At least 40 people were killed in Moscow Monday morning in a double suicide attack on the city's metro system. Dozens more were wounded. One attack took place at the Lubyanka station; 40 minutes later, a second bomber struck the Park Kultury station.
A Russian official said an estimated 25 people were killed in the first attack. The attack killed both passengers on the train and people waiting on the platform.
The Lubyanka station is located next to the Russian Federal Security Service headquarters, and is also near the Kremlin.
A website affiliated with Muslim rebels seeking to create their own state in the Chechnya region claimed that the Chechen separatists were responsible for the attack.
Chechen terrorists have been responsible for previous mass casualty attacks in Russia, including a 2002 attack on a Moscow theater and the 2004 Beslan school massacre, in which terrorists took more than 1,100 people – including over 770 schoolchildren – hostage, ultimately killing hundreds.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Leiberman spoke to his Russian counterpart about how terror has become a worldwide scourge that must be destroyed. He was assured that extra guards will be posted in Jewish areas and at Jewish places of worship during the Passover holiday.