Chechen militants and suicide bombers launched an armed raid against the Chechen parliament building in Grozny on Oct. 19, killing at least three people and wounding 17. The militants were quickly neutralized by special operations forces within 20 minutes and no lawmakers were harmed, but the fact that they were able to successfully penetrate one of the most secure buildings in Grozny indicates an increase in aggression from recent attacks that have involved one-off improvised explosive device or grenade attacks. The attack is being blamed on Hussein Gakayev, who in August split from the Caucasus Emirate and its leader, Doku Umarov, and was likely intended to serve as an announcement that Grozny is back in the cross-hairs after several years of neglect while Umarov was overseeing militant operations there.
