Islamic Militants Wage Fierce Attack on Grozny, Chechnya’s Capital
MOSCOW — A fierce gun battle between Islamist militants and government security forces paralyzed the center of the Chechen capital, Grozny, overnight Thursday, leaving some 19 people dead and embarrassing President Vladimir V. Putin just hours before he delivered his state-of-the-nation speech in Moscow.
Residents of Grozny reached by telephone said there seemed to be a wide list of targets and significant violence downtown. As dawn broke, smoke was rising from several locations, they said. Kheda Saratova, a human-rights activist, said in a telephone interview that gunfire broke out around 1 a.m. and continued through the morning.
It was the most violent, brazen attack linked to militant activity in the region in months. There was some speculation among analysts and on social media that the assault was carried out by fighters linked to the Islamic State or other radical groups fighting in Syria. If so, it would be the first such attack inside Russia.
Chechen fighters in Syria have threatened to carry out such attacks in response to Moscow’s unalloyed support for the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/world/europe/grozny-chechnya-attack.html?_r=0
