The Russian Investigative Committee has revealed the identity of a 22-year-old man who blew himself up in the Saint Petersburg subway on Monday, killing 14 and injuring dozens of people. The suicide bomber was revealed to be Kyrgyzstan native Akbarzhon Dzhalilov. He was born on April 1, 1995.
“Following a genetic examination and analysis of CCTV footages, the investigation assumes that this particular person who carried out the suicide attack also left a bag containing the explosive device at Ploshchad Vosstaniya,” the committee said. Earlier in the day, Petrenko told Interfax that the Investigative Committee, assisted by the FSB and the Interior Ministry’s rapid response teams, conducted an examination of “fragmented remains” found inside the third car and were able to establish that the terrorist suspect was male.
"The investigation established the identity of the man who carried out an explosion in the metro train carriage in St. Petersburg. It was Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, born on 01.04.1995," committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told reporters.
The statement comes as the death toll continues to rise. Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said three more blast victims had succumbed to their injuries, increasing the number of fatalities from eleven to fourteen.
Earlier, Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (GKNB) said that “a person of Kyrgyz origin, [who] is now a Russian citizen, is the possible perpetrator of the attack.” According to Sputnik, the same man had left a bag with an explosive device on the Ploschad Vosstaniya subway station. It was neutralized by specialists
Dzhalilov's motives remain unclear and while Islam has not been mentioned yet as a factor behind the terrorist attack, the suspect was born in a hotspot breeding ground for jihad the Washington Times notes. “Regarding the link with Islamic radicalism, we have to wait to know more until the investigation yields its full results,” said Erlan Abyldaev, the foreign minister, at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
State security officials said Dzhalilov hailed from Osh, a volatile region of Kyrgyzstan known for ethnic conflicts and home-grown jihadi plots. As The Washington Post reported: “The city is located in the Ferghana Valley, an area shared by three former Soviet republics that is known as a breeding ground for extremism in Central Asia.”
It is unclear if Dzhalilov had been radicalized. The New York Times noted ISIS has recruited hundreds of terror members from the region of Dzhalilov’s home, Osh.
“[It’s not known] whether the authorities believed Dzhalilov had acted alone or in concert with others, whether he had any ties to Islamic or other militant groups, or even whether he survived the attack,” The New York Times reported.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for this attack, something ISIS has been all too happy to do in previous terrorist attacks.