Bomb blast in Russia: ‘female suicide bomber’ kills 14

The explosion just two months after another suicide bomber struck in the same Russian city will bolster fears of attacks by Islamist militants as Russia prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea city of Sochi in less than six weeks’ time.

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement a female suicide bomber was to blame for Sunday’s explosion.

At least 14 people died in the attack, a spokesman for Russian investigators said in a statement.

The state Investigative Committee said the bomber detonated her explosives in front of a metal detector just inside the main entrance of Volgograd station.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but female suicide bombers known as “black widows” because they are the relatives of dead insurgents – have carried out several attacks claimed by Islamist militants.

Volgograd lies just above Russia’s restive North Caucasus region, a string of mostly Muslim provinces that includes Chechnya, where Russia has fought two wars against separatists in the past two decades.

The region is beset by near-daily violence, Interfax news agency cited a law enforcement source as saying the attacker may have come from Dagestan, the province adjacent to Chechnya that is now the centre of the insurgency. The October bus bomber was from the same region.

Authorities say the woman detonated her explosives after police noticed she looked suspicious and began to approach her. They said the death toll could have been much higher if she had made it into the station waiting hall.

The Investigative Committee said the bomb detonated with a force equivalent to at least 10 kg (22 lb) of TNT, a human head believed to belong to the bomber was found at the scene.