Has the Islamic State moved on to Russia? 16 dead in Islamist attack!

At least 16 people are dead in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, following an early morning attack on a police checkpoint, media building and school by rebel gunmen.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The attack occurred at 1:00 a.m. (local time) on December 4, and an Islamist terrorist group has publicly admitted to the attack to avenge attacks against Muslim women by security forces.

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Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Russian-leaning president, said that the situation was well under control and that none of the attackers were able to escape.

"Not one badnit managed to get out," he said. "I directly ran the operation myself."

Kadyrov is a controversial figure. A strongman backed by Russia, he has had a heavy hand in suppressing rebel activity in Chechnya since Russia ousted the separatists government about a decade ago.

Grozny is a heavily fortified city, and this is the first time violence has breached the security surrounding the city in several years.

Of the dead are at least three traffic officers who were killed while trying to stop the cars used by the gunmen. Nine militants also died in the fighting.

The Russian government has reported that another four people died and 21 were injured during the attack.

The ferocious fighting was recorded on phones by several witnesses and members of the militants.

A video was posted to YouTube which showed a gunmen, whom said that he and his group had attacked the capital in a "revenge operation" for Muslim women who have been harassed.

In that video, the gunman revealed that the attack was ordered by Aslan Byutukayev.

Russia's president, Vladmir Putin, gave an annual speech at the Kremlin that same day, and the head of the Carnegie Moscow Center, Dmitry Trenin, posted on Twitter that he believed the attacks were "senseless except as an attempt to embarrass Putin hours before his annual address."

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