Russian investigators have traced the deadly Moscow airport bombing earlier this week to the country's restive southern region that includes Chechnya.
The Investigative Committee has identified the suicide bomber as a 20-year-old man from Northern Caucasus, said the committee's spokesman on Saturday.
The bomb killed 35 people and wounded 180 at Domodedovo airport on Monday.
“The act of terrorism at Domodedovo has been solved,” said spokesman Vladimir Markin in a short statement.
“Even though the investigators know the man's name we won't disclose it today because the search is on for the attack masterminds and their accomplices,” the Interfax news wire quoted Mr. Markin as saying. He added that the attackers had targeted foreigners and therefore bombed the international arrival hall at Domodedovo.
Investigators have also detained four people and are looking for several more persons for their involvement in an accidental explosion that killed a suspected “black widow” suicide bomber at a rented cabin in a Moscow sports club on December 31.
“A terrorist group planned to carry out a terrorist attack in the centre of Moscow on New Year eve,” said the spokesman.
He denied the incident was linked to the airport bombing, saying the two blasts were the work of unconnected armed gangs operating in different regions of Northern Caucasus.
A newspaper report suggested that the December 31 bomb was to be set off by a text message sent to the “black widow's” mobile phone when she would mix with crowds celebrating the New Year in Red Square. However, the bomb was caused to go off earlier by a greetings message from the phone company.
