(4 Dec 2014) A publishing house in the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya was in flames on Thursday, after a gun battle broke out earlier in the morning.
Security officials and the leader of Chechnya said gunmen travelling in several cars killed at least three traffic police officers at a checkpoint late at night in Grozny.
State news agency RIA-Novosti cited an unnamed law enforcement source as stating that five police officers were killed.
The Moscow-based National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement that after the attack on the traffic police, gunmen occupied the publishing house in central Grozny, and security services, police and emergency services personnel surrounded the building.
An Associated Press reporter saw the building in flames and heard the sound of heavy-calibre gunfire before dawn, several hours after the unrest erupted.
It was unknown how the blaze started.
The AP reporter also saw a body in civilian clothing in the street near the publishing house but it was not clear how and when the person had been killed, and fighting was ongoing.
Although unrest is common across Russia's North Caucasus, forceful security measures adopted by iron-fisted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov have spared Grozny of significant violence for several years.
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