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How To Deal With 'Islamists': Russian Manhunt Ends as Bus Bomber's Husband Is Killed
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BurfordTJustice
Nov 16, 2013, 4:05:54 PM11/16/13
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MOSCOW (NYT) - Russian officials said Saturday that they had killed the
husband of a suicide bomber who blew up a public bus last month in the city
of Volgograd, ending a monthlong manhunt in Dagestan, a violence-plagued
republic in the North Caucasus.
The bus bombing in Volgograd, which is about 900 kilometers (559 miles)
south of Moscow, had unnerved the authorities because of its randomness and
because instances of Muslim insurgent violence outside the Caucasus are
relatively rare.
The bomber, Naida Asiyalova, blew herself up on a crowded No. 29 bus in the
center of the city, killing six other passengers in a fiery blast that was
recorded by the dashboard camera of a car traveling behind.
Ms. Asiyalova, who was four days shy of her 31st birthday, had been
suffering from a grave, perhaps terminal, illness. After the bombing,
investigators said they were searching for her common-law husband, Dmitri
Sokolov, 21, whom they had identified as a demolition and explosives
specialist for a rebel group based in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
Russian officials said that antiterrorism forces found Mr. Sokolov, along
with four others, just outside Makhachkala, where they engaged in a
standoff. During a prolonged negotiation, investigators put Mr. Sokolov on
the phone with his mother, who apparently pleaded with him to surrender,
according to local news agencies.
Officials told news agencies that during the negotiations Mr. Sokolov
admitted to making the explosive belt used on the bus in Volgograd, though
there was no way to verify the claim.
The men refused to surrender, and all five were shot and killed, officials
said. A woman and child in the house where the men had been blockaded were
rescued unharmed, officials said, and a stash of weapons and ammunition was
discovered.
Ms. Asiyalova and Mr. Sokolov apparently met as students in Moscow.
Russian security forces have been aggressively trying to suppress Muslim
separatists ahead of the Winter Olympics, which will be early next year in
Sochi, and the bombing in Volgograd was seen as demonstration of the ability
of rebel fighters in the Caucasus to carry out attacks despite the
crackdown.
husband of a suicide bomber who blew up a public bus last month in the city
of Volgograd, ending a monthlong manhunt in Dagestan, a violence-plagued
republic in the North Caucasus.
The bus bombing in Volgograd, which is about 900 kilometers (559 miles)
south of Moscow, had unnerved the authorities because of its randomness and
because instances of Muslim insurgent violence outside the Caucasus are
relatively rare.
The bomber, Naida Asiyalova, blew herself up on a crowded No. 29 bus in the
center of the city, killing six other passengers in a fiery blast that was
recorded by the dashboard camera of a car traveling behind.
Ms. Asiyalova, who was four days shy of her 31st birthday, had been
suffering from a grave, perhaps terminal, illness. After the bombing,
investigators said they were searching for her common-law husband, Dmitri
Sokolov, 21, whom they had identified as a demolition and explosives
specialist for a rebel group based in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
Russian officials said that antiterrorism forces found Mr. Sokolov, along
with four others, just outside Makhachkala, where they engaged in a
standoff. During a prolonged negotiation, investigators put Mr. Sokolov on
the phone with his mother, who apparently pleaded with him to surrender,
according to local news agencies.
Officials told news agencies that during the negotiations Mr. Sokolov
admitted to making the explosive belt used on the bus in Volgograd, though
there was no way to verify the claim.
The men refused to surrender, and all five were shot and killed, officials
said. A woman and child in the house where the men had been blockaded were
rescued unharmed, officials said, and a stash of weapons and ammunition was
discovered.
Ms. Asiyalova and Mr. Sokolov apparently met as students in Moscow.
Russian security forces have been aggressively trying to suppress Muslim
separatists ahead of the Winter Olympics, which will be early next year in
Sochi, and the bombing in Volgograd was seen as demonstration of the ability
of rebel fighters in the Caucasus to carry out attacks despite the
crackdown.
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