Moscow Suicide Bomber Likely a 'Black Widow'

Female may have been avenging death of her husband at Russia's hands
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 26, 2011 7:29 AM CST
Moscow Suicide Bomber Likely a 'Black Widow'
A man wounded in a blast is carried away at Domodedovo airport in Moscow, Monday, Jan. 24, 2011.   (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

The suicide bombers who killed 35 in Monday’s Moscow airport attack are thought to be from a “Black Widow” squad that trained in Pakistan. The female bomber was seen in the arrivals crowd before detonating the bomb, and her black clothes and veil indicate she was a “Black Widow” bomber avenging the death of her husband at the hands of Russian security forces. She was accompanied by a male who was killed, and officials are seeking three others who watched from a distance, the Telegraph reports.

Russia was warned of two likely attacks before the bombing, causing fear that other terrorists are planning a second attack. One warning in particular came when a female would-be bomber, whose husband was jailed for terrorism, accidentally blew herself up in Moscow on New Year’s Eve. The Islamic Caucasus Emirate will reportedly claim Monday’s attack, and an al-Qaeda linked website says it was provoked by Russia’s harsh military tactics against activists in the Caucasus region, which is in the grip of an Islamist insurgency.
(More terrorist attack stories.)

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