Rush-hour explosion wounds 150; terrorist attack suspected


MINSK (AFP) ― Belarus on Tuesday sought to identify the perpetrators behind the bombing on the Minsk metro that killed 12 and wounded 150, the first major apparent act of terror in its post-Soviet history.

The explosion at a busy metro station in the heart of the Belarussian capital near the headquarters of President Alexander Lukashenko stunned a city which has never seen attacks like those suffered in neighbouring Russia.

Authorities described the attack as an act of terror and Lukashenko implied that foreign forces may be responsible. But officials seemed for the moment at a loss to explain who was behind the attack.

“As of 2:30 local time (23:30 GMT), the number of dead reached 12 people, six of whom have been identified,” the country’s security service, still known by its Soviet acronymn KGB, said in a statement, raising a previous toll of 11.

A total of 149 people needed medical treatment, 22 of whom are in a serious condition, and 30 of whom have injuries of medium severity, the KGB statement said.

Health Minister Vasily Zharko said that most of the injured had shrapnel wounds or had been thrown by the force of the blast late Monday, while the worst injured had limbs torn off.

The Prosecutor-General’s office has opened a criminal investigation into an act of terrorism, the KGB statement said.

An explosive device packed with ball bearings and with a force equivalent to five to seven kilograms of TNT, was apparently hidden under a bench on the platform of the metro station, interior minister Anatoly Kuleshov said.

At the time of the explosion, around 300 people were in the Oktyabrskaya station and another train was approaching in the opposite direction, which was ordered to run through without stopping, Kuleshov said.

The blast came amid rising political tensions in the country following Lukashenko’s controversial re-election on December 19, which sparked a massive opposition protest and a brutal crackdown on government critics.

Belarus is also enduring severe economic crisis that has seen the government carry out a partial currency devaluation to preserve rapidly dwindling foreign currency reserves.

Speaking at a meeting with the KGB service after the blast, Lukashenko took the investigation under his personal control and promised tough new security measures.

“Guys, we have been presented with a serious challenge. We need an adequate response ― and it must be found,” the strongman leader said.

“I warned you that they won’t let us live a calm life. Who are they? I ask you to hurry to answer that question,” Lukashenko said, urging the security forces to “chop off the hands of everyone you find harbouring explosives.”

Lukashenko ― a leader who was once dubbed Europe’s last dictator by the United States and enjoys friendly relations with Iran ― said he could not rule out a foreign hand in the attacks.

“I do not rule out that this is a present from outside but we must look at home too,” he said.

Video recordings from the scene of the blast were being removed and would be examined by investigators, the president’s press service said in a statement.

The KGB security service set up an emergency operations centre and experts from Russia’s FSB security service were expected to arrive Tuesday, along with Russian medics experienced in dealing with injuries from explosions.

The interior minister said that all means of transport arriving and leaving the country were being searched and that security had been heightened at crowded places including rail stations and airports.

Belarus saw bomb blasts in 2005 in its western city of Vitebsk and in 2008 in Minsk, at a concert attended by Lukashenko. Both explosions, blamed on the nationalist fringe, wounded around 50 people but did not cause fatalities.