SUICIDE ATTACKER
Death toll rises to 14; authorities name Kyrgyz-born Russian as suspect
ST PETERSBURG
RESIDENTS here yesterday laid flowers outside the city’s subway where a bomb blast on Monday killed 14 people and left more than 40 injured. Thousands of miles to the east, authorities in Kyrgyzstan identified one suspect as a Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came while President Vladimir Putin was visiting the city, Russia’s second biggest and Putin’s hometown.
Russian investigators yesterday named the bomber behind the metro blast as Akbarjon Djalilov, adding that he had also planted a second bomb that was defused by the authorities.
“The investigation identified the man who set off the bomb in the carriage of the Saint Petersburg metro. It was Akbarjon Djalilov,” a statement by the Investigative Committee said.
The investigators’ statement added that traces of DNA from Djalilov, 22, were also found on a bag with a second explosive device that was discovered at another metro station shortly before the blast in the tunnel that killed 14 people.
“The conclusion of genetic evaluation and footage from surveillance cameras enable the investigation to conclude that the man who carried out the act of terror on the carriage was the one who left the bag with the explosive device in the Vosstaniya Square station,” it said.
Investigators gave no further details on Djalilov but his name and year of birth coincided with a statement from the Kyrgyz security services, which said earlier yesterday that he was a naturalised Russian citizen originally from Kyrgyzstan.
Investigators said earlier that remains of the carriage bomber were found at the scene, but it was not clear if he was included in the official toll of the attack.
The Interfax news agency on Monday had said authorities believed the suspect was linked to radical Islamic groups and carried the explosive device onto the train in a backpack.
Within two hours of the blast, authorities found and deactivated another bomb at the Vosstaniya Square station, the anti-terror agency said.
The St Petersburg subway system was shut down and evacuated, but partial service resumed after about six hours.
St Petersburg, like Moscow, is home to a large diaspora of Central Asian migrants who flee poverty and unemployment in their home countries for jobs in Russia. While most Central Asian migrants in Russia have work permits or work illegally, thousands have received Russian citizenship.
Russian authorities have rejected calls to impose visas on Central Asian nationals, hinting that having millions of jobless men across the border from Russia would be a bigger security threat.
In the past two decades, Russian trains and planes have been frequent targets of attack, usually blamed on Islamic militants. The last attack was in October 2015, when Islamic State militants downed a Russian airliner heading from an Egyptian resort to St Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board. Agencies