Six security officials were wounded by shrapnel after a criminal suspect detonated a bomb in a bid to avoid arrest in Russia’s Karachay-Cherkessia Republic on Friday. The incident is being treated as a presumed suicide attack.
Moscow’s RIA Novosti news agency reports that the man was stopped while trying to break into a secure area in the village of Uchkeken. No civilian casualties have been recorded, according to the National Anti-Terrorism Committee. The identity of the attacker is not yet known.
According to a source quoted by the Interfax newswire, two explosions occurred near the building. “At about 7am the first was heard; an unidentified low power explosive device went off, but nobody was hurt,” they said. “Then, at about noon, a man ran towards a group of law enforcement officers working at the scene and carried out a suicide bombing…after the explosion, six people needed medical help.”
“According to preliminary data, the man shared the views of extremist groups,” the source continued. “He approached the law enforcement officers at the entrance to the FSB building and blew himself up shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’”
The region has a history of clashes between Islamic separatist groups and the authorities. While militant activity has been relatively limited compared to the nearby majority-Muslim republics of Chechnya and Dagestan, local organisations such as Karachay Jammat have been known to attack police officers. Russian authorities have arrested or killed dozens of members of extremist groups in previous years.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
