Islamist leader claims responsibility for Moscow airport attack

The leader of Russia’s Islamist movement has taken responsibility for the suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport that killed 36 people.

In a video posted on Monday and dated to 24 January, the day of the attack, Doku Umarov warned of more bloodshed unless Russia withdraws from the Caucasus, saying: “I want to tell the chauvinistic Russian regime that we can carry out a special operation wherever and whenever we want.”

Umarov, who wears camoflage in the 16-minute video, ties his struggle to conflicts in Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

He says: “How come when our brothers and sisters are killed, the whole world remains quiet, but when we are forced to answer, the whole world falls upon us?”

It remains unclear how much strategic control Umarov, the self-proclaimed Emir of the Caucasus Emirate, maintains over the various branches of Russia’s Islamist rebel movement. He has also taken responsibility for the Moscow metro bombings last March. Guardian