Naida Asiyalova has been identified as the suicide bomber who blew up a bus yesterday in Volgograd, Russia (formerly Stalingrad). In earlier reports, it was believed that she was the widow of a slain commander, and so she was dubbed the Black widow, although she was not really a widow.
Naida, who was thirty years old is from Dagestan, a volatile region in the North Caucasus, and predominantly Muslim. She had recently converted to Islam. She had also recently married an ethnic Russian named Dmitry Sokolov who was involved with Islam militants and a top expert on explosives. It is believed that in May, he fitted a suicide belt to another female killer in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. He is thought to have equipped his wife for this suicide mission too. He has been on the run since 2012.
It is rumored that Naida was suffering from a terminal disease, perhaps some form of bone cancer. Vladimir Markin is the spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, says that they are trying to see how it was possible for Naida to have two passports with the same number but different pictures.
Naida got on the bus and soon detonated a bomb belt made of blocks of TNT and two grenades, and was packed with metal screws and chips. The explosion killed six passengers and herself and wounded at least 33 others including children. There were forty passengers on the bus. Hopefully those injured will recover. The families of those slain will have a much harder time doing so.
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