Russia launches terror probe after suicide attack

Then Punjab governor Salman Taseer was assassinated by a police bodyguard because he visited Asia Bibi in jail and told then president Asif Ali Zardari that she deserved clemency. Acting on Taseer’s plea to get Asia Bibi released, Zardari ordered a review of the case.

2 March, 2011: Pakistan’s lone minority minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, was assassinated after he campaigned to bring about reforms in the blasphemy law.

16 October, 2014: The Lahore high court upheld Asia Bibi’s conviction and also approved her death sentence.

22 July, 2015: Pakistan’s Supreme Court suspended the death sentence till the time the appeals procedure was completed.

31 October, 2018: In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court bench set aside Asia Bibi’s conviction and ordered her release.

Russia launched a terrorism probe on Wednesday after a 17-year-old student blew himself up at regional headquarters of the FSB security agency, wounding three employees.

Several minutes before the suicide blast in the northern city of Arkhangelsk, a post on an anarchist forum warned of an imminent explosion.

Investigators said they were checking whether the suspected bomber was a member of any banned organisations.

An explosive device detonated in the FSB building shortly before 9:00 am local time, authorities said. Investigators identified the bomber as a 17-year-old local resident. An official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, named the suicide bomber as Mikhail Zhlobitsky, a student at a local technical college.

Investigators probing the attack released a photo of the suspect -- a skinny young man with a backpack -- inside the FSB building.

Authorities have cordoned off streets around the building, with police and experts combing the area for clues. Attacks on police and security services are common in Russia’s restive Northern Caucasus, but are rare in the rest of the country. AFP

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