Blast victims lie near a subway train hit by a explosion at the Tekhnologichesky Institut subway station in St.Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo) Blast victims lie near a subway train hit by a explosion at the Tekhnologichesky Institut subway station in St.Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo)

At least 10 people were killed and several others injured when an explosion ripped through a subway train in Russia’s second city St. Petersburg, the country’s authorities confirmed on Monday. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin said the cause of the blasts was yet to be ascertained, he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of terrorism.

Russia has been the target of attacks by Chechen militants in past with rebel leaders frequently threatening further attacks. Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim region in the southern part of the country where an Islamic insurgency still rages despite having two separatist wars.

Significantly, Russian security officials had released details of a group two years back who were suspected of hatching a similar attack in the capital with the support from the Islamic State group. According to a CBS News report published in 2015, security officials had said that the suspects had planned a terror attack on Moscow’s public transport system.

The group, according to officials, comprised of 12 Russian citizens, including one who had been trained in Syria. All the suspects hailed from the strife-ridden region of Chechnya. They were arrested following a raid on a Moscow apartment where explosives were found.

Despite acknowledging the new danger posed by the ISIS to Russia, Putin had insisted that launching the Russian airstrikes in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army was vital to eliminate ISIS and other militant groups before they could emerge as even bigger security threat.

Meanwhile, US officials were of the view that the cold-war rival Russia was primarily targeting US-funded groups and other moderate opposition groups in a concerted effort to weaken them.

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