Explosion in women’s bag in Tajikistan - one killed, one injured

An explosive device went off in a woman's bag in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, killing her and injuring one other person, first aid officials, eyewitnesses and news reports said.

According to witnesses, a young woman was walking near a grocery store Sunday shortly after 8 p.m. (1500 GMT) when something in her bag exploded, injuring her very seriously. An official at the city's ambulance service said she died on the way to a hospital.

The Interior Ministry in the former Soviet republic confirmed there was an explosion in the capital but declined to give any other information.

The blast occurred about 150 meters (160 yards) from the Central Asian country's Emergency Situations Ministry, the site of two bomb attacks earlier this year. The ITAR-Tass news agency cited an unnamed police official as saying the device was a grenade and that the woman set it off intentionally.

The ambulance service official, who would not give her name, said the injured woman died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital. Initial reports said there were no other injuries, but ITAR-Tass later reported that a man was hit in the leg by shrapnel.

In January, a bomb-laden car blew up outside the Emergency Situations Ministry building in Dushanbe, killing the driver and wounding three people. Three people were detained on suspicion of terrorism, but authorities did not reveal a suspected motive, reports the AP. Photo: NTV I.L.