Russia on alert after suicide bombings kill 31
At least 14 people were killed Monday when a suicide bomber
blew himself up on a packed trolleybus in Volgograd, raising new concerns about
security at the Sochi Olympics a day after a deadly attack on the southern
Russian city's train station.
President Vladimir Putin ordered stepped-up security across
the country after the trolleybus bombing at the peak of the morning rush and
Sunday's suicide attack blamed on a suspected female suicide bomber which
claimed 17 lives.
The attacks on Volgograd, which until this year had no
record of recent unrest, raised alarm about whether the ongoing anti-Kremlin
insurgency in the Northern Caucasus could affect the Sochi Winter Games which
open on February 7.
The force of Monday's blast destroyed the number 15A
trolleybus, which was packed with early morning commuters and was turned into a
tangle of wreckage with only its roof and front remaining.
Health ministry spokesman Oleg Salagai told Russian state
television that 14 people were killed and 28 wounded.
Russian investigators have opened a criminal probe into a
suspected act of terror as well as the illegal carrying of weapons, the
Investigative Committee said.
"The explosives were detonated by a male suicide
bomber, fragments of whose body have been found and taken for genetic analysis
to establish his identity," said spokesman Vladimir Markin.
He said four kilogrammes (nine pounds) of TNT equivalent had
been used and noted that the explosives were identical to those used in Sunday's
train station bombing.
"This confirms the theory that the two attacks are
linked. It is possible that they were prepared in the same place," he
added.
Olympic security fears
The United States called for closer security cooperation
with Russia after the bombings, saying it had offered Russia its full support
and warning Americans to stay vigilant.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said
Washington "would welcome the opportunity for closer cooperation for the
safety of the athletes, spectators, and other participants".
IOC head Thomas Bach condemned the attacks but said he was
confident security would be solid at the Olympics.
"The Olympic Games are about bringing people from all
backgrounds and beliefs together to overcome our differences in a peaceful
way," he said.
UN leader Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council said they
were "outraged" by the latest attack, while German Chancellor Angela
Merkel also condemned the attacks.
Putin ordered security stepped up across Russia, with a
special regime to be imposed in Volgograd, which lies 690 kilometres (425
miles) northeast of the Black Sea resort of Sochi, the national anti-terror
committee announced.
Federal Security Service (FSB) chief Alexander Bortnikov
flew to Volgograd and asked citizens to be understanding about the extra
security that may involve spot checks.
"It is a necessary measure," he said.
Russia is already preparing to impose a "limited
access" security cordon around Sochi from January 7 which will check all
traffic and ban all non-resident cars from a wide area around the city.
The head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov,
said that there was no need for extra security measures in Sochi as
"everything that is necessary has already been done", ITAR-TASS
reported.
The search for the perpetrators is expected to focus on
Russia's largely Muslim North Caucasus region where Islamist militants have for
years been fighting the Russian security forces.
Doku Umarov, the leader of militants seeking to impose an
Islamist state throughout Russia's North Caucasus, has ordered rebels to target
civilians outside the region and disrupt the Games.
"This looks like the North Caucasus underground. They
promised to stage acts in big Russian cities ahead of the Olympics. It seems
they are fulfilling their promise," military affairs commentator Pavel
Felgenhauer told AFP.
Hitting the Russian heartland
Moscow city hall's security chief Alexei Mayarov said
precautions would be stepped up in the capital ahead of New Year, the biggest
holiday of the year in Russia and traditionally marked by mass outdoor
gatherings.
Reports said Russia's second city of Saint Petersburg had
already cancelled its planned New Year fireworks display.
Militant strikes have become part of daily life in the North
Caucasus. But the Volgograd blasts will be a particular concern to the
authorities as the bomber struck a city of more than one million people in the
Russian heartland.
The city, known as Stalingrad in the Soviet era, is of huge
importance to Russians as the scene of one of the key battles of World War II
that led to the defeat of invading Nazi forces.
The city was previously attacked on October 21 by a female
suicide bomber with links to Islamists who killed six people on a crowded bus.
Russia's double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena
Isinbayeva, Volgograd's best known current inhabitant, told ITAR-TASS she felt
"terrible, simply terrible" after the attacks.
The blasts are the deadliest in Russia since a suicide
bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport killed 37 people in January 2011.
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