Tonight:
8°c
A suicide bomber exploded a truck at a police station today in Russia's North Caucasus, killing at least 20 and wounding 60.
The bombing was the deadliest in months in the turbulent region, denting Kremlin claims that the area, which includes Chechnya, was stabilising after 15 years of violence. The bomber rammed the gates of the police headquarters in Nazran, Ingushetia, and detonated his explosives.
The blast triggered a fire that raged for hours, destroying a weapons room. A block of flats and office buildings were also damaged and burned-out cars littered the street.
At least 20 people were killed, according to Svetlana Gorbakova of the Russian Prosecutor General's office. She said 57 were hurt, including 10 in a critical condition.
Ingushetia, which shares its eastern border with Chechnya, has suffered a surge of violence in recent months. While large-scale fighting in the region has ended, Islamic militants continue to mount hit-and-run attacks.
The Ingushetian president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, was badly wounded in a suicide bombing in June. He claimed militants organised today's attack in revenge for security sweeps along the Chechen border. "It was an attempt to sow panic," he said.
An accident at Russia's largest hydroelectric plant today killed at least eight workers and injured 10, while 54 were missing. It is thought there was an explosion during repair work at the Sayano-Shushenskaya power station in southern Siberia.
