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Russian Terrorist Attack in South Kills 16; Medvedev Vows to Punish `Scum'
A terrorist attack in Russia’s North Caucasus region killed at least 16 people and injured 120. President Dmitry Medvedev vowed to capture and punish the “scum” responsible for the car bomb blast.
The explosion, whose force was equivalent to 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of TNT, occurred at about 11:20 a.m. local time near the main entrance of a market in Vladikavkaz, capital of the North Ossetia region, the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office said on its website. A terrorism investigation was opened, the investigators said.
“We will do everything to catch the monsters, the scum, as you put it, who carried out this terrorist attack,” Medvedev told Taimuraz Mamsurov, the leader of North Ossetia, according to the Kremlin website. “And if they resist or otherwise, to destroy them.”
Terrorism in Russia has been focused in the mostly Muslim North Caucasus region, where violence has increased with almost daily attacks on government officials and police this year. The region includes Dagestan, Chechnya and largely Christian North Ossetia, and is plagued by an Islamist insurgency, the country’s highest unemployment rates and rampant corruption.
‘No Heart or Soul’
Federal forces fought two wars against separatists in Chechnya after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Chechen militants were responsible for the worst single act of terrorism in Russian history, the Beslan school hostage-taking in North Ossetia in September 2004, which left 350 people dead, half of them children.
Today’s attack occurred on Eid ul-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin marked the holiday by meeting with Ravil Gainutdin, head of the Russian Union of Muftis, and called on Russia’s more than 20 million Muslims to help fight terrorism.
“The people who did this clearly have no heart or soul,” Putin said. “We’re counting on the Muslim population of Russia to make a decisive contribution in this battle.” Putin’s comments were broadcast on state television.
The Federal Security Service, a successor to the Soviet-era KGB, detained three suspects in the bombing, RIA Novosti said, citing FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov.
U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement saying the U.S. “strongly condemns” the bombing.
“Our hearts go out to the people of North Ossetia, who have already suffered so much from horrific acts of terrorism,” Obama’s statement said. “This bombing further underscores the resolve of the United States and Russia to work together in combating terrorism and protecting our people.”
The car was in motion when explosion occurred, Mamsurov told Medvedev. The attack may have been carried out by a suicide bomber, Interfax reported.
Medvedev called for a “brutal” response to terrorism after dual suicide bombings in Moscow subway stations killed 40 people during the morning rush hour on March 29. Twelve people died two days later in twin bomb attacks in Dagestan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anastasia Ustinova in St. Petersburg at austinova@bloomberg.net
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