2010-03-29
Female Suicide Bombers Kill Dozens in Moscow
Two Chechen female suicide bombers struck the metro system in Moscow today, killing dozens of innocent civilians, at least 35 and likely more as the day continues. The blasts occurred within less than a half hour of one another and one of the bombers detonated her explosives as the train was under the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation building... it's more commonly known as the FSB and, not surprisingly, the building is the former headquarters of the KGB.
This is the most deadly attack in Russia since 2004 when two female Chechen bombers downed two Russian passenger planes (killing 89) and; later, Chechen terrorists captured the school at Beslan and killed hundreds of school children, parents, and teachers. Since the Russians managed to kill the terrorist mastermind behind the Second Chechen War and the ongoing insurgency, Shamil Basayev, the terrorists in Chechnya have been relatively inactive.
At these initial stages after a terrorist attack, very little is known about the motive. That's something that will either be released shortly or investigated and discovered in the days and weeks to come. It will be particularly interesting to see just how the Russian Federation handles the information they get from their investigation. Under the Presidency of Vladimir Putin, the Government was incredibly tight lipped about facts uncovered. It will be interesting to see if the government under Dmitry Medvedev, which has been more transparent and cooperative with the international community, is any more forthcoming with information.
Although it's still early, it is interesting that these attacks happened so shortly after the US and Russia signed a historic nuclear weapon reduction treaty. Although you would think the reduction of arms would be good for Russia's enemies, nuclear weapons aren't really an option for this region or this kind of war. It is possible that the terrorists were hoping to capitalize on nationalists feeling upset that the Russians have to eliminate more weapons than the Americans... and in addition to that... the government can't even protect its own citizens.
There's something else to keep in mind, too. This is following a pattern. On August 24, 2004, two female suicide bombers on two planes (similar to trains as they are used for mass transportation) detonated their explosives. A week later (September 1), the Chechen terrorists took over the school in Beslan. It is very possible that something else, very possibly in Caucasus (Dagestan or Ingushetia), is in the works. Thankfully, I'm sure the people over at the FSB are aware of the possible development of a pattern and are going to be working overtime to prevent anything further from happening.
To be as fair as possible to the perpetrators of these attacks, Chechen girls are often kidnapped by terrorists or sold to terrorists by their parents, pumped full of drugs, raped repeatedly (making them ineligible for marriage and unable to return home). They are taught that the only way to redeem themselves is by killing themselves and "the enemies of Islam." They are often called "Black Widows" by us in the west and Russia, but they are not the widows of fallen terrorists... they're young, unmarried women who have been tortured and tormented by soulless, evil men fixated on the spilling of blood.
