U.S. sharply condemns terrorist act in Mozdok

The U.S. has sharply condemned the terrorist act committed in Mozdok, a town in North Ossetia, North Caucasus.

"The United States condemns this act of terrorism, which targeted hospital patients and those who cared for them," says a statement by White House press secretary Scott McClellan circulated in Washington.

"No cause whatsoever, be it national, ethnic, religious, or political, can justify terrorism," says the statement, in which McClellan expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the terrorist act in Mozdok on behalf of the George Bush Administration.

In connection with the blowing up of the military hospital in Mozdok, Phillip Ricker, deputy spokesman for the U.S. State Department, also expressed condemnation of terrorism.

The U.S. resolutely censures any manifestations of terrorism, Ricker said. He stressed the need to combat this evil confronting the whole civilised world.

A KAMAZ truck loaded with explosives broke into the territory of the Mozdok military hospital Friday evening. Practically the whole building was destroyed. According to the latest information, 33 died in the explosion.