Attack on the Chechen parliament

A brazen attack on the Chechen parliament in Grozny killed at least six people, including Islamist insurgents, and injured 17 others Tuesday morning, a sign that post-war stability in the republic remains fragile. The attack began at about 9 a.m., when Chechen lawmakers were about to meet a delegation of 50 officials from the Sverdlovsk region legislature.The assailants killed at least two police officers, as well as the parliament's supplies manager, and injured seven policemen and 11 civilians. Early reports said the attackers took hostages, but that information was not confirmed. One of the attackers blew himself up near the parliament's front entrance, and two others barricaded themselves on the first floor, where they also set off explosives, investigators said. Tuesday's attack is the second high-profile assault in Chechnya in three months. A shootout in Kadyrov's home village in August killed 19 people, including five civilians, and fueled fears of reviving insurgency.