Russian officials say 34 people, including 12 children, have been
killed in an explosion in a southern Russian town during a parade for the
country's Victory Day.
The blast ripped
through the main street of the town of Kaspiysk in the southern Russian
republic of Dagestan as soldiers and civilians marched to commemorate the 57th
anniversary of Russian victory in World War II.
The scene is horrifying, there are body
parts everywhere
 |
|
Russian TV correspondent |
Security officials
say a mine hidden in shrubbery on the side of the town's Lenin Street blew up
as a military band passed.
Police in Dagestan, the
region bordering the breakaway republic of Chechnya, said that 150 people had
been injured in the explosion.
'Mound of
bodies'
The victims included
children, military veterans and musicians, as well as at least 19 soldiers said
to be among the dead.
|
This crime today was committed by scum who hold
nothing sacred
|
|
Russian President Vladimir Putin
|
"When I got there, I saw a
mound of bodies, people in panic," said Magomad Akhmedov, a 35-year-old
teacher.
"The scene is horrifying. There
are body parts everywhere and an overpowering smell of blood," a correspondent
for Russia's NTV station said.
The town's medical services were
overwhelmed and many of the injured were taken to the regional capital
Makhachkala, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Kaspiysk.
'Scum'
"I think that few people can
have any doubt about this being an act of terrorism," said Russian President
Vladimir Putin, who was addressing a rally in Moscow's Red Square at the time
of the blast.
The mine
exploded as a military band passed |
He said the act on "the most
dear of all holidays... was committed by scum who hold nothing sacred,"
comparing those behind the suspected attack to Nazis.
Russian police told the Reuters news
agency that nuts, bolts and nails were packed into the mine to cause maximum
injury.
New tactic?
Mr Putin instructed the director of
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Nikolai Patrushev, to fly to Dagestan
immediately to coordinate an investigation into the
incident.
The BBC's Nikolai Gorshkov in
Moscow says Russians are shocked at the incident on one of the country's most
solemn and sacred occasions.
Our correspondent says mines on
roadsides have been widely used to target Russian troops in Chechnya, and their
use against a parade which included civilians outside the war-torn province
would be a departure from previous tactics.
So far no one has claimed
responsibility for the explosion.
Grozny attack
In a separate incident, civilians
and Russian forces came under attack at a Victory Day parade in a stadium in
the Chechen capital, Grozny.
Victory Day
is one of Russia's most revered occasions |
Police officials said shots
had been fired from grenade launchers.
One police officer is reported to
have been wounded.
Earlier reports said that a mine
disposal unit had detonated a landmine found at the stadium before the Victory
Day events got under way.
Drawn-out war
Dagestan sees frequent small-scale
bombings and other unrest, often related to the 31-month war between separatist
rebels and Russian forces in the neighbouring breakaway region of
Chechnya.
Kaspiysk suffered a large bomb
attack in November 1996.
Sixty-eight people were killed when
an explosion tore through an apartment building housing Russian border
guards.
The cause of the blast was never
determined, but many blamed it on Chechen rebels.
Dagestan mourns parade victims
Friday has been
a day of mourning in Dagestan
Flags have been
flying at half mast in Dagestan as the Russian republic mourns those who died
when a remote-controlled mine ripped through a Victory Day parade on
Thursday.
|
We have already determined the group of individuals
that could have been involved in this
|
|
Federal Security Service chief, Nikolai
Patrushev |
The number of dead has risen
to 41, including 17 children, and about 20 servicemen, mostly members of a
military band.
The head of Russia's Federal
Security Service, Nikolai Patrushev, despatched to the town of Kaspiysk by
President Vladimir Putin, said on Friday that several people had been
arrested.
"We have already determined the
group of individuals that could have been involved in this," he told
journalists.
However, a Dagestani opposition
figure said the security services had merely rounded up the usual suspects -
local Islamists critical of the Dagestani authorities.
Chechen
condemnation
Germany and the European Union have
added their condemnation of the attack to that made earlier by world leaders
including US President George Bush.
|
All in all, 48 children suffered. Among them little
babies, toddlers, early teenagers
|
|
Deputy health minister |
The EU said it hoped the
investigation would clarify what had occurred, and that the guilty would be
brought to justice.
President Putin on Thursday
described the organisers of the attack as "Nazi-like scum".
The rebel Chechen Kavkaz Centre news
agency unusually agreed with Mr Putin's assessment, and registered its
indignation at the killing of civilian bystanders.
However, it also admitted that some
Chechens have in the past disobeyed a ban by rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov on
terrorist acts.
"All in all, 48 children suffered.
Among them little babies, toddlers, early teenagers," said Dagestan's first
deputy Health Minister, Dzhamalutdin Gasayev.
BBC Moscow correspondent Nikolai
Gorshkov says about 100 injured people are in a serious condition in local
hospitals.
Search for
bombs
The parade was being held to mark
the anniversary of victory in World War II, and the blast occurred just before
a similar ceremony was to begin in Moscow.
The mine was packed with
screws and ball-bearings, and reinforced with extra explosives, in order to
cause maximum damage.
Troops, police and security services
were on Friday combing Kaspiysk and other military towns and sites for more
bombs.
Mr Patrushev did not reveal the
names of those arrested, but there has been some speculation in the Russian
media about the identity of those responsible.
According to the Itar-Tass news
agency, security officials suspect the attack may have been carried out by men
under the command of Islamic militant Rapani Khalilov.
Mr Khalilov is reported to have
organised a series of incursions from neighbouring Chechnya into Dagestan
nearly three years ago.
Gang leader
A report in the Moskovsky
Komsomolets newspaper, quoting un-named officials in the Interior Ministry,
said the attack could have been a response to the recent detention of gang
leader, Zaur Akavov, who is blamed for an attack in which seven interior troops
died.
The presidential envoy for southern
Russia, Viktor Kazantsev, has cautioned against blaming separatist rebels in
Chechnya without evidence.
Kaspiysk, an army and naval base,
suffered an even more devastating attack in 1996 when a bomb struck an
apartment block housing border guards, killing 68 people.
No-one was ever convicted of that
attack which occurred at the height of Moscow's war against separatists in
Chechnya.
At the time, there was speculation
that organised criminals in the lucrative caviar business may have planned the
attack as a warning against cracking down on smugglers.
But Dagestan has been constantly
under the shadow of the wars in
Chechnya.
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