Dozens Hurt by 2 Bombs in Capital of Dagestan

A coordinated pair of explosions in the capital of Dagestan early Thursday killed at least one person and wounded dozens more in the violence-plagued republic in Russia’s North Caucasus region, officials said.

A first explosion wounded four police officers. A second, more powerful one wounded rescuers.

The first blast hit a police car, officials said, wounding four officers. The second, more powerful bomb, planted in or under a car, wounded police officers and rescuers who rushed to the scene.

Reports of the number hurt ranged from 30 to 60. Stores and residential buildings near the blast in the capital, Makhachkala, were damaged or destroyed, officials said.

The attack in Makhachkala, on the Caspian Sea, was the latest in a series in a republic that has overtaken the neighboring republic of Chechnya as the most dangerous place in the region.

In the first nine months of this year, 315 people were killed, 224 wounded and 18 kidnapped in Dagestan, according to an independent Internet news site, Caucasian Knot. An estimated 100 police officers are killed every year in attacks aimed at representatives of the government and security forces.

The violence involves a combination of a growing Islamist insurgency along with criminal gangs and clan wars that have plagued Dagestan, home to 2.5 million people, for many years. A poverty-ridden mountainous republic composed of more than 30 ethnic groups, Dagestan is supported by large financial subsidies from Moscow, while soldiers and the police try to quell almost daily episodes of violence.

Late Wednesday, another explosion in Makhachkala killed three people in a car that was apparently transporting a bomb, wounding several bystanders, officials told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

On Thursday morning several people assaulted a local police chief in the town of Buinaksk, about 20 miles from Makhachkala, killing two of his bodyguards, the news service reported.

Later on Thursday militants attacked a military convoy in the Tsunta district of Dagestan, wounding one serviceman, the Interfax news agency reported. It quoted an official as saying the assailants had escaped.

The latest violence shows the mistakes of the government’s terrorism policy, which relies on the use of force, Oleg Orlov, head of Memorial, a human rights group, told Interfax.

The agency quoted him as saying that these policies, along with abuse by law enforcement officers and widespread corruption, are the root causes of the unrest in Dagestan.

Obama: offered condolences after Norway Blast

Obama, who visited Oslo in 2009 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, fondly recalled his welcome in the NATO ally and he wanted to personally extend my condolences to the people of Norway.

US President Barack Obama offered condolences to Norway after deadly twin attacks Friday and urged countries around the world to step up cooperation to combat terror.

During a meeting with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key, Obama called the attacks “a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring.”

The president said, “We have to work cooperatively together on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks,”

A blast tore through government buildings and a gunman opened fire at a youth meeting of the ruling party, leaving at least 17 people reported dead.

Clinton said,We stand with the people of Norway in this moment of sorrow and offer our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those injured and killed.

State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton called the attacks “despicable” and said the embassy in Oslo has urged all US citizens to avoid the center of the Norwegian capital.

New Zealand’s prime minister, in his meeting with Obama, also voiced his “sympathies and concerns” over the attacks in Norway.

He said, “And that’s why New Zealand plays its part in Afghanistan as we try and join others like the United States in making the world a safer place,”

Bomb Blast in Oslo (Narway)

A gunman dressed in police uniform opened fire at a youth camp of Norway's capital in Oslo ruling political party on Friday, killing at least 80 people. After Hours a bomb attack near the office of Norwegian Prime Minister's building.

The bomb, which shook the city centre in mid-afternoon, blew out the windows of the prime minister's building and damaged the finance and oil ministry buildings. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who was not in the building at the time.

The cause of the blast was unknown but the tangled wreckage of a car was outside one building and the damage appeared consistent to witnesses with that from car bombs. Police and fire officials declined comment on the cause.

David Lea, Western Europe analyst, at Control Risks said: "It's very difficult to tell what has happened. There certainly aren't any domestic Norwegian terrorist groups although there have been some al Qaeda-linked arrests from time to time.

Right-wing militancy has generated sporadic attacks in other countries, including the United States. In 1995, 168 people were killed when Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb at a federal building in Oklahoma City.

NATO member Norway has been the target of threats before over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya.

Violence or the threat of it has already come to the other Nordic states: a botched bomb attack took place in the Swedish capital Stockholm last December and the bomber was killed.

In Oslo, the building of a publisher which recently put out a translation of a Danish book on the cartoon controversy was also affected, but was apparently not the target.

The Oslo district attacked is the very heart of power in Norway. Nevertheless, security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka.