Woman blows herself up near police checkpoint in Chechen capital
A woman has blown herself up at a police checkpoint in the Chechen capital of Grozny in the south of Russia, say police.
Nobody else was injured in the blast in the Staropromyslovsky district of the city at around 4pm local time on Saturday.
Police general Apti Alaudinov said officers became suspicious as the suspected suicide bomber approached the checkpoint, according to the Russian state-operated RIA news agency.
They ordered her to stop and present identity documents before firing a warning shot when she rushed towards them and detonated an improvised explosive device, he added.
Police are attempting to identify the woman and any possible accomplices. Unconfirmed reports suggested she was from Dagestan.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the predmoninantly-Muslim region, has claimed to have restored “calm and stability” to the republic in recent years.
However there continue to be sporadic attacks by extremists, mostly targeting military police.
In August a group of militants carried out a series of attacks on police targets in August, including one attempted suicide bombing.
Islamic State later claimed responsibility.
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