Five killed in suicide terror attack in Russia

Moscow, Sep 5 (IANS/RIA Novosti) At least five people were killed and 39 injured early Sunday in a suicide terror attack on a military unit in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, a law enforcement source said.

A suicide bomber detonated his car packed with explosives near Buinaksk town after ramming into the gates of the military unit, the source said.

Another source said 34 were injured and that many of them were in a serious condition.

Earlier the defence ministry put the toll at three and said 26 people were injured.

A second explosion took place in the town as investigators were heading to the site, but there were no casualties.

A defence ministry spokesman said the ministry has dispatched a special commission led by acting Southern Military District commander Maj. Gen. Alexander Galkin to the site of the terrorist attack.

Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes are common in Russia’s largely Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia.

The Kremlin has pledged to wage “a ruthless fight” against militant groups but also acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment, organised crime, clan rivalry and corruption as causes of the ongoing violence in the region.

Eleven years ago in September 1999, terrorists used a truck packed with explosives to blow up a residential building in Buinaksk, killing 64 people.

–IANS/RIA Novosti