Chechnya police killed in Grozny gun battle

Several police officers have been killed in clashes with fighters who attacked a traffic post in the Chechen capital of Grozny and then stormed a building housing local media, according to officials and local media.

Russia's RIA Novosti state news agency, quoting a regional law enforcement source, said five police died and several were wounded in Thursday’s attack.

The latest skirmishes in volatile Chechnya will be seen as a major affront to President Vladimir Putin who is set to deliver his annual state of the nation address later in the day. He has vowed to crush the bloody insurgency in the Caucasus.

The National Anti-Terrorist Committee said that a group of assailants attacked a traffic post in Grozny early on Thursday and then stormed a building housing local media known as the Press House.

It said security services, police and emergency services personnel surrounded the building.

Although unrest is common across Russia's North Caucasus, security measures adopted by Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov have spared Grozny of significant violence for several years.

Kadyrov said on his Instagram account, which he regularly uses to issue public statements, that the traffic police officers were shot dead as they attempted to stop the cars carrying the gunmen.

The Associated Press reported that the publishing house building was in flames early Thursday and that sound of heavy-caliber gunfire was heard before dawn, several hours after the unrest erupted.  

An unverified video posted online showed what appeared to be a shell slamming into the already blazing publishing house building.

Kadyrov said the situation was calm and that all essential public services would still be operating, but he urged Grozny residents to exercise caution, adding "All the talk about the city being under the control of military is absolutely false."

The Kavkaz Center website, is believed to serve as a mouthpiece for Islamic groups operating in Russia's North Caucasus, was linked to a video message by an individual claiming responsibility for the attacks unfolding Thursday morning, according to the Associated Press. The man in the video claimed to be operating under orders from Chechen Islamist leader Aslan Byutukayev, known to his followers as Emir Khamzat.

The video could not immediately be verified.

Five policemen were killed and a dozen wounded in Grozny in October when they stopped a young suicide bomber from attacking a concert hall where thousands had gathered to mark a local holiday.

That blast, which shattered a period of relative calm in the region, sparked concerns of a new cycle of violence in the North Caucasus where the Kremlin fought two wars with separatists over the past 20 years.

Al Jazeera and wire services