Blast Hits Chechen Capital
- Author: News Agencies
- Publish date:21/06/2003
- Section:WORLD HEADLINES
A large explosion has ripped through a Russian government building in the Chechen capital Grozny. The blast, at a Justice Ministry building, has injured at least 36 people. The attack came a few hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin told a news conference in Moscow that the only way forward in Chechnya was to follow a peace plan laid out by the Kremlin.
There have been three bomb attacks in and near Chechnya in the last month. More than 90 people have been killed.
A truck packed with explosives exploded just metres from the justice ministry building, close to the main Chechen government headquarters.
"According to preliminary information, we believe there were two suicide bombers in the front seats of the truck," Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky said.
In December last year, 82 people were killed when explosive-laden vehicles were rammed into the government buildings in Grozny.
The Russian occupation over Chechnya has cost thousands of lives since the latest conflict began in 1999.
**PHOTO CAPTION***
Investigators examine a crater caused by a powerful truck bomb that exploded near a government compound in the Chechen capital of Grozny, Friday, June 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev)