The Grozny Suicide Attack: Violence in North Caucasus Undermines the Pro-Kremlin Ruler

Ariel Cohen / October 21, 2010

The suicide bomber attack on the Chechen Parliament in Grozny Tuesday morning cast further doubt on the Russian leadership’s declarations that the strategic North Caucasus region, Russia’s soft underbelly, is stabilizing. More trouble is in stock for Moscow and her South Caucasus neighbors (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), as the violence in Chechnya, Daghestan and elsewhere escalates.

According to Al-Jazeera, six people were killed and 10 were wounded Tuesday morning during an assault on Chechnya’s parliament, a symbol of Russia-backed power.  Chechnya is ruled by 34 year-old Ramzan Kadyrov, a pro-Kremlin strongman.

The attack began when a suicide bomber exploded himself outside of the parliament building, while gunmen shot their way in, killing three people in a standoff. Whether they were killed Kadyrov’s security forces, or blew themselves up when special forces stormed the building, is unknown. Rashid Nurgaliyev, Russia’s Minister of Interior, along with a delegation of regional legislators, was in the Chechen parliament building when it was attacked. (more…)