Islamist militants from Russia’s volatile North Caucasus’ region are suspected in the bombing of a terminal and café in Moscow’s busiest commercial airport, the Guardian reports. The attack at Domodedovo airport is the second suicide bombing in a year targeting Moscow transportation, following a lethal attack on the city’s metro system in March.
Russian police believe the bomb weighed around 15 pounds. It was activated outside of the Asiya café in the international arrivals terminal, killing at least 35 people and injuring around 168 others.
“There was a massive boom and then a wave of heat and pressure that swept along the floor, bent my legs and flung me aside,” Artyom Zhilenkov, a Russian businessman, told the Guardian. “I was looking toward a dark-skinned man when it happened. I think it was the suitcase standing next to him that exploded.” Other witnesses reported hearing a man shout, “I’ll kill you all!” before the explosion.
No group has claimed responsibility. The Kavkaz Center, a clearinghouse for information on the terrorist umbrella organization “Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus,” carried an article criticizing the Russian regime and describing the attack. It did not claim responsibility for the bombing, although it called the perpetrators of earlier attacks in the city “martyr bombers.” Other jihadi websites, such as Ansar al-Mujahideen, praised the attack as a ‘martyrdom operation’ but did not issue statement of responsibility.
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