Attack in Grozny, December 4th 2014

Thursday, December 4^th: Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, was shaken by an early morning terrorist attack when several gunmen seized the Grozny Press House and a school. The attack was an unwelcome surprise to many, given that Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov had made great strides in keeping jihadists under control in the semi-autonomous Russian republic. Kadyrov noted on his Instagram page that police had encountered several armed men traveling in Grozny via automobile. The incident happened at about 1 AM.

A brief gunfight ensued, resulting in three dead traffic police. This comes in the wake of a suicide bomber detonating himself outside of Grozny City Day on October 6^th. Another account of the first encounter with police, broadcast on the television network Dozhd, state that the first firefight occurred outside of the “Heart of Chechenya” mosque.

The gunmen, ten in total, then broke up into two groups, a seven-man group heading to take the Press House while the remaining three went to occupy a secondary school. The school was reported to be empty by the time the gunmen seized it. Military and federal police units were deployed to surround the Press House along with the local police, and the Press House was severely damaged by a fire that started from inside.

After an extended gun battle and standoff at the Press House costing the lives of ten police officers, all seven gunmen at the Press House were confirmed killed.

Russian officials confirm that the terrorists were heavily armed and had at least 24 explosive devices with them. The remaining three gunmen at the school were reported to have all been killed in the gunfight at the school.

Russian law enforcement officials believe that the mastermind of the attack was warlord Aslan Avgazarovich Byutukaev, also known as Emir Khamzat, former right hand man of Doku Umarov, the founder of the Salafi jihad terrorist group, the Caucasus Emirate.

They also suspect that the main aim of the attack may have been to assassinate the Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov, known for his aggressively anti-Islamist stance, although as of yet no one has officially claimed responsibility of the attack.

It seems possible that the goal of the attack may have been to perform a Beslan-style attack on the 20^th Secondary School in Grozny, foiled by the gunmen’s discovery by traffic police. Whatever the case, only the awareness and action of local law enforcement led to the discovery of the terrorist plot before it could be completely carried out. This once again shows the importance of providing local law enforcement with appropriate intelligence and training to recognize jihad terrorist threats.