by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
VOLGOGRAD, Russia – A bus exploded in the southern Russian city of Volgograd on Monday, and is believed to be caused by a suicide bomber, according to Russian authorities.
Russian Investigators have stated that they suspect a woman from the Dagestan region in the North Causasus. She is believed to be the partner of an Islamic extremist, and perhaps carried out the bombing to avenge a death.
Recently Russia has seen an influx in the number of terrorist attacks carried out by women suicide bombers. These women are known as “black widows”, and are believed to carry out these attacks to avenge the deaths of their terrorist-partners.
In 2010, female suicide bombers were responsible for attacks at two underground subway stations in Moscow, killing 38 people. Female suicide bombers are also thought to be responsible for explosions on two passenger jets at a Moscow airport that killed about 90 people back in 2004.
Chechnya Separatists have been fighting wars with Russian forces over the past twenty years, but the violence has spread across the North Caucasus recently. The spread of violence has seen the deaths of hundreds of people.
Monday’s blast killed 5 people and injured more than 20. Reports indicate that all other buses in Volgograd have been ordered back to their stations to be searched for any sign of explosives.
One man whose daughter survived the explosion stated, “It was a powerful explosion, a huge blast. There were lots of students on the bus.”
Vladimir Markin, of Russia’s Investigative Committee stated, “A criminal case has been opened under articles outlining terrorism, murder and the illegal use of firearms.”
Markin later identified the suspected suicide bomber as a woman from Dagestan. “According to preliminary information, the self-explosion was carried out by a 30-year-old Dagestani native, Naida Akhiyalova. According to investigators’ information, the woman entered the bus at one of the bus stops and, almost right after that, the bomb went off. That is also confirmed by one of the passengers who survived.”
President Vladimir Putin recently attempted to beef up security in the North Caucasus region ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics, which open in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on February 7th of next year.
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Deadly Bomb Blast Hits Bus in Southern Russia – 21 October 2013
BBC News – Russia Bus Bomb: Volgograd Blast Kills Five – 21 October 2013
The Independent – Volgograd Bus Blast: Female Suicide Bomber Kills Five in Russia – 21 October 2013
The Moscow Times – Explosion on Bus in Volgograd Kills at Least Four – 21 October 2013
