Suicide Bombers Kill Dozens in Moscow

Two Female suicide bombers killed 35 people in Moscow this morning. The first attack occurred as commuters were exiting a packed train at a station near the headquarters of the F.S.B., the successor to the Soviet-era K.G.B. Officials said they suspected that the attack there was intended as a message to the security services, which have helped lead the crackdown on Islamic extremism in Chechnya and other parts of the Caucasus region in southern Russia. The first blast killed 23 people. The second blast happened 40 minutes later at the Park Kultury station. Twelve people were killed in that blast. More than 100 people were injured in the two attacks combined.

There have been no immediate claims of responsibility. Prime Minister Putin was on his way to Siberia and turned around upon hearing about the attacks. Mr. Putin vowed that “the terrorists will be destroyed.” The attacks marked the second major upsurge in terrorism on the Russian transportation system in the last year. In November 2009, a bomb in a rural area derailed a luxury train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing 26 people. The authorities have linked the attack to Muslim insurgents in the Ingushetia region, which is near Chechnya.

In October of 2002, a band of Chechen terrorists stormed a Russian theater during a performance and took 850 actors, musicians, and patrons hostage. After 57 hours of negotiations, Russian Special Forces launched an assault, killing all the militants and 117 of the hostages. During that October siege, some of the terrorists were women and were wearing explosive suicide vests.