Two female suicide bombers killed at least 38 people and injured 65 on packed Moscow metro trains on Monday. Though no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, security analysts said Chechen rebels were the most likely to be behind the incidents.
They said Moscow would take tough measures against whatever terrorist group had planned the deadly bombings.
Chen Yurong, a Russian studies expert at China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), said Moscow would take tough measures against the rebels behind Monday's blast, as "that is (Prime Minister Vladimir) Putin's approach".
She said Moscow had tried to talk with them when Boris Yeltsin was the Russian president, but had made no progress.
"Tit-for-tat is the only way for such violence. There's still no better way than being tough," Chen said, suggesting that the Russian government should first intensify security at places where many people were likely to gather.
Hours after the worst attack on the Russian capital in six years, President Dmitry Medvedev declared the country would act "without compromise" to root out terrorists.
He ordered tightened security measures throughout Russia and airports were put on alert. Witnesses spoke of panic at the stations, with people falling over each other in dense smoke and dust as they tried to escape.
The first blast tore through the second carriage of a metro train just before 8 am as it stood at the Lubyanka station, close to the headquarters of Russia's main domestic security service FSB. It killed at least 23 people.
About 40 minutes later, another blast in the second carriage of a train waiting at the Park Kultury metro station, opposite Gorky Park, killed 12 to 14 more people, an emergencies ministry spokesman said by telephone.
Questions:
1. What city did the attack happen?
2. How many people are believed to have died?
3. Around what time did the first blast happen?
Answers:
1. Moscow.
2. 38.
3. 8am.
(中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑)
About the broadcaster:
Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.