Attack derails goods train in Russian Caucasus
Blast linked to Moscow metro suicide bombings
An explosive device placed on a railway line derailed a goods train early yesterday in the troubled North Caucasus region of Dagestan, Russian news agencies reported.
At 3.50 a.m. (2350 GMT Saturday), an explosive device blew up on Makhachkala rail line, a spokesman for the FSB secret services in Dagestan told the Interfax news agency.
"As a result eight carriages and an engine derailed. There were no dead or injured," the FSB spokesman said.
Investigators have opened a criminal probe into terrorism, arms trafficking and illegal production of weapons and explosives, Interfax reported, citing Makhachkala's interior ministry's transport police.
A senior special forces official in the North Caucasus told the RIA Novosti news agency that the attack appeared to be linked to the March 29 double suicide bombings in the Moscow metro that killed 40 people.
The latest explosion was caused by a device equivalent to five kilograms (11 pounds) of TNT, while a "booby trap" device placed a few metres away contained the equivalent of one kilogram of TNT, the FSB spokesman told Interfax.
A passenger train from the Siberian city of Tyumen to Baku was due to pass along the track two hours after the attack. It has been halted while the tracks are repaired, Interfax reported.
"The first results of an investigation started early Sunday suggest that this explosion is a continuation of a terrorist attack by North Caucasus rebels that began March 29," the unnamed official told RIA Novosti.
The Moscow attacks were followed by two suicide bombings on Wednesday in the town of Kizlyar in Dagestan that killed 12 people including nine police.
Militants have stepped up attacks in recent months throughout Russia's Caucasus region, where Islamist fighters have been battling pro-Kremlin local authorities and Russian security forces in a sporadic insurgency.
The "Caucasus Emirate" Islamist group, led by Doku Umarov, has claimed responsibility for the Moscow metro bombings and also for the bombing of the Nevsky Express high-speed train in November, which left 28 people dead.