MOSCOW, October 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - At least 20 pro-Russian Chechen policemen were killed when an explosion ripped through a police station in the capital Grozny late on Thursday October 10.

Chechnya's pro-Russian Deputy Prime Minister Bislan Gantamirov claimed the blast was the result of a "terrorist" attack carried out by Chechen fighters, reported the Agence France-Press (AFP).

There was some confusion as to the exact number of casualties as searches for bodies and survivors went on late into the night.

An official with Grozny's military authorities told ITAR-TASS news agency as many as 25 policemen may have been killed.

Some 40 policemen were attending a meeting inside the police station at the time of the blast.

A criminal case has been opened, police said.

The explosion happened as a census of Chechnya's population kicked off Thursday under tight security, as part of a counting operation that began Wednesday October 8, across Russia; the first since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Russian military in Chechnya had expressed concern that Chechen fighters would launch attacks to disrupt the information gathering.

Russia describes its three-year war in Muslim Chechnya as an "anti-terrorist" campaign to suppress an Islamic insurgency.

It regularly claims to have uncovered evidence of contacts between the Chechens and Islamic backers.

The conflict has cost the lives of at least 4,500 Russian soldiers.

The Chechnya tragedy started during the Soviet era, when Stalin, in order to maintain power and to avoid being overthrown “by external powers manipulating internal ethnic groups”, was brutal in his control of the Chechen people.

The Chechens therefore actually said they would welcome Germany if they recognized an independent Chechnya.

This led to a mass deportation and relocation of Chechen people (and others) to Kazakhstan and Siberia.

Around 800,000 people are said to have been relocated this way. Perhaps 100,000 or more of these people died due to the extreme conditions.

Chechnya declared independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia is now engaged in a full-scale war with Chechnya. There have been many reports of bombing raids by Russian forces and over 200,000 people are said to have fled from Chechnya.

Grozny and other parts of Chechnya are being pounded and destroyed.

Civilian casualties have been high and there has been international outcry at the brutal Russian crackdown and indiscriminate bombing and targeting of civilians.

The Russian troops have been looting and burning homes and buildings, even executing those who resist.