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Mar 30, 2010
MOSCOW SUBWAY BLASTS
'Black Widows' strike again
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Monday's twin blasts which left 39 people dead, were blamed on two female suicide bombers with links to the Northern Caucasus. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
MOSCOW - THE bomb blasts on the Moscow metro on Monday which killed 39 people marked a troubling return of the female suicide bombers who sent a spasm of fear across the Russian capital less than 10 years ago. The Black Widows are young women from the mainly Muslim Northern Caucasus. They were dubbed the Black Widows as many were found to have lost male relatives at the hands of the security forces.
After carrying out a string of deadly attacks that caused heavy casualties in the early years of the decade, they largely disappeared in the last five years. But with Monday's twin blasts which the authorities have blamed on two female suicide bombers with links to the Northern Caucasus, they appear to have returned to spread fear in Moscow for months to come. It was women laden with explosives who killed a total of 185 people in targeted bombings on a Russian special forces barracks in 2002, and a Moscow rock concert in 2003 and who struck in a double suicide attack on aircraft in 2004.
They were also involved in the 2002 three-day siege of the sold-out Moscow Dubrovka theatre, where bereaved mothers and widows strapped with explosives made up 19 of the hostage-takers. 'We know very little about the lives of these women before the terror attack: what pushes them to do it,' said Alexander Cherkasov, an analyst for the North Caucasus region for rights group Memorial. 'My impression is that more often than not, vengeance is what pushes them to die - vengeance for their loved ones, for themselves.' -- AFP
Mar 30, 2010
MOSCOW SUBWAY BLASTS
'Black Widows' strike again
<!-- end left side bar -->
Monday's twin blasts which left 39 people dead, were blamed on two female suicide bombers with links to the Northern Caucasus. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
MOSCOW - THE bomb blasts on the Moscow metro on Monday which killed 39 people marked a troubling return of the female suicide bombers who sent a spasm of fear across the Russian capital less than 10 years ago. The Black Widows are young women from the mainly Muslim Northern Caucasus. They were dubbed the Black Widows as many were found to have lost male relatives at the hands of the security forces.
After carrying out a string of deadly attacks that caused heavy casualties in the early years of the decade, they largely disappeared in the last five years. But with Monday's twin blasts which the authorities have blamed on two female suicide bombers with links to the Northern Caucasus, they appear to have returned to spread fear in Moscow for months to come. It was women laden with explosives who killed a total of 185 people in targeted bombings on a Russian special forces barracks in 2002, and a Moscow rock concert in 2003 and who struck in a double suicide attack on aircraft in 2004.
They were also involved in the 2002 three-day siege of the sold-out Moscow Dubrovka theatre, where bereaved mothers and widows strapped with explosives made up 19 of the hostage-takers. 'We know very little about the lives of these women before the terror attack: what pushes them to do it,' said Alexander Cherkasov, an analyst for the North Caucasus region for rights group Memorial. 'My impression is that more often than not, vengeance is what pushes them to die - vengeance for their loved ones, for themselves.' -- AFP
