Grim message

Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov has claimed responsibility for the bombing of Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, which killed 36 people and wounded more than 150 others last month.

The statement came in a video clip posted online late Monday. In it, Umarov said "this operation was carried out under my orders."

The posting followed an earlier video in which he promised to launch attacks until Russia withdraws its forces from the volatile North Caucasus region.

"God willing, we will make this a year of blood and tears for you," he said. "You had better come to your senses and think."

Russia has fought a brutal separatist insurgency in the North Caucasus region since the 1990s. Human rights groups have criticized Russian tactics as excessively brutal and say they show no regard for civilian deaths.

The insurgency has gained an Islamist tone and spread from Chechnya to neighboring Ingushetia and Dagestan. Umarov wants to unite the region in an Islamic state, and calls himself the "Emir of the Caucasus."

Investigation continues

On Sunday, Russian police said they were searching for two young men from Ingushetia in connection with the bombing of Domodedovo, Russia's busiest hub.

Russian media also indentified 20-year-old Magomed Yevloyev as the suspected suicide bomber in the attack. Security officials have said he was high on drugs at the time.

The suicide attack is the second such incident in Moscow in less than a year. Last March, two female suicide bombers from the North Caucasus killed 40 people in a Moscow subway.

Author: Shant Shahrigian (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Martin Kuebler