Russia hunts as many as 4 ‘black widow’ bombers before Olympics
At least one of the suspected bombers, Ruzanna (Salima) Ibragimova, may have slipped past the ring of security in Sochi about 10 days ago, according to one report. Investigators fear she is one of many ‘black widow’ bombers who plan to attack the Winter Olympic games next month. News of the search added fear to growing security concerns surrounding the event.
Russian authorities released pictures of Ruzanna Ibragimova, who is suspected of planning to attack the Olympic games next month and may have slipped into Sochi about 10 days ago.
Russian authorities are looking for as many four women who could be used in terrorist attacks during the Winter Olympic games — including one suspect who may have already slipped through the ring of security in Sochi.
Ruzanna (Salima) Ibragimova, 22 — the widow of an Islamic militant killed during a gun battle with police last year — has been missing from her Dagestan home since last month, ABC News reported.
Wanted posters with Ibragimova’s picture littered area hotels and even a nearby airport last weekend, the news station reported, after authorities launched a massive search for the woman.
The posters describe Ibragimova as having a 10-centimeter scar across her left cheek and a stiff left arm, because she can’t bend her elbow.
Investigators believe she may have entered the city about 10 days ago, according to the report.
Ibragimova is one of as many as four “black widows” — the term given to the wives of dead terrorists — who being sought by security officials, NBC News reported.
AP
Men claiming to be part of an Islamic militant group that carried out two suicide bombings that killed 34 people in Volgograd last month threatened to attack the Olympic games.
The women are often recruited as suicide bombers by terror cells for their ability to get past security check points because they do not fit the typical profile of an Islamic militant.
The search added fear to growing security concerns surrounding the Olympics, which are scheduled to open on Feb. 6.
On Sunday, a terrorist group who claimed responsibility for a pair of suicide bombings that killed 34 people in Volgograd posted a video to a jihadi forum warning an attack during the Olympics.
The men in the hour-long clip threatened “a surprise package” for President Vladimir Putin and the people attending the games.
“That which we will do, that which we have done, is only a little example, a little step,” said one of the men, who are part of the terror group Anars Al Sunna.
“We’ll have a surprise package for you,” said the man. “And those tourists that will come to you, for them, too, we have a surprise.”
The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin on Feb. 6.
Russian officials have maintained the event will remain safe, but some experts suggested that news of Ibragimova being in the city should be a sign of a weak security plan.
“The fact that one individual either was able to stay in the area before the ring of steel went up or get through it really raises questions about the strength of the Russia security apparatus,” Christopher Swift, a Georgetown University who has studied extremist groups in the North Caucasus, told ABC News.
“The specific worry is that she's a woman and because of that it's easier for women to infiltrate indoor or outdoor venues, that she could be a bomb carrier.”
United States military and intelligence officials have been quietly planning a contingency plan to evacuate Americans from Sochi in case of a possible terror attack, the Guardian reported.
The plan also includes a way to bring in supplies or military forces for a rescue, despite any friction with Russian officials.
Members of Russia's special forces stand guard during an operation on suspected militants in Makhachkala, the capital of Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan on Monday.
“No matter what happens, (the Russians) are not going to welcome with open arms” any outside intervention, a source told the Guardian.
And Putin said he is already taking every precaution necessary to protect everyone who participates or attends the Olympic games.
“We have adequate needs available to us through the federal security service, the interior ministry, armed forces units that will be involved in providing security on the water and in the air,” he told reporters through an interpreter.
But some U.S. politicians claim that Russia is withholding valuable intelligence that, if shared with other agencies, could help keep people safe.
“We don't seem to be getting all of the information we need to protect our athletes in the games,” Mike Rogers, Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ intelligence committee, told CNN.
“They're not giving us the full story about what are the threat streams, who do we need to worry about, are those groups — the terrorist groups who have had some success — are they still plotting?”
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