By Annie Lewandowski
As the year progresses, it seems every day is filled with news of another act of terror or hate crime coming to pass, wrecking the lives of many innocent civilians. A bombing in the metro system of St. Petersburg, Russia in early April was the most recent example of yet another fear-mongering event, taking the lives of 13 passengers and injuring many more riders, completely unaware that their daily commute was to end in tragedy. According to authorities, the attack was a suicide-mission executed by a Kyrgyz-born Russian man, Akbarjon Djalilov. No known terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for this attack, but according to CNN, there is a possibility that the bomber could have been associated with ISIS or Chechen insurgents, many of whom were displaced from their province of Chechnya during WWII. Despite the attack taking place over a month ago, it represents a continuation of a trend of terrorist attacks in Russia. Dating all the way back to the 1970’s, there are estimations that over 3,000 people have died at the hand of terrorists both domestic and foreign. Two of the most commonly targeted area seem to be the Domodedovo airport and the subway systems of both Moscow and St. Petersburg, all sites of heavily concentrated pedestrian traffic. This is not the only recent terrorist violence to hit the international community. A disturbingly high number of bombings, shootings, and assaults have racked Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, reaching as far as Cameroon, Pakistan, and Sweden, destroying families and devastating communities.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/04/europe/st-petersburg-russia-explosion/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/world/europe/st-petersburg-metro-attack-russia.html
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/11/8-arrested-in-connected-with-st-petersburg-bombing.html
photo: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04/05/6-arrested-for-terrorism-in-wake-st-petersburg-bombing.html
HB IN RETROSPECT 