Woman suicide bomber strikes Russian bus, killing 5

MOSCOW: Russian investigators say a female suicide bomber has struck a passenger bus in the southern city of Volgograd, killing five people and injuring at least 20 others.
The state ITAR-Tass news agency cited Valery Safonov, an official with Russia’s main investigative agency, saying the suspected bomber was the partner of a militant. He did not say where that militant was from.
The spokesman for the Investigative Committee confirmed that the explosion was an act of terrorism.
Monday’s explosion was the first on a bus in Russia since a 2008 bombing carried out by a female suicide bomber in the North Caucasus, a region in southern Russia where an Islamic insurgency is simmering.
The blast was caused by “an unspecified explosive device,” the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement.
There was no immediate information about who might have carried out the bombing or why. The anti-terrorism agency, which is part of the Federal Security Service, said investigators were on the scene.
A total of 40 people were on the city bus at the time of the explosion, said Irina Gogolyeva, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Situations Ministry. She said at least five died and 17 were injured.
Many of the injured were hospitalized in serious condition, the state news agency ITAR-Tass reported.