Police Establish Organizers of Makhachkala Bombings

Dagestan’s Rapid Reaction Staff on Friday said it has established the identities of four men behind the May 3 twin blasts in Makhachkala.

 

“These are the ringleader of Makhachkala criminal group Gussein Mamayev, born 1988, and three others” a spokesman for the Dagestan Rapid Reaction Staff said.

 

All four people were attempting to recruit potential suicide bombers, he added.

 

The death toll in the twin blasts in Dagestan has hit 13 people, with about 100 injured. Eighty-three people were hospitalized, while 26 received medical treatment on the site. The thirteen dead include seven police officers, two firefighters and two local residents.

 

According to preliminary information, a suicide bomber died when he blew up his car after it was stopped for a security check at a police post on the outskirts of the city.

 

At approximately 10:45 p.m. local time, or about half an hour after the first blast, a second bomb containing the equivalent of 50 kg of TNT, went off in a light van parked nearby, killing twelve.

 

The second blast took place when a vehicle with emergency service personnel had arrived at the scene. The blasts claimed the lives of three rescuers and six police officers, but casualty reports are still being verified, according to the republic’s Interior Ministry.

 

Police are also trying to find out whether the blasts were meant to go off near the police station or whether the suspects had hoped to smuggle the bombs past the police checkpoint, a law-enforcement official said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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