Four police officers were injured on Thursday in a bomb explosion in Russian North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, a spokesman for Ingishtia’s Investigative Committee said.
A powerful roadside bomb detonated in the city of Malgobek when a police patrol car passed by. The UAZ car was severely damaged while four policemen received injuries of various degrees.
“As a result of the explosion four law enforcement officers were wounded,” the spokesman said. “The power of the explosive device was equivalent to 20 kg of TNT.”
“The policemen were in armor-enforced UAZ vehicle, and the armor, essentially, saved their lives,” the official added.
In comparison, the bomb that killed 37 people in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in January 2011, had a TNT equivalent of 7 kg.
The blast in Malgobek left a crater with one meter in depth and 2.5 meters in diameter.
Investigators are working on the site of the explosion. Preliminary data suggests that the bomb was triggered by a remote transmitter.
Attacks on police and security officials are a frequent occurrence in the volatile North Caucasus, which saw two brutal federal wars against separatists in Chechnya in the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.
