SIX ARRESTED IN WAKE OF DEADLY SUBWAY BOMBING
ST. PETERSBURG As the residents of Russia’s second- largest city try to regain their nerve in the wake of a fatal subway bombing, officials announced Wednesday that six people have been arrested on suspicion of recruiting others to commit extremist crimes.
Wednesday’s statement from the Investigative Committee said those arrested came from Central Asian countries that once were part of the Soviet Union. Officials have said the suicide attacker behind Monday’s blast in St. Petersburg that killed 13 others was a native of the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. The six detained were accused of recruiting “mostly immigrants from the republics of Central Asia to commit crimes of a terrorist nature and involvement in the activities of terrorist organizations banned in Russia,” including the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the statement said.
There was no immediate information tying those arrested with the suspected bomber, identified as 22- year- old Ak- bardzhon Dzhalilov. Fifty- five people wounded in the blast remain hospitalized, deputy mayor Anna Mityanina said. The predominantly Muslim Central Asian states are seen as a prime recruiting ground for Islamic militants.
Meeting with the heads of security services from a regional alliance that includes most of Russia’s Central Asian neighbours, President Vladimir Putin warned that terrorism remained a threat to all in the region.