Chechens suspected in Moscow-bound train attack

A TRAIN bound for Moscow was blown off the rails by a bomb yesterday, injuring 15 people. No-one has claimed responsibility for the blast, 90 miles south of the Russian capital, but most pro-Kremlin politicians pointed fingers at Chechen separatists.

There are fears that the attack on the train, the express from Chechnya's capital, Grozny, is the start of a summer bombing offensive by rebels. Nobody was killed but schoolchildren were among the injured

The attack came on Russia Day, a national holiday that marks the declaration of independence by the Russian parliament in 1990, a moment which Chechen rebels insist should have led to their province also achieving independence. Separatist rebels, who attack Russian troops and pro-Moscow officials almost daily inside the region, also have a record of hitting civilian targets outside Chechnya.