Seven dead, including 4 assailants, after militants attack church in Chechnya
A militant attack on a church in the mainly Muslim southern Russian region of Chechnya has left seven people dead, including four assailants, officials say.
The attack took place on Saturday when gunmen attempted to take people hostage inside St. Michael church in Chechnya's capital of Grozny.
"According to early information, two policemen in charge of security at the church ... and a civilian were killed," the officials said.
They added that four militants “have been eliminated" while two other policemen were injured.
They also indicated that a knife and a gun were found on the attackers behind the assault, saying that police had prevented "more serious consequences and a larger number of victims."
Following the assault, the Russian Investigative Committee said that a criminal case had been launched.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov had earlier told Russian news agencies that militants acting "on the orders of a Western country" were seeking "to take believers hostage" in a troubled region where Russia has fought two wars against separatists over the past decades.
A group of extremist militants are fighting in Chechnya and across the volatile North Caucasus. The group sporadically launches terrorist attacks against authorities and police forces in the region.
Authorities in Moscow say hundreds of people in the region have left to join the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in Iraq and Syria. They now fear that their return could pose serious security threats to the country.
The security situation in the region, however, remains volatile.
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