Russia on alert after second deadly suicide bombing

MOSCOW // At least 14 people were killed on 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, under pressure to show that Russia can assure the safety of tens of thousands of guests when the Winter Games open on February 7, ordered security to be stepped up across the country.

The twin suicide attacks on Volgograd, which until this year had no record of recent unrest, have stunned Russia and troubled the authorities as people prepare for mass New Year celebrations.

At least 17 people died in Sunday’s attack, blamed on a suspected female suicide bomber.

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.

A health ministry spokesman said 14 people were killed and 28 wounded.

“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 Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russia’s main investigating agency.

He said four kilograms 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.

The new attack will further heighten fears about security at the Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, which lies 690 kilometres south-west of Volgograd.

Russia’s foreign ministry called for international solidarity in the fight against “terrorists”, although it did not place direct blame on any particular group for the attacks.

The UAE echoed the call in a Foreign Ministry statement condemning the bombing yesterday. It stressed the need for “concerted efforts of the international community to combat and address this menace, since it is deemed as a global phenomenon that threatens international security and stability”.

Russia’s anti-terror committee announced that Mr Putin had ordered security stepped up across the country, with a special regime to be imposed in Volgograd.

The chief of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, flew to Volgograd and asked citizens to be understanding about the extra security that may involve spot checks.

“It is a neccessary 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.

State television said that after the latest blast, Volgograd commuters were abandoning buses and trolleybuses and going to work on foot in fear of a new attack.

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 establish an Islamist state throughout Russia’s North Caucasus, has ordered rebels to target civilians outside the region and disrupt the Games.

Moscow city hall’s security chief, Alexei Mayarov, said measures 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.

* Agence France-Presse with additional reporting from Wam