Video | Insurgents storm Chechen parliament complex

Russian news agencies have reported that 6 police and 11 civilians were among those 17.

Police officials say how at least three insurgents were also killed, either in suicide or after a gunfight with police - ending among the most brazen of attacks on the province's capital in recent months.

The attack is part on an on-going battle that has endured for years between restive Chechnya and an Islamic insurgency.

Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev is presently in Grozny holding talks with Moscow-backed president Ramzan Kadyrov about the violence. Nurgaliyev explains the insurgents attempted to gain entry into the main parliamentary hall.

"As always, they failed. Unfortunately, we were not able to avoid loss of life," he said during TV-aired comments. "The situation we saw today is extremely rare. Here, there is stability and security."

Russian agencies reported earlier that insurgents had also attacked the Agriculture Ministry building, a building in the same complex as the parliament, in an incident that appeared to be part of the same attack.

The scene around the parliament building was reported as grim, with body parts and a decapitated corpse lying strewn on the street alongside shattered window glass. Interior Ministry Special Forces were glimpsed patrolling the area in camouflage fatigues uniforms, wielding Kalashnikov rifles with grenade-launcher attachments.

Local media also reported that parliament will go on with business as usual, attack notwithstanding.