Russia: Female Suicide Bomber Blows Up Bus, 5 Killed, Woman Recently Converted To Islam

From the AP:

A female suicide bomber struck a passenger bus in the southern Russian city of Volgograd on Monday, killing five people and injuring 32 others, officials said. 

The explosion was the first on a bus in Russia since a female suicide bomber blew herself up in 2008 in the North Caucasus, a region in southern Russia where an Islamic insurgency is simmering. 

Volgograd is located about 650 kilometers (400 miles) to the northeast of the North Caucasus, but Monday’s bombing was certain to add to security fears ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February. 

Sochi sits to the west of the North Caucasus, along the Black Sea. 

The suspected bomber was from Dagestan, one of the predominantly Muslim republics in the North Caucasus, said Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Russia’s main investigative agency. 

In a statement, he identified the woman as 30-year-old Naida Akhiyalova. No one immediately claimed responsibility. Markin said at least five people died and 32 were hospitalized, including eight who were in serious condition. 

From RT:

The Investigative Committee has identified the woman who was the suicide bomber behind the blast: it’s allegedly Naida Asiyalova, from Dagestan. 

The preliminary information indicates that “the female suicide bomber recently converted to Islam, and was the wife of a militant leader,” an Investigative Committee representative told the media. 

Also, a grenade has been found under the vehicle and it’s now being checked whether the explosive is live, a source in the security forces now at the scene told RIA Novosti.