MOSCOW, December 4 (Sputnik) — The police have blocked several militants in a school in the center of the Chechen capital, where a special operation is currently underway, a police spokesman told RIA Novosti.
"Several militants were blocked in a school in the center of Grozny, near the Press House," the spokesman said. Now the upper floors of the Press House are on fire, and the special operation continues, he added.
A counter-terrorism regime has been declared in the city.
A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti Thursday that five policemen have died in the course of the operation and several have been injured.
Earlier, a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti that three police officers died while trying to stop a car with three militants, who later hid in the Press House in the center of Grozny and were then surrounded by the police.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has confirmed that three police officers had died, saying that three others had been injured.
The National Anti-Terrorist Committee has confirmed that all the militants blocked in the Press House had been killed.
Kadyrov said seven bodies of militants have been found at the scene of the special operation.
