Police officers killed as blasts shake Southern Russia
Two police officers have been killed and 13 more injured when two consecutive blasts shook the city of Karabulak in Russia’s Southern Republic of Ingushetia.
Both explosions happened near the entrance to the local police department.
The first one was reportedly carried out by a suicide bomber.
Itar-Tass news agency quotes an unnamed official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs as saying: “A man approached two police guards. He seemed suspicious to them and when they attempted to check his documents, he triggered the explosive device.”
According to Ingush law enforcement, the suicide bomber was trying to enter the territory of the department where approximately 50 road police officers had gathered for morning formation.
Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, president of the Republic of Ingushetia, said: “Suicide bombers are a terrible weapon and we have evidence that proves their minds have been altered and they have been brainwashed.”
The blast, which occurred at approximately 08:20 [05:20 GMT], claimed the lives of two police officers and wounded four more. The suicide bomber died at the scene.
Nine more people were injured as a result of the second explosion which took place when investigators arrived at the scene, around 09:12 [06:12 GMT], reports Intefax. The explosive device is thought to have been in a car parked nearby and triggered by remote control.
“According to preliminary data, the capacity of the explosive devices was equivalent to 3 kg and 50 kg of TNT correspondingly,” the source in the Investigative committee added.
The criminal case after the two explosions is filed by the Investigative Committee of Russia’s Prosecutor’s office in Ingushetia. The investigators are working at the site.
The blasts come a week after suicide bombings in the Moscow Metro which took 40 lives and injured more than 120. Two days later twin explosions shook the city of Kizlyar in the Republic of Dagestan claiming 12 lives. The day before early in the morning on Sunday, April 4, afreight train was blasted off its tracks in the Republic of Dagestan. It was also thought to be a terror attack, as it came after the Moscow and Dagestan explosions last week.
