GROZNY. May 12 (Interfax-South) - At least 16 have died and many were injured in a terrorist attack in the Znamenskoye village of Chechnya's Nadterechny district on Monday morning, head of the Chechen interim administration Akhmad Kadyrov told Interfax.
"There is preliminary information that the explosion of a car stuffed with explosives killed 16 and wounded several others," Kadyrov said.
The explosion happened near the Znamenskoye village administration, the local department of the Federal Security Service and the district police department, he said.
"The explosion damaged six buildings. The search for the wounded is in progress," Kadyrov said.
Kadyrov said that the car loaded with explosives blew up near administrative buildings. "I was told that the terrorists' car had not hit any of the buildings," he stated.
Kadyrov found it difficult to say which rebel ringleader might have been behind the terrorist attack. "I do not know who is behind this explosion - Maskhadov or Basayev (Chechen separatist leaders Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev - Interfax)," he said.
The terrorist attack in Znamenskoye shows that federal and the republic's law enforcement departments are unable to prevent rebels' sabotage in full, Kadyrov noted.
"We must be more vigilant and responsible so that no vehicles loaded with explosives travel around the republic," Kadyrov said.
"Where did the car with explosives come from? How could it get into Znamenskoye? I have plenty of questions. Obviously, the car was not loaded with explosives at the administration of the Nadterechny district. That had been done in some other place, and then it came to Znamenskoye," he said.
The search for possible suspects is underway, Kadyrov said.
Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinsky told Interfax earlier that a car packed with explosives had been blown up near administrative buildings in the district center. "There are damages and victims. Information is being verified," Fridinsky said.
He said that criminal proceedings had been instituted on charges of terrorism, under article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code.
Fridinsky said he would go to the incident site immediately.