Second suicide attack hits Chechnya
At least 20 people are reported to have been killed by another suicide bomb attack in Chechnya.
Dozens more were wounded in the blast, which was reportedly carried out by a female suicide bomber.
The device exploded at around 1500 local time (1100 GMT) at a religious festival in the town of Iliskhan Yurt, near Chechnya’s second city Gudermes.
Chechen officials said the bomb went off in a crowd of several thousand Muslims who had gathered for the festival as prayers were being read out.
The latest attack follows an explosion at a government complex in the northern Chechen town of Znamenskoye on Monday, when terrorists drove a truck full of explosives into the compound and detonated it, killing 59 people.
The two recent incidents follow a referendum in March, which voted in favour of keeping the region within Russia.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell is currently in Moscow for talks with the Russian government about protecting Iraqi oil.
The attacks will come as an embarrassment to Russian President Vladimir Putin who has struggled to control the small mountainous region. He has linked the style and planning of Monday’s bombing to the explosions this week in Saudi Arabia.
Experts from the Russian Emergencies Ministry have been sent to Iliskhan Yurt to investigate the incident.
The White House was quick to condemn the bombing, releasing a statement saying: ‘No political, national or religious cause justifies the use of terrorism.
‘We continue to urge a political settlement of the Chechnya conflict that respects Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, stops the violence and ends human rights violations.’
