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Lavrov stresses importance of stepping up joint efforts in war on terror

According to the Russian Health Ministry, the death toll in St. Petersburg subway blast has climbed to 14

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. The blast in St. Petersburg’s metro indicates the importance of boosting joint efforts in the fight against terrorism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, opening a photo exhibition together with his Kyrgyz counterpart Erlan Abdyldayev.

"I would like to once again express gratitude to our Kyrgyz friends and allies for their solidarity in connection with the disgusting terrorist attack yesterday in St. Petersburg," Lavrov said at the exhibition, dedicated to the 25th anniversary since establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"I’m convinced that this once again signals that we should step up joint work on combating this worldwide evil," Lavrov stressed.

Russia’s top diplomat noted that joint fight against terrorism and other manifestations of organized crime are part of the Russian-Kyrgyz cooperation. "Many documents are devoted to this, which were signed between our agencies, including special services," he said.

An explosive device went off at around 2.40 p.m. (11.40 GMT) on Monday when a train was travelling between two central stations of St. Petersburg’s metro, Tekhnologichesky Institut and Sennaya Ploshchad. The Russian Investigative Committee has qualified the blast as a terrorist attack, but other versions are considered as well.

According to the Russian Health Ministry, the death toll has climbed to 14 and more than 50 others have been wounded.

Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry offers condolences 

Kyrgyzstan condemns the terrorist attack that rocked the St. Petersburg metro on Monday, the country’s Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldayev said.

"We strongly condemn this terrorist attack," he said. "There is no justification for terrorism, this scourge has neither boundaries nor nationality. We should stand together with Russia in the war on terror," the Kyrgyz top diplomat added.

"This attack once again shows that we should join efforts to combat terror," Abdyldayev pointed out.

"Kyrgyzstan will do everything it can to fight against the evil of terrorism."