Friday, December 27, 2002

MOSCOW — Two powerful explosions ripped through the Chechen capital of Grozny on Friday, killing at least 25, Russian media reported.

One blast occurred inside the Chechen administration headquarters and the other occurred nearby, the Interfax news agency said.

NTV television showed stunned and bleeding people stumbling out of the rubble. There was no clear estimate of how many people had been wounded.

The administration headquarters, where the civilian government is based, was severely damaged. NTV showed windows blown out and a sea of wreckage.

Neither the head of the Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, nor his deputy Mikhail Babich were in the building, NTV said. However, many other Chechen government workers were there.

It was the biggest Chechen rebel attack since militants seized a Moscow theater in October, taking some 800 people hostage. All 41 attackers were killed, as were 129 of the hostages, all but two of whom succumbed to the gas used to incapacitate the assailants.

The last large attack in Grozny occurred in September, when a bus was blown up on a land mine. Nineteen people were killed.

The Russian government has insisted that Chechnya is returning to normal, and that the military campaign there is nearly complete. But the rebels have continued to unleash small-scale attacks on Russian troops and Chechens perceived to be collaborating with them.

Rebels have also shot down several military helicopters this year, including one in which at least 119 people perished.

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2002