5 injured in suicide bombing in heart of Chechen capital

Suicide bomber strikes Chechen capital, 5 injured

GROZNY, Russia — A suicide bomber blew himself up in the capital of Russia’s restive Chechnya region on Wednesday, wounding three police officers and two civilians, officials said.

The blast at about 6 p.m. shook the center of Grozny, a city gingerly trying to come back to life after being devastated in two wars between separatists and Russian forces since 1994.

The blast took place near the city’s theater, where an area for a musical performance had been cordoned off by police. An Associated Press reporter heard a powerful explosion and saw one person who appeared gravely wounded and two others with light injuries.

Alvi Karimov, a spokesman for Chechnya’s Kremlin-appointed president Ramzan Kadyrov, said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber, but did not have further details.

The regional office of the Emergencies Ministry said three officers of the OMON riot police division were injured, along with two civilians.

Major offensives in Chechnya died down in the early part of the decade, but scattered small clashes and bombings continue to plague the region. A rebel Chechen leader claimed responsibility for the March subway suicide bombings in Moscow that killed 40 people.

Violence seen as inspired by the Chechen insurgency has also gripped the neighboring regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia.

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Associated Press Writer Sergei Venyavsky in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, contributed to this report.