Friday, May 14, 2010
Three people suspected of involvement in a bomb attack on the Moscow Metro system have been killed after a confrontation with police in the city. The attacks, carried out on March 29, killed at least 40 people and wounded over 100.
According to a statement released by Alexander Bortnikov of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the suspects were killed in “an attempt to detain three members of an illegal group. To our great regret, we were unable to detain them alive because they put up fierce armed resistance and were killed.” One of the suspects killed in the incident was suspected by Russian authorities to have escorted the two suicide bombers to Moscow in preparation for the attack while another was suspected of escorting one of the bombers to a Metro station to carry out the attack.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev released a statement in which he said authorities had no choice but to kill the suspects, referring to them as “terrorists”, adding that “there was nothing to be sorry about”, having reportedly told Bortnikov “[t]hose who put up resistance have to be eliminated – you cannot show pity”.
In the immediate aftermath of the March attacks, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had said the catching those involved should be viewed as a “matter of honour” but that the security forces would be heavily criticised by Russian media if they were to drag the suspects “from the bottom of the sewers”.
According to Bortnikov, all those involved in the attacks have now been identified and efforts to locate further suspects in the bombings are ongoing.