MOSCOW, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Two policemen and one civilian were killed in a terrorist attack at a church in downtown Grozny, the capital city of Russia's Chechen Republic in the North Caucasus, the Russian Investigative Committee said Saturday.
"According to preliminary data, as a result of the attack, two police officers guarding the church were killed, two more police officers were wounded, and one civilian was killed - it was established that he was a parishioner," the committee said in a statement.
Head of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov said that four militants who broke into the Saint Michael the Archangel church and took the churchgoers hostage were eliminated in an urgent special operation, which was confirmed by the Investigative Committee.
The militants were armed with bombs and various weapons including a shotgun, guns, knives and small axes, according to a source of Russian law enforcement agencies.
"Initial investigative actions and eyewitness testimony suggest that professional actions of the police officers guarding the church helped to counter more serious consequences of the attack and avoid more casualties," the statement said.
The Investigative Committee's investigative bodies for the Chechen Republic have initiated a criminal case following the attack, the committee said.
As part of the investigation of the criminal case, all the circumstances of the tragedy and a principled legal assessment of what happened will be established, it added.
Investigations and measures to identify the militants are continuing.
