Bomb kills seven in Russia's south
MOSCOW, May 17 (Reuters) - A car exploded and killed seven people including a top Russian policeman in the southern Russian region of Ingushetia on Wednesday.
Among the dead was Dzhabrail Kostoyev, deputy head of the interior ministry in Ingushetia, two of his guards and four civilians, a police spokesman said.
Ingushetia borders Chechnya where separatist guerrillas have fought Russian rule for more than a decade. Rebels have pledged total war against police in the North Caucasus, saying they are collaborating with Russian occupiers.
Police initially said the car explosion in Nazran, Ingushetia's largest town, was a suicide bombing but later backtracked when the remains of a bomber could not be found.
"I cannot confirm this information because not a single body part has been found, only fragments of the car," said Nazir Yevloyev, spokesman for the local interior ministry, suggesting the bomb had been detonated remotely.
"The jeep was thrown around 20 metres (yards) from the epicentre of the explosion and, sadly, a Zhiguli (car) coming the other way ended up under the jeep and four people died."
Television pictures showed scraps of twisted metal scattered along the road in Nazran. Burnt out pistols and other weapons were scattered in the wreck of the jeep.
Islamist Web sites on Wednesday published comments from a rebel commander in Ingushetia, who pledged such attacks would increase.
"One of our clear duties is targeted work against specific individuals, and also preparation for appropriate military operations to destroy certain targets as an answer to the actions of the infidel," said Magomed Yevloyev, commander or "Amir" of the Ingush rebels, on www.kavkazcenter.com.
GOVERNOR KILLED
He said he had just returned from a meeting of rebel commanders with warlord Shamil Basayev, who has led the worst attacks on civilians in the 11 years of the Chechen war and tries to coordinate Islamist strikes across the Caucasus.
Fighting spread from Chechnya to the neighbouring regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia after Russian troops poured into de facto independent Chechnya in 1999, and is increasingly breaking out in the regions of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachayevo-Cherkessia further to the West.
Unknown gunmen killed the governor of a detention centre in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday. It said Khasan Zhanakayev, governor of the Cherkessk detention centre, was shot dead in his car on his way to work.
A series of suicide bombings since 2000 have killed hundreds of people in Russia, targeting planes, trains, concerts, government buildings and other objects.
The last deadly suicide attack killed nine police officers in Chechnya in early 2005. One militant blew himself up without causing any other casualties in Dagestan in December.
Among the dead was Dzhabrail Kostoyev, deputy head of the interior ministry in Ingushetia, two of his guards and four civilians, a police spokesman said.
Ingushetia borders Chechnya where separatist guerrillas have fought Russian rule for more than a decade. Rebels have pledged total war against police in the North Caucasus, saying they are collaborating with Russian occupiers.
Police initially said the car explosion in Nazran, Ingushetia's largest town, was a suicide bombing but later backtracked when the remains of a bomber could not be found.
"I cannot confirm this information because not a single body part has been found, only fragments of the car," said Nazir Yevloyev, spokesman for the local interior ministry, suggesting the bomb had been detonated remotely.
"The jeep was thrown around 20 metres (yards) from the epicentre of the explosion and, sadly, a Zhiguli (car) coming the other way ended up under the jeep and four people died."
Television pictures showed scraps of twisted metal scattered along the road in Nazran. Burnt out pistols and other weapons were scattered in the wreck of the jeep.
Islamist Web sites on Wednesday published comments from a rebel commander in Ingushetia, who pledged such attacks would increase.
"One of our clear duties is targeted work against specific individuals, and also preparation for appropriate military operations to destroy certain targets as an answer to the actions of the infidel," said Magomed Yevloyev, commander or "Amir" of the Ingush rebels, on www.kavkazcenter.com.
GOVERNOR KILLED
He said he had just returned from a meeting of rebel commanders with warlord Shamil Basayev, who has led the worst attacks on civilians in the 11 years of the Chechen war and tries to coordinate Islamist strikes across the Caucasus.
Fighting spread from Chechnya to the neighbouring regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia after Russian troops poured into de facto independent Chechnya in 1999, and is increasingly breaking out in the regions of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachayevo-Cherkessia further to the West.
Unknown gunmen killed the governor of a detention centre in Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday. It said Khasan Zhanakayev, governor of the Cherkessk detention centre, was shot dead in his car on his way to work.
A series of suicide bombings since 2000 have killed hundreds of people in Russia, targeting planes, trains, concerts, government buildings and other objects.
The last deadly suicide attack killed nine police officers in Chechnya in early 2005. One militant blew himself up without causing any other casualties in Dagestan in December.
posted by Marko at 5/17/2006 08:03:00 AM
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