The Hindu : 20 killed as suicide bombers target Moscow concert

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 06, 2003

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20 killed as suicide bombers target Moscow concert

By Vladimir Radyuhin

A woman killed in a blast at a rock festival in Moscow on Saturday. — AP

MOSCOW JULY 5. Twenty people were killed and dozens wounded when two explosions went off at a rock festival here today. Reports said two suicide women bombers set off the blasts in the crowd at the entrance to the festival when security guards prevented them from crossing the gates.

The explosive devices strapped to the women's bodies were packed with metal balls to increase the casualty count. The rock festival, called "Krylya'' (Wings), is an annual summer event traditionally held at the Tushino airfield in the north of Moscow. This year it drew 20,000 to 40,000 people.

A spate of suicide bombings in Chechnya killed nearly a 100 people over the past three months. However, it is the first time that suicide bombers targeted the capital. Last October, Chechen gunmen seized over 800 people in a Moscow theatre. One of today's suicide bombers was identified as an ethnic Chechen.

The attack occurred barely hours after the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, signed a decree fixing the presidential poll in Chechnya for October 5.

The election is part of Moscow's efforts to shift responsibility for restoring peace in the separatist region to Chechens themselves. It will be held on the basis of a new Chechen Constitution approved in a March referendum. The Constitution recognised Chechnya as an integral part of Russia and called for broad autonomy for the region.

Last month, the Russian Parliament declared amnesty for Chechen rebels who give up arms before September 1. By another decree signed on Friday, Mr. Putin put the Interior Ministry in charge of ensuring law and order in Chechnya as of September 1. So far the campaign to quash separatist rebels has been spearheaded by the Federal Security Service. The idea is to gradually pull out the Army from Chechnya and pass on responsibility for pacifying the insurgency-torn region to the 12,000-strong Chechen police, which are part of the Interior Ministry.

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