Suicide bomber attacks home of head of Chechen administration

A female suicide bomber yesterday blew herself up outside the residence of Akhmat Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen administration. Local security forces believe that it was an attempted attack on Kadyrov's son, Ramzan, who is in charge of Kadyrov's bodyguards. Ramzan Kadyrov, who was in the building at the time, was unharmed.

The young woman, who was about 20 years old, approached the house at around 10.30 a.m. Security guards challenged her, and after warning shots were fired she blew herself up. A passer by was injured in the attack and taken to hospital. Police are looking for a second girl who they believe has been trained for an attack on Ramzan Kadyrov.

Yesterday's attack was the third attempt on Ramzan Kadyrov's life. Previous assassination attempts took place in the summer of 2000 and January 2001. In each case he escaped with minor injuries.