Car bomber injures Russian politician

A powerful explosion hit the motorcade of a top regional leader in southern Russia today, slightly injuring Ingushetian President Murat Zyazikov, in what he said was probably a suicide bombing.

Zyazikov was heading in his car from the city of Nazran to the regional capital Magas when another car on the road exploded, said Sergei Kozhemyaka, of the Emergency Situations Ministry.

Zyazikov told the Interfax news agency he had suffered slight injuries, including burns, but that he felt fine.

Zyazikov said three of his bodyguards were also slightly injured and five other people from the motorcade were taken to hospital.

“By all appearances, the terrorist act was carried out by a suicide terrorist,” Interfax quoted Zyazikov as saying.

Kozhemyaka said the explosion appeared to have been an assassination attempt, and put the number of injured at six, including a child of nine or 10.

The ITAR-Tass news agency said the force of the blast was so strong that it blew the roof off of nearby houses, and that it damaged Zyazikov’s armoured Mercedes.

It said experts believed the explosion had the force of 220 pounds of TNT.

Ingushetia is one of the poorest Russian regions, and its limited resources have been further strained by an influx of refugees from the war in neighbouring Chechnya.

Ingushetia has been rocked by frequent attacks on Russian servicemen and local police officers, kidnappings and other violence.

Zyazikov, a former senior officer in the regional branch of Russia’s Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor agency, was elected president of Ingushetia in 2002.

He was favoured by the Kremlin.