Chechen leader claims Russian airport bombing

A website affiliated with Chechen rebels says insurgent leader Doku Umarov has claimed responsibility for last month's deadly suicide bombing at Russia's largest airport.

The Kavkaz Center website says it received a video late Monday in which Umarov says he ordered the Jan. 24 attack at Domodedovo Airport that killed 36 people.

Russian investigators said the bomber was a 20-year-old man from the Caucasus region that includes Chechnya, but have not released his name or other details.

According to the website, Umarov said, "Muslims of the Caucasus were at war with the Russian occupation army in the name of Allah to defend Islam and the people's right to dignity, to liberate the land of Caucasus Muslims, and to establish law and justice."

Threat of attacks

Over the weekend, the website released another video in which Umarov said threatened more attacks if Russia does not give up the Caucasus region.

Chechen rebels have fought two full-scale wars against Russian forces since 1994. Major offensives in the second war died down about a decade ago, but the insurgency has continued with small clashes in Chechnya and in neighbouring Caucasus republics.

The rebels have claimed responsibility for an array of terrorist attacks, including last year's double suicide bombing of the Moscow subway system that killed 40 people.

Umarov, who seeks to create a Caucasus emirate independent from Russia and governed by Sharia law, said in the earlier video that he could call on 50 to 60 suicide bombers if necessary.