Russian bombing suspect identified
Russian investigators suspect a radical Islamist immigrant from Kyrgyzstan detonated the explosives in a St Petersburg subway car on Monday that killed 14 people in the worst terrorist attack in a major Russian city in years, Interfax reported.
The likely suicide bomber was a Russian citizen born in the central Asian republic, said a spokesman for the Kyrgyz government’s Committee For National Security, adding that his agency was working with Russian officials on the probe. Interfax quoted the agency as identifying the suspected bomber as Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, born in 1995, from the city of Osh.
IMPROVISED DEVICE
Investigators suspect he was linked to radical Islamist groups and carried his improvised device in a backpack. Remains of the bomber are now being subjected to DNA testing, Interfax said.
A second device was found at another station and defused on Monday and police were seeking a second suspect. Officials in Kazakhstan said they were co-operating with Russian authorities, although it was not clear if there was an additional suspect from that country.
There has been no claim of responsibility.
Eleven people were killed in the blast and three more died later from their injuries, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said, adding that 49 remained in hospital. The bomb detonated inside the train as it travelled between two major hub stations in the centre of the city.
President Vladimir Putin visited the Federal Security Service’s St Petersburg branch to be briefed by officials and later laid flowers at the site of the explosion. Security was tightened across the city, and in Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the timing of the attack during Putin’s visit “makes one think” and was a matter of concern to authorities. “Not one country in the world is immune from terrorist acts, unfortunately, but that absolutely doesn’t mean that anyone is going to reduce the struggle with this ugly evil,” he said.
In a call with Putin, US President Donald Trump “offered the full support of the US government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice”, according to a White House statement.
The leaders agreed that “terrorism must be decisively and quickly defeated”.
TIMING OF ATTACK DURING PUTIN’S VISIT ‘MAKES ONE THINK’ AND WAS A MATTER OF CONCERN TO AUTHORITIES