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At Least 10 Killed In New Volgograd Blast

December 30, 2013
by RFE/RL

VOLGOGRAD -- Russian officials say at least 10 people have been killed and 23 others injured in a rush-hour explosion aboard a trolleybus in the southern city of Volgograd.

The blast came less than 24 hours after 17 people were killed and dozens more injured in an explosion at Volgograd's main train station that officials have described as a terrorist attack by a suicide bomber.

Officials said initial indications suggested the latest blast was also an act of terrorism, possibly also carried out by a suicide attacker.

But ITAR-TASS quoted a National Antiterrorism Committee source suggesting a more likely scenario was that an explosive was planted on the bus.

The explosion occurred near a street market in Volgograd's Dzerzhinsky district.

Pictures shown on state-run television showed the remains of the trolleybus. Its roof had been blown off and debris was strewn around the street.

Some of the victims were likely to be transported to Moscow, about 900 kilometers away, according to Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, who traveled to Volgograd.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but investigators suggested Islamist militants from the nearby North Caucasus were suspected.

The two explosions come just six weeks before Russia is to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

Volgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad in honor of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, is around 700 kilometers northeast of Sochi.

With the two latest blasts, Volgograd has now seen three explosions in the past three months. In October, seven people were killed in an explosion detonated by a female suicide bomber who investigators say had links to Islamists in the North Caucasus.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had met with Federal Security Service (FSB) head Aleksandr Bortnikov, who informed him about the trolleybus explosion.

Following the December 29 blast, officials announced that security would be tightened at stations, airports, and other facilities.

Officials initially said the suspected bomber of the train station was believed to be a woman, but Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin later said a man could have been responsible.

In July, Chechen insurgent leader Doku Umarov called on militants to carry out attacks on civilian targets, including strikes to "not permit" the Sochi Olympics.

The United Nations Security Council said it condemned the train-station attack "in the strongest terms."

Condemnations of the blast were also issued by the U.S. State Department, NATO, and the European Union.

The train-station blast marked the deadliest attack in Russia since January 2011, when a male suicide bomber from the North Caucasus killed 37 people at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.

Based on reports from RFE/RL's Russian Service, ITAR-TASS, and Interfax

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-volgograd/25215964.html

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At Least 10 Killed In New Volgograd Blast