Two powerful bombs have devastated the main building of the Russian-backed
Chechen Government building in Grozny in an apparent suicide attack.
At least 14 bodies have been found.
Reports say about 40 people were killed when two vehicles, a truck and a
jeep, smashed through security barriers around the building and exploded.
A Kremlin spokesman said at least 14 bodies have been found so far, and the
death toll may continue to rise.
The blasts, which occurred at about 1430 local time (1130 GMT), appear to
have been carried out by Chechen rebels.
If the bombing does prove to be the work of rebels, it would be their biggest
operation since the siege of a Moscow theatre in October, during which close
to 130 hostages died.
The Kremlin stepped up its campaign against Chechen rebels after the theatre
siege, BBC Russian affairs analyst Stephen Dalziel says.
'Many injured'
One of the bombs went off at the government building, while the second explosion
occurred nearby, ripping the facade of the building away, according to our
correspondent.
"There are many dead and injured, as it was a working day and many people
were having lunch in the canteen," an official in Grozny said.
Russia's NTV television said the building was devastated by the blast. It
showed bleeding people stumbling out of the rubble.
NTV reported that between 150 and 200 people normally work in the building,
one of the few in Grozny to have been repaired after years of war.
The Kremlin spokesman said at least a metric ton of explosives was believed
to be involved in the blast, which left a crater six metres (20 feet) deep.
Officials away
Russian news agencies said neither the head of the Russian-backed Chechen
administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, nor his deputy Mikhail Babich were in the
building.
Mr Kadyrov is believed to have been in Moscow at the time.*
Police have stepped up security in Moscow in response to the bombing, the
Russian news agency Itar- Tass reported.
Vehicle inspections are being stepped up and passports are being checked
at railroad stations, airports and other public places, the agency said.
Comment by the moderator of the Yahoo Chechnya mailing list:
* Kadyrov and other quisling officials actually live in a heavily guarded
apartment house in Moscow and only show up in Chechnya for TV shootings.
Some time ago, Chechenpress reported their Moscow address.