FEAR & LOATHING: Two ‘Black Widow’ Suicide Bombers Kill 35 In The Moscow Underground

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Mosco subway this morning  via TWITTER

BBC: At least 35 people have been killed after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow Metro trains in the morning rush hour, officials say. Twenty-three died in the first blast at 0756 (0356 GMT) as a train stood at the central Lubyanka station, beneath the offices of the FSB intelligence agency. About 40 minutes later, a second explosion ripped through a train at Park Kultury, leaving another 12 dead. No-one has said they carried out the worst attack in the capital since 2004. But the BBC’s Richard Galpin in the Russian capital says past suicide bombings there have been blamed on Islamist rebels fighting for independence in the troubled North Caucasus region of Chechnya. In February, Chechen rebel president Doku Umarov warned that “the zone of military operations will be extended to the territory of Russia… the war is coming to their cities”. MORE

NEW YORK TIMES: The two explosions spread panic throughout the capital as people searched for missing relatives and friends, and the authorities russia-2.thumbnail.jpgtried to determine whether more attacks were planned. The subway system, known as the Metro, is one of the world’s most extensive and well-managed, and it serves as a vital artery for Moscow’s commuters, carrying as many as 10 million people a day. “The terrorist acts were carried out by two female terrorist bombers,” said Moscow’s mayor, Yuri M. Luzhkov. “They happened at a time when there would be the maximum number of victims.” Photos taken after the attacks showed scenes of devastation, with bodies strewn across subway cars and station platforms. MORE

THE TELEGRAPH: Islamist rebels seeking to establish an Islamic caliphate on Russia’s southern tip have largely confined their attacks to the North Caucasus area they want to control in recent years. But a bombing of a passenger train between Moscow and St. Petersburg last November that left dozens dead suggested they may be preparing to widen their campaign to Russia’s big cities. Russian security forces claim to have killed a number of high profile militants in recent months including one of the movement’s principal ideologues and strategists. Russian politicians said at the time that the rebels were likely to strike back to show they are still a force with which to be reckoned. MORE

PREVIOUSLY: In October 2002, 42 Chechen militants seized hundreds of hostages in a Moscow theater. Nineteen of the hostage-takers were women, russia-2.thumbnail.jpgmarking the first time women had participated in a mission of this type on this scale. However, Chechen women have been carrying out suicide and other attacks since at least 2000.

September 1-3, 2004: More than 30 Chechen terrorists seize more than 1,000 hostages at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia. According to reports, two to four of the terrorists were women.

August 31, 2004: Roza Nagayeva , the sister of Amanat Nagayeva (see above), blows herself up outside a Moscow metro station, killing 10.

vvAugust 24, 2004: Two Chechen women, Amanat Nagayeva and Satisita Dzhbirkhanova, detonate explosives on two Russian commercial airliners nearly simultaneously, killing a total of 90 people.

February 6, 2004: An unidentified woman kills more than 40 people in a suicide bomb attack in the Moscow metro.russia-2.thumbnail.jpg

vvDecember 9, 2003: An unidentified woman blows herself and six others near a Moscow hotel.

December 5, 2003: Four suicide bombers — reportedly three women and a man — blow up a commuter train in southern Russia, killing at least 44 people.

July 27, 2003: An unidentified woman blows herself and a female civilian up at a security checkpoint in Grozny.

July 10, 2003: Zarema Muzhikhoyeva is detained while attempting to explode a bomb near a downtown Moscow hotel. A police sapper is later killed trying to disable the bomb.

July 5, 2003: Two female suicide bombers — Zulikhan Elikhadzhiyeva and Maryam Sharipova — kill 14 at Moscow rock concert.russia-2.thumbnail.jpg

June 5, 2003: An unidentified female suicide bomber blows up a bus in Mozdok, North Ossetia, killing at least 18.

May 14, 2003: One or two female suicide bombers kill at least 16 at the Chechen town of Iliskhan-Yurt. Russian authorities believe the attack was an attempt to assassinate pro-Moscow Chechen leader Akhmed-hadji Kadyrov.

May 12, 2003: Two or three suicide bombers explode a truck at a government complex in Znamenskoye, Chechnya, killing at least 60 people. According to some reports, the truck was driven by two unidentified women.

October 23-26, 2002: Nineteen of the 41 militants who seized hostages at a Moscow theater were women. All the terrorists died when special forces stormed the building.

November 29, 2001: Elza Gazuyeva detonates a bomb, killing herself and a Russian military officer in Urus-Martan. Gazuyeva blamed the officer for russia-2.thumbnail.jpgordering the killing of her husband.

June 7, 2000: In the Chechen town of Alkhan-Yurt, Khava Barayeva — a woman related to two Chechen field commanders — detonates a truck bomb. The Russian military says two soldiers were killed.

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