Newspaper: Russian Agents Foil Plot to Blow Up High Speed Passenger Train

Posted August 15th, 2011 at 6:30 pm (UTC-5)
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A Russian newspaper says federal agents foiled a plot by alleged militants from the North Caucasus to blow up a high-speed passenger train between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Kommersant Monday printed details of the plot outlined by the Federal Security Service for President Dmitry Medvedev last month.

Kommersant says a group of insurgents, led by a native of Kabardino-Balkaria province, were building a fertilizer bomb in a rented apartment. It says they planned to put it on the tracks near a station about 20 kilometers north of Moscow, blowing up a Sapsan bullet train.

The other suspects allegedly come from Chechnya and Ingushetia. Kommersant gave no details of how agents broke up the plot, but say security services had been watching the suspects for some time.

Islamic insurgents from North Caucasus claimed responsibility for bombing the rail line between Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2009. A train derailed, killing at least 27 people and injuring 96.