WIDOWS OF DEATH

By Chris Hughes 31/03/2010

Police release the image of the two women they suspect detonated the bombs on Moscow’s metro.

Faces of the Moscow tube bomb killers

These grisly images show the faces of the Black Widow suicide bombers who killed 39 commuters on packed morning rush-hour trains in Moscow.

The grainy photos of the dead pair were released by security chiefs hunting the fanatics behind the carnage as concerns grew the women could be part of a 30-strong death squad.

The bombers, who detonated explosives at two underground stations on Monday, are believed to have belonged to a group of Chechnya-linked Islamic terrorists feared to be plotting more outrages in revenge for the death of terror mastermind Said Buryatsky.

The Muslim convert, thought to be behind several bomb attacks in Russia, was one of six rebels killed in a strike by the Federal Security Service, the successor to be old KGB, on March 2. Agents are now hunting down his female relatives of the woman, thought to be from the North Caucasus region, to eliminate them as suspects. They believe another seven members of the squad have previously blown themselves up in attacks.

Yesterday Russia’s hardman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who directed a fierce war against Chechen separatists a decade ago, vowed security forces would “scrape from the sewers” those responsible for the attacks in the Russian capital. He spoke after visiting Botkinskaya hospital in the capital, where 72 people injured in the blasts are being treated. Five remain in a critical condition.

Police believe the unnamed Black Widows detonated belts of explosives as the train doors opened at Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations 45 minutes apart.

Following the attacks which shocked the entire nation, commuters yesterday nervously returned to the blast-scarred subway stations, stopping to light candles or lay flowers as the country began a day of mourning.

Many people openly wept as they lay tributes. “I feel the tension on the metro, nobody’s smiling or laughing,” said university student Alina Tsaritova, not far from the Lubyanka station.

Police with machine guns and sniffer dogs stood at its entrance.

Flags flew at half mast at the Kremlin and in other cities. TV shows were scrapped and services were held at churches.