Bomb blast rocks Russia's Dagestan

Tue Dec 21, 2010

At least two people have been injured after a powerful explosion ripped through Russia's troubled southern republic of Dagestan.

The blast occurred in the provincial capital of Makhachkala when a bomb placed inside a trash can went off on one of the city streets at around 6:30 p.m. Moscow time (1530 GMT), Itar-Tass news agency reported on Monday.

The wounded victims were rushed to a nearby hospital to receive medical treatment.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for Monday's bombing.

Sporadic attacks and militant clashes are common in Russia's North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia.

Russia has been fighting militants in the North Caucasus since the mid 1990s.

Violence first broke out in Chechnya in 1994, when 250,000 people were forced to flee to neighboring territories because of a war between Chechen separatists and the Russian army.

After a short-lived and unstable peace from 1996 to 1999, war resumed following actions blamed on Chechen militant groups. An estimated 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict and many more displaced.

Violence has increased to almost a daily basis in Northern Caucasus following the two separatist wars in Chechnya in the 1990s.

Widespread unemployment, especially among young adults, is a major problem that has been attributed to an increased recruitment of people by separatist militants.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156411.html.