Dagestan declares day of mourning after bomb carnage
( 2002-05-10 11:47 ) (7 )

Authorities in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan declared Friday a day of mourning as investigators flew in to probe who was behind a bomb blast that killed 36 people, including 13 children.

Flags were flown at half mast throughout the republic early Friday to honour the victims of the attack in the town of Kaspiysk, near the Dagestani capital Makhachkala, ITAR-TASS reported.

A medical plane carrying blood for transfusions also left Russia's southern Krasnodar region for Dagestan, a local emergencies ministry official was quoted as saying.

President Vladimir Putin has denounced what he called the "Nazi-like scum" behind the bombing.

A landmine blast ripped through a World War II anniversary parade in Kaspiysk on Thursday, killing 18 servicemen, 13 children and five adult civilians. Some 130 people were also injured.

The target was a detachment of Russian marines and a military band based just across the border from Chechnya, the scene of vicious warfare between local separatists and Russian forces.

The explosion occurred as the marines marched past a bus taking a military band to a ceremony for the 57th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

TV pictures showed Lenin Street, the main thoroughfare in Kaspiysk, stained with blood and strewn with fragments of drums and musical instruments.

It was the deadliest single attack in Russia since Moscow launched a self-proclaimed "anti-terrorist" clampdown against Chechen rebels in October 1999.

Estimates late on Thursday put the injured at some 130. Earlier reports had spoken of as many as 150. No one has yet to claim responsibility for the attack.

After denouncing the perpetrators of the attack as "scum... whom we have the right to regard as being like Nazis", Putin dispatched to Dagestan Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the FSB security service, to take personal charge of the investigation.

US President George W. Bush on Thursday condemned the blast as an "evil act of terrorism" and extended his condolences to the families of those killed and injured.

"Of particular concern is that this evil act of terrorism occurred on a holiday when Russia celebrates its World War II victory over fascism, and at a time when our nations are allied once again in a war against global terror," Bush said in a statement released by the White House.

But as speculation swirled that separatists from neighboring Chechnya may have been responsible, US officials said Washington's position that Moscow should seek a political solution with the rebels remained unchanged.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said it was not yet clear who was to blame for the blast though he said it appeared to be "terrorism plain and simple."

"We strongly condemn this cowardly and violent act and we look forward to seeing the perpetrators brought to justice," he told reporters.

"I don't think at this point we have a sense of who is responsible for committing this atrocity but I have to say it looks like terrorism plain and simple," Boucher said.

"The first issue, therefore, is to find, identify and punish the perpetrators."