Militants storm parliament in Chechnya; 6 killed, 17 wounded

Islamic insurgents including a suicide bomber stormed Chechnya's Parliament on Tuesday, leaving six people dead and 17 injured in one of the most brazen attacks on the provincial capital in months, officials said.

Islamic insurgents including a suicide bomber stormed Chechnya's Parliament on Tuesday, leaving six people dead and 17 injured in one of the most brazen attacks on the provincial capital in months, officials said.

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Tuesday's attack left a grim scene around the Parliament building, with body parts and a decapitated corpse lying on the ground near shattered window glass. Interior Ministry special forces paced the area in camouflage fatigues, wielding grenade-launching Kalashnikovs.

Chechnya, part of Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, has been battling an Islamist insurgency for years despite the iron rule of its Moscow-backed president, Ramzan Kadyrov. The exact motive for Tuesday's attack was not known, but Russian minister Rashid Nurgaliyev was in Grozny for talks with Kadyrov about recent violence.

One militant set off a bomb on Tuesday at the gates of the Parliament complex in Chechen capital Grozny, killing himself and wounding others.

At least two other gunmen ran into the building as they opened fire on the people inside, he said killing two police officers and one official. At least two insurgents were slain in an ensuing firefight, officials said.