Volgograd bombers 'identified'
January 30, 2014
On Thursday, Russia's Anti-terrorism Committee announced new developments in the investigation into the Volgograd suicide bombings that killed 34 people last month. Authorities said they were able to identify the two suicide bombers, but have not yet released their names. They said they had belong to an Islamist militant group
Russian authorities had also arrested two members of the same group in Dagestan province whom they suspect of acting as accomplices in the two suicide attacks. The region lies in the country's restive North Caucasus where Islamist insurgents are fighting to establish their own state.
In response to the arrests, the security chief from Sochi's Olympic Park, Alexey Lavrichev, said there was no imminent terror threat to the games.
"The situation is under control," Lavrichev said.
Sochi lies roughly 700 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of Volgograd
In December, two blasts, which occurred one day apart, killed 34 people Volgograd. The first attack targeted the city's railway station, the second, a trolley bus. The violence raised fears of terrorism at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, which is to have some 40,000 security forces on hand.
kms/pfd (Reuters, dpa)