Two perpetrators of the terrorist attack committed July 19 in Chechnya's northern village of Znamenskoye have been identified, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov said Thursday. The president declared July 21 Mourning Day in Chechnya. On July 19 militants fired at a police vehicle in Znamenskaya, killing one police officer. When policemen arrived at the site, they heard an explosion. The attack killed 14 and left 27 people wounded. "I want people to be sure that none of the perpetrators of this bloody crime will go unpunished, and soon the people of the Chechen republic will see this for themselves," the president told a government session.
The session started with a prayer. Then the government held a minute's silence in memory of those killed. "I am concerned by attempts by illegal armed formations to destabilize the situation," Alkhanov said. The president said Chechnya's law enforcement agencies should take all necessary measures to ensure security. He said the security forces had stepped up their activities and regularly conducted special operations to eliminate members of illegal armed formations. He said that as such a large terrorist attack had happened, the authorities must have miscalculated somewhere. He insisted that the law enforcement agencies strictly followed their instructions. Alkhanov has said the terrorist attack was ordered by Chechen terrorist leader Shamil Basayev.