Bomb In Chechnya Kills Policeman, Injures 14

GROZNY (Reuters) -- A policeman was killed in a bomb attack in the Chechen capital Grozny that also injured 14 people, a local law enforcement official has said.

The deadly explosion, at about 10:30 p.m. (1830 GMT) on October 9, was detonated by remote control about 10 minutes after police and civilians gathered at the site of another blast.

"Three of the injured were civilians. The rest were policemen," Maryam Nalaeyeva, an official in the local prosecutor's office, told Reuters early on October 10.

A surge in bombings and shootings in Chechnya and the neighboring territories of Daghestan and Ingushetia has raised questions about the Kremlin's ability to keep control of the mainly Muslim region.

Analysts see a danger of the area descending into open civil war, fuelled by Islamist militancy, clan rivalries, corruption, poverty, and brutal law enforcement.