6 dead, 13 hurt in suicide attack on Moscow hotel

As Russia faced a new kind of war from Chechen terrorists, President Vladimir Putin today strongly condemned the female suicide car bombing ...

As Russia faced a new kind of war from Chechen terrorists, President Vladimir Putin today strongly condemned the female suicide car bombing in front of the posh National Hotel in the city’s centre near the Kremlin and the Sate Duma building. The bombing killed six people and injured 13 others, out of which five were stated to be in grave condition, in a hospital.

‘‘The actions of the terrorists are targeted against the Russian Constitution which lays the foundation for the development of a free market economy, democracy and development of the nation as a whole and the preservation of its territorial intergrity. The actions of criminals and terrorists, which we have to confront even today, are aimed against all that,’’ Putin said. He was speaking at the meeting of the Council of Legislatures in the Kremlin, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Russian Constitution, which will be marked on December 12.

Itar-Tass news agency reported quoting top officials in the Russian Interior Ministry that two female suicide bombers died in the terrorist act. Only one of them, set off the bomb fastened on her body but both died in the explosion.

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The identification documents for a woman named Inga Gizoyeva, born in Chechnya, were found on one of the dead bodies, Interfax news agency said, citing law enforcement agencies.

The force of the explosion (equal to 5 kg of TNT), was so powerful that when the bomb went off on the capital’s main shopping street, Tverskaya Street, it shattered the windows of the nearby buildings.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Federation Council, the Upper House of Parliament, is expected to set March 14 as the date for next year’s presidential election, Itar-Tass news agency said on Tuesday. The council is due to approve the date at its last meeting of 2003 on Wednesday, the agency said.

With the latest terrorist attack, coming as it does on the heels of the terrorist train bombing recently in Caucasus near the Chechen borders, which killed 44 people and injured about 170 others, Russia is increasingly facing a new kind of war.

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The first such suicide bombing took place in June-July 2000, but in the last year they have become regular occurrences. Last July, 16 people were killed by two female suicide bombers at a rock concert in Moscow.

In the past about three years, over 250 people have been killed in these attacks often carried out by Chechen women.

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