The Tuesday car explosion in Znamenskoye village in the Nadterechny district of Chechnya was thoroughly schemed, which caused large casualties, Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov said.

The minister judged that at first the militants imitated shooting at a vehicle stuffed with explosives, then an unknown man telephoned the police and reported on the shooting incident. The mined vehicle, which belonged to an individual, was detonated as soon as the police had arrived there, Ruslan Alkhanov was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.

The terrorist blast occurred at around 13:30 local time ( 0900GMT) after a shooting on a car, killing at least 14 people, including two teenagers, and injuring 24 others.

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov has declared July 21 the day of mourning for the victims in Znamenskoye blast, the report said.

The Chechen Prosecutor's Office opened on Tuesday criminal proceedings on four charges, including terrorism, attack on police officers, murder and illegal production of a bomb, according to acting Chechen prosecutor Vladimir Chernyayev.

He said that they are verifying a theory that the telephone call, which drew local policemen to the terrorist act epicenter, was phony.

"The investigation has just begun and any conclusions are premature. Yet the terrorist act was obviously targeted against policemen," he noted.

Source: Xinhua