putin and north caucasus bombings

North Caucasus Bombings on Eve of Putin's Inauguration

Fourteen people were killed and dozens injured late on the evening of May 3 when two vehicles driven by suicide bombers blew up at a highway checkpoint outside the capital city of Makhachkala, Dagestan, in Russia's North Caucasus. 


First one car blew up, then a truck detonated about ten minutes later, hitting police and emergency medical vehicles that were arriving.

Russian First Channel TV showed Internal Affairs Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev conducting emergency meetings about the attack all day yesterday, during which some law enforcement officers said that the bombers may have been attempting to deliver the explosives into the capital city of Makhachkala for use in a more crowded area during the May 9 holiday celebrations. 


President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin also were paying attention to the incident, during a Security Council meeting held yesterday.


Today RIA Novosti reported that Russian law enforcement is searching for members of a Dagestani group headed by one Gusein Mamayev, suspected of organizing the May 3 attack. According to Novosti, concern has been heightened by the identification of a VAZ 21140 car, registered to a member of Mamayev's gang, in April 28 footage from video surveillance cameras on highways both 75 km south and 74 km north of Moscow. The Mamayev group has previously been identified as recruiting suicide bombers.


The inauguration of Putin as President on Monday, May 7 and the May 9 Victory Day celebration will include large outdoor events in Moscow.