Five killed in Chechnya suicide bombing

GROZNY, Russia, July 26 (UPI) -- A blast near a concert hall in the Chechen capital of Grozny killed four police officers and a civilian Sunday, officials said.

A suicide bomber set off the explosion after approaching officers in a crowded public square, the Russian republic's interior ministry told RIA Novosti, which quoted an unnamed law enforcement source as saying nine people were also injured in the blast.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov told the news agency the explosion, which happened at 5 p.m. about 130 feet from the concert hall, was a despicable act by separatists whose movement is dying.

"These are the death throes of bandits, they have no human face or morals, nothing," he said. "These are not people. I declare that the operation will continue until all of these bandits are completely annihilated. We have sufficient forces and means for this, and also the support of the federal center."

It was the first terrorist act in Chechnya since July 7, when nine people were injured after a bomb exploded in a trash can.