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Russia Arrests Two in Volgograd Blasts


Smoke pours from railway station following terrorists attack, Volograd, Dec. 29, 2013.
Smoke pours from railway station following terrorists attack, Volograd, Dec. 29, 2013.
Russian police have identified the two suicide bombers responsible for last month's deadly railway station and trolleybus attacks in the southern city of Volgograd and arrested two of their suspected accomplices.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee identified the bombers as Asker Samedov and Suleiman Magomedov, and said they were members “Buinaksk Terrorist Group” in Dagestan, the restive North Caucasus in southern Russia.
Police said that two brothers suspected of aiding them were detained in Dagestan on Wednesday. They were identified as Magomednabi and Tagir Batirov.
A video posted earlier this month by an Islamic militant group purported to show the two bombers speaking to the camera and wearing explosives ahead of the attack.
The December bombings in Volgograd, a city 700 km (400 miles) northeast of Sochi, where the Olympics start on Feb. 7, left 34 people dead and raised fears of further attacks before or during the Sochi Winter Olympics.
According to Reuters, the head of security for the upcoming Sochi Games, a major prestige project for President Vladimir Putin, reiterated Russia's security assurances, saying there was “no concrete threat.”
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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