“Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity” — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan
“Russia bus bomb: Volgograd blast kills six,” from the BBC, October 21 (thanks to all who sent this in):
An explosion that killed at least six people on a bus in the southern Russian city of Volgograd was caused by a bomb, Russian officials say.
They suspect a woman from Dagestan in the North Caucasus, thought to be the partner of an Islamist militant, carried out a suicide attack.
The blast, which happened just after 14:00 (10:00 GMT), also injured more than 20 people, some of them seriously.
North Caucasus has seen many attacks by Islamist militants in recent years.
It is believed there were 40 people on board the bus, the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow reports.
Image of the jihadist killer’s passport from here (thanks to BD).
The last significant attack on Russia’s transport system was the devastating bomb blast that killed 37 people at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport almost three years ago….
One man whose daughter survived the explosion told Moscow Echo radio: “It was a powerful explosion – a huge blast. There were lots of students on the bus.”…
Mr Markin was later quoted by the Interfax agency as identifying the suspected suicide bomber as a woman from Dagestan.
He said: “According to preliminary information, the self-explosion was carried out by a 30-year-old Dagestani native, Naida Akhiyalova.
“According to investigators’ information, the woman entered the bus at one of the bus stops and, almost right after that, the bomb went off. That is also confirmed by one of the passengers who survived.”…
Female suicide bombers struck at two underground railway stations in Moscow in 2010, killing more than 35 people.
They were also believed responsible for explosions on two passenger jets at a Moscow airport in 2004 that killed about 90 people.
Separatists in Chechnya have fought two wars with Russian forces over the past two decades.
But the violence has spread across the North Caucasus in recent years, including to mainly-Muslim Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Hundreds of people, including members of the government and security services, have been killed….