday.
Mr. Kadyrov is a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. As part of the festivities, thousands of people marched in the streets, many carrying the green, white and red Chechen flag; the white, blue and red Russian flag; as well as photographs of Mr. Putin and of Mr. Kadyrov.
Russian news agencies reported that Mr. Mudarov, believed to be the bomber, was a resident of the Staropromyslovskiy district of Grozny but had left his family’s home several months ago.
Bakudaily.Az
