Moscow Metro bombing masterminds 'will be destroyed'

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Moscow Metro bombing masterminds 'will be destroyed'

Page last updated at 19:58 GMT, Monday, 29 March 2010 20:58 UK

The masterminds behind a double suicide bombing on the Moscow Metro will be

destroyed, Russia's leaders have said.

The attacks, in the morning rush hour, killed at least 38 people and injured

more than 60, officials say.

No group has said it carried out the attacks, but security services have blamed

rebels from the North Caucasus - which includes Chechnya and Ingushetia.

President Dmitry Medvedev laid a wreath at the scene of one of the attacks,

labelling the plotters " beasts " .

He said: " We will find and destroy them all. "

US President Barack Obama called President Medvedev to " personally convey " his

condolences, adding that the US was ready to co-operate with Russia to help

bring to justice those responsible for the blasts.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had also earlier vowed to hunt down those

responsible, saying: " Terrorists will be destroyed. "

He described the attacks, believed to have been carried out by female bombers,

as " heinous " .

The Moscow city government declared Tuesday would be a day of mourning.

Past suicide bombings in Moscow have been carried out by - or blamed on -

Islamist rebels fighting for independence from Russia in Chechnya.

A Chechen rebel leader recently promised to bring the war to Russia's cities,

months after Mr Medvedev declared an end to Moscow's " anti-terrorism operations "

in the mainly Muslim republic.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in 15 years of conflict in Chechnya

and low-level insurgencies continue there and in the neighbouring republics of

Ingushetia and Dagestan.

'City is a mess'

The first explosion tore through a carriage of a train at central Lubyanka

station at 0756 (0356 GMT) as it stood waiting for commuters to board.

The station lies beneath the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

" I was moving up on the escalator when I heard a loud bang, a blast, " an

eyewitness named ei told Rossiya 24 TV channel.

" People started running, panicking, falling on each other. "

The second explosion, six stops away at Park Kultury, came at 0838 (0438 GMT).

It hit the back of the train as people were getting on board.

" I was in the middle of the train when somewhere in the first or second carriage

there was a loud blast. I felt the vibrations reverberate through my body, " one

passenger told the RIA news agency.

The security services said the bomb that went off at Lubyanka station had an

equivalent force of up to 4kg of TNT, while the bomb at Park Kultury was

equivalent to 1.5-2kg of TNT.

The devices - believed to have been made with the powerful explosive hexogen,

also known as RDX - were filled with chipped iron rods and screws for shrapnel.

'Terrorist' claims

The city's Metro is one of the busiest underground railways in the world,

carrying about 5.5 million passengers a day.

The system was partially disrupted following the attacks, but damage to the

stations was minimal and both had reportedly reopened by the evening rush hour.

FSB chief Bortnikov said its investigators believed the attacks had

been carried out by " terrorist groups related to the North Caucasus " .

" Fragments of the bodies of two female suicide bombers were found earlier at the

scene of the incident and examinations show that these individuals came from the

North Caucasus region, " he said.

The co-ordinated attacks were the deadliest in Moscow since February 2004, when

40 people were killed by a bomb on a packed metro train as it approached the

Paveletskaya station.

Six months later, a suicide bomber blew herself up outside another station,

killing 10 people. Both attacks were blamed on rebels from Chechnya.