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Several held over St Petersburg attack after explosive device found in raid Three held over St Petersburg attack after bomb parts found in flat
(about 3 hours later)
Russian authorities have made safe an explosive device found in a residential building in St Petersburg and detained several people suspected of being accomplices of the man behind this week’s metro bombing, Russian news agencies have reported. Three people suspected of having links to Monday’s bomb blast in St Petersburg have been arrested in the city, as authorities said elements of an explosive device were discovered at their apartment.
The city is still reeling from the bomb that ripped through the metro on Monday, killing 14 people. Investigators said the men were natives of the former Soviet republics of central Asia, like the bomber, 22-year-old Akbarzhon Jalilov, who was born in Kyrgyzstan but had a Russian passport. A source told the Interfax news agency that investigators believed the men to be Jalilov’s accomplices.
A law enforcement source told Reuters fire engines had turned up at the building and people living in flats on two stairwells had been evacuated. The residents of their building were evacuated before explosives experts were sent in to secure the scene. City authorities said an explosive device found inside the apartment was defused.
Interfax reported that authorities were verifying any links between the people detained on Thursday and the suicide bomber. No group has claimed responsibility for the subway bombing, although a history of Islamist violence in Russia and repeated threats from Islamic State to target the country after Russia intervened militarily in Syria in 2015 have meant Islamist terrorism is seen as the most likely motivating cause.
Separately, a homeless Russian man was injured on Thursday when a homemade device placed in a bag near a school exploded in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, according to local media. The explosion, inside a carriage on a train travelling between stations on the city’s busy metro system, killed 13 people and injured more than 50.
At about 6.30am (03:30 GMT), the man discovered a bag containing a torch. When he tried to switch it on, the torch exploded and tore off his hand, Tass quoted a local police officer as saying. Investigators said Jalilov’s remains were found at the blast site, and his DNA was also found on a second bomb left at another subway station which did not explode.
Several police vehicles were dispatched to the scene as well as security services. Several Russian news agencies ran unverified stories citing sources in the investigation. The St Petersburg website fontanka.ru quoted an insider source claiming Jalilov had returned to Russia from Turkey in 2014, and said authorities were investigating whether he had been in Syria. Others suggested Jalilov may have been a “mule” used by others without being told that he was actually carrying a bomb. Little information has been announced officially.
On Wednesday, authorities detained eight central Asian migrants on suspicion of being recruiters for Isis and al-Qaida, but there was no evidence offered that the men were linked to Monday’s subway attack.
The bomb appeared to have been made by an amateur, suggesting a relatively low-key operation, possibly inspired by Isis but not directly organised by the group, terror experts say. There are thousands of Russians and Russian speakers from former Soviet countries fighting with Isis, and security officials have long feared the threat from returning jihadis.
Also on Thursday, a bomb exploded in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, causing one injury. Early reports suggested the explosives were in a plastic bag left near a school, which detonated when it was picked up by a cleaner.
A gathering to show solidarity in the face of the terror threat is planned for central Moscow on Thursday afternoon, and for cities across Russia on Saturday. Some critics have suggested the rallies are a cynical Kremlin-promoted exercise to use the terror threat to rally the population after the biggest anti-government protests in five years hit Moscow and other cities two weeks ago.