Moscow bombing
April 5, 2010
A computer science teacher was identified by her parents as the second of two female suicide bombers who killed dozens during a rush-hour attack on the Moscow metro last week, a Russian newspaper reported Sunday.
Rasul Magomedov recognized his daughter Maryam Sharipova in a photograph published on the Internet and sent to him by an acquaintance. The 28-year-old disappeared the day before the March 29 bombings that killed 40 and wounded at least 121.
Sharipova was from the turbulent southern province of Dagestan, also home to the woman identified as the first bomber. On Friday, Russian prosecutors named Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova, the 17-year-old widow of an Islamist militant, as the young woman who blew herself up at the Park Kultury metro station.
Magomedov said his daughter had a degree in mathematics and psychology and had been living at home and teaching computer science since 2006. He said he had never noticed her express extremist views.
"I would really like the investigation to uncover the true picture of what happened. We cannot even suggest how Maryam could get to Moscow. Yes, she was religious. But she never expressed any radical beliefs," he told the Novaya Gazeta newspaper.
He added that his daughter had denied allegations from local security forces that she had links to insurgents in the region and that she had married a local separatist leader.
A week of attacks
The news comes after a week of attacks in Russia which have resulted in at least 50 deaths. On Wednesday, two suicide bombings in the town of Kizylar in Dagestan killed 12 people, including nine police officers.
Earlier on Sunday, a bomb blast derailed a train in Dagestan but did not cause any casualties. Security forces said the blast was linked to the attacks earlier in the week.
Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service, has blamed militant groups linked to the North Caucasus for the attacks but has not given further details on the investigation.
Islamist Chechen rebels claimed responsibility on Wednesday for the Moscow metro bombings and have threatened further attacks against Russian cities.
cmk/AFP/AP/Reuters
Editor: Nigel Tandy