MAKHACHKALA, Russia, (Reuters) – Suicide bombers killed at least 12 people in Russia’s North Caucasus yesterday, two days after deadly attacks in Moscow that authorities linked to insurgents from the region.
A car packed with explosives blew up as police gave chase, and a bomber in a police uniform set off a second blast in a crowd of police who rushed to the scene, authorities said.
The coordinated attacks in the town of Kizlyar, in Dagestan region close to its border with Chechnya, were the latest outbreaks in a surge of violence in the Caucasus a decade after the Kremlin’s second of two wars against Chechen separatists.
The Dagestan bombings came 48 hours after Moscow was hit by its bloodiest attack in six years — twin morning rush-hour blasts that killed 39. Authorities blamed female suicide bombers with connections to the mainly Muslim North Caucasus.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said a single group could be behind the bombings in both Moscow and Dagestan.
“Yet another terrorist act has been committed. I do not rule out that it is one and the same gang acting,” he told a government meeting.
He called the attacks “a crime against Russia” and ordered Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev to bolster the police presence in the North Caucasus.
Analysts and rights activists have warned that a further crackdown could be counterproductive, fuelling the Islamist insurgency rather than creating stability.
The Russian rouble weakened 3 kopecks versus the euro-dollar basket <RUS=MCX> but was only 16 kopecks below a 15-month high, and traders said the currency did not move on the attack.
Russia’s main equities indexes <.MCX> <.IRTS> rose slightly while the yields on Russian Eurobonds were little changed.
