Chechen rebels claimed responsibility on Wednesday for two suicide bombings that killed 39 people in the Moscow metro and threatened further attacks in the Russian heartland. In a video on Islamist rebel website www.kavkazcenter. com, Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov said he ordered the Moscow attacks.
The video was posted just hours after two suicide bombers killed at least 12 people in Russia's North Caucasus. The suicide bombings, which have killed at least 50 people and injured another 100 in less than three days, have stirred fears of a major bombing campaign against Russian cities by Islamist insurgents.
Umarov, Russia's most wanted guerrilla who calls himself the "Emir of the Caucasus Emirate", said that he had ordered the twin suicide bombings in Moscow to "destroy infidels". "Both of these operations were carried out on my command and will not be the last," said Umarov, dressed in combat gear. "You Russians only see the war on television and hear it on the radio." The bearded 45-year-old sat on the ground in what looked like a clearing in a wood.
"I promised you that the war will come to your streets, God willing, and you will feel it under your skin," Umarov said, ending the four-and-a-half minute long video with the words "Allahu Akhbar" and pointing his finger towards the camera. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who cemented his power in 1999 by launching a war to crush Chechen separatism, said the culprits behind the metro bombings must be scraped "from the bottom of the sewers."
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