MOSCOW, August 20 (Itar-Tass) — A new terror act was staged in Ingushetia on Sunday, when Muslims in Russia and all over the world celebrated the end of the holy month of Ramadan. A suicide bomber blew himself up at the funeral for a police officer who was shot dead the night before by militants in Russia’s North Caucasus, killing eight policemen and wounding 15 others. A three-day mourning was announced in Ingushetia and security measures were toughened.
According to the Interior Ministry, a suicide bomber, who staged the terror act, was identified. This was Khamzat Aldiyev, a 34-year-old resident of Ingushetia’s Sunzhensky district, who was earlier put on the wanted list for his participation in militant activities, the Vedomosti business daily reported.
Ingushetia’s President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov said “only those, who have no religion, can commit such evil, choosing such holy days for carrying out their dirty plots.” “They even defied the feast of Eid-ul-Fitr. Bandits demonstrated once again they have nothing sacred. We will find out, whose head is at the site of the blast.”
Experts said the blast was an equivalent to 10 kg of TNT. According to the latest estimates, eight people were killed and fifteen others hospitalized with heavy wounds.
Law enforcers say a police officer was killed intentionally to gather for his funeral as much policemen, who became the target of the terror act, as possible, the Kommersant business daily reported. Ingushetia’s law enforcers say a suicide bomber exploded a bomb hidden under his shirt mixing with other law enforcers who gathered at the home of the killed officer.
The Ingush authorities said police detected a circle of suspects in staging the terror act. “We have already obtained preliminary information on who could stage the terror act in Malgobek,” President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov said. “This is a group of people from a militant gang which was engaged in laundering money on the territory of the Malgobek district. Ingushetia’s law enforcers say militants who are governed by the Malgobek district’s Emir Artur Gatagazhev, who has been on the wanted list since June 2010, are responsible for the terror act in the village of Sagopshi. In 2011 Ingushetia’s law enforcers managed to neutralize practically the whole group. Eleven militants were arrested and sentenced for grave crimes to long prison terms.