MOSCOW, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Four police officers and one civilian were killed in a suicide blast in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya Sunday evening, news agencies reported.

    A suicide bomber set off an explosive device when approaching senior police officers working outside a theater and concert hall in Leninsky district of Grozny, the regional capital, at around 5:00 p.m. Moscow time (1300 GMT).

A boy walks across a square, the site of a suicide bomb attack in Grozny, July 26, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

 

    "The senior police officers who died today are the chief of public security in Grozny's Leninsky district, the chief of the same district's detention center, a deputy chief of public security forces in Chechnya, who had the colonel's rank, and a lieutenant-colonel from the Interior Ministry's department for coordination," the Itar-Tass reported citing local investigative sources.

    There were a crowd of people at a square some 40 meters from the concert hall, said the RIA Novosti, and a local police source said nine other people were wounded in the blast.

    One of the wounded civilians later died in the hospital, while two others remained in critical conditions, said the Itar-Tass.

    The body of the suicide bomber has been destroyed beyond recognition.

    The scene has been cordoned off where investigators were working.

The floor is stained with blood at a square, the site of a suicide bomber attack, in front of a concert hall in Grozny July 26, 2009.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov condemned the attack, pledging to root out terrorists in the region.

    "These are the death throes of bandits...I declare that the operation will continue until all of these bandits are completely annihilated," he said.

    The Kremlin in April formally ended an anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya, which has experienced two bloody separatist wars in the past 15 years.

    The North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan have seen a rise in daily violence in recent months.

    The Russian government has strengthened its strikes against insurgents recently. Six militants were killed in a police special operation Saturday in Chechnya after hours-long shootout.