Anonymous attackers have set on fire the office of a human group in the Chechen capital, Grozny, after it criticised the activity of the republic's president.

      The office of the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) was attacked on Saturday evening, December 13. Nobody was hurt, but the building was burnt out. Previously that day the demonstration took place in front of the office and then some armed men tried to enter it.

      The attacks started right after the JMG had criticised Ramzan Kadyrov (Chechen Republics's presdient) over his appeal to punish the families of rebels behind a recent attack in Grozny.

      Islamist rebels launched an assault on the city on 4 December, killing 14 police officers. Nine militants also died. Kadyrov called for relatives of the militants to be punished and evicted from their houses. A short time later masked men burnt down homes in the village of Yandi.

      JMG founder Igor Kalyapin criticized Kadyrov's words publicly and asked Russian Investigating Committee to check their lawfulness. After that the Kremlin-backed politician accused the NGO official of "backing criminals".

      Chechen police told the press the fire was accidental.

      JMG is part of Russia's Committee Against Torture, a non-governmental organisation which has been active for 14 years and largely relies on foreign grants for its investigations.