Putin vows annihilate terrorists

December 31st, 2013

Peter Nolan

Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to continue to fight against terrorists and destroy them following two recent bombings in the southern city of Volgograd.

Putin said on Tuesday that the explosions represented inhumane attacks and warned that Moscow would “fiercely and consistently continue the fight against terrorists until their complete annihilation,” the Interfax news agency reported.

The statement followed the deployment of some 5,200 police forces to Volgograd to check traffic and inspect public transport following two bomb blasts on Sunday and Monday.

Police have started sweeps throughout the city, detaining 87 people.

Approximately 34 people were killed and 72 injured in the twin blasts.

On Monday, at least 14 people were killed and over two dozen others were injured in an explosion on a trolley bus near a market in the city.

Another bomb attack was also carried out at Volgograd’s main train station on Sunday, leaving 17 people dead and wounding scores of others.

There have been no claims of responsibility for the blasts, which came ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in February.

Russia has been fighting militants since the mid-1990s in its North Caucasus region, where the republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia have been the scene of sporadic attacks and militant clashes.

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