Suicide Family 'Behind Grozny Blast'

A Chechen rebel warlord has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing last year of the government headquarters in Grozny which left 72 people dead and more than 200 injured. The Islamist warlord, Shamil Basayev, has released a series of pictures depicting the blast and a statement saying the suicide bombers who drove into the building last December were a father and his teenage son and daughter. The images were published on the Russian-language version of the Chechen separatist website www.kavkaz.org.uk, which said it received them by email. The email claimed that the 17-year-old boy paved the way for the attack by using a lorry to smash open the heavily guarded building’s perimeter fences. His 43-year-old father and 15-year-old sister then used a Russian-made Kamaz lorry to take in most of the explosives which tore the front off the building. Mr Basayev heads the extremist element of the Chechen separatist movement, whose elected president is the moderate Aslan Maskhadov. The pictures of the incident help to verify Mr Basayev’s claim that he ordered the attack, as they show foreknowledge of the incident, and feature the building shot from a long distance lens before, during and after the attack. The email was signed by Abdullah Shamil Abu Idris – the forenames of Mr Basayev – and said a group called the Brigade of Suicide Fighters was responsible for the attack. Full Story