17 killed in Chechnya anti-terrorism operation

At least 10 police personnel and seven militants were killed and 28 injured Thursday during an anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya's capital Grozny.

"In the course of the counter-terrorist operation, 10 local police officers were killed and 28 were wounded, having shown bravery while on civilian and military duty," the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement.

The operation started after midnight when a group of armed men travelling in three cars attacked a police checkpoint outside Grozny, the Russia Today news channel reported.

Then the gang proceeded into the city and occupied the Press House building in the city centre.

Head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, wrote on his Instagram page that he was personally supervising the anti-terrorist operation and that it was "entering its final phase".

Kadyrov has suggested that the militants might have come from outside Chechnya.

The militants' motive was unclear but an unverified video posted on the internet Wednesday said the attack was being carried out on the orders of Chechen rebel commander Amir Khamzat to punish security officers for harassing Muslim women.

In October, a suicide bomb attack in the Chechen capital killed five police officers and left at least 12 people injured.