Suicide Car Bomber Strikes in Russia's North Caucasus

(Sept. 9) -- A suicide car bomber struck a busy market today in Russia's North Caucasus, killing 17 people and wounding more than 130 in a normally quiet Christian enclave that has mostly avoided previous attacks by the region's Muslim separatists.

The bomb exploded at the main entrance to the Vladikavkaz market around 11:20 a.m. local time, leaving behind only a charred tangle of the car's frame. More than 90 people were hospitalized, some of them with grave injuries. Authorities put out an alert that additional bombs could possibly be planted to detonate afterward. Details were reported by several Russian and foreign news outlets.

Russian investigators examine the site of a blast near a market in Vladikavkaz on September 9, 2010.

STR / AFP / Getty Images

Investigators inspect the site of a suicide blast Thursday in Vladikavkaz, Russia.

Vladikavkaz is the capital of North Ossetia, a mostly Orthodox Christian enclave that has seen less violence than other areas of the Caucasus like Chechnya and Dagestan, where more Muslims live. Last weekend, a suicide bomber killed three people at a military post in Dagestan. That's also where the two female suicide bombers who killed 40 people on Moscow subways in March hailed from.

While it's been spared much of that violence, North Ossetia is home to the town of Beslan, where Chechen militants took hundreds of children hostage at a school in 2004. More than 330 people were killed in explosions when Russian forces raided it.

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Today's attack happened as Muslims in the Caucasus and around the world prepare to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a holiday marking the end of Islam's holy month of Ramadan.

There's been no claim of responsibility, but the attack was thought to be the work of Muslim insurgents who've already fought two wars against Russian troops in Chechnya. Their separatist fight has since spread to neighboring areas, fueled by Islamic fundamentalism, poverty and mistrust of Moscow.

"The crimes like the one that was committed in the North Caucasus today are aimed at sowing enmity between our citizens," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on national TV after meeting with Russia's top Islamic cleric. "We mustn't allow this."