Kyrgyzstan-born suspect eyed for Russia subway blast

The suspect in Monday’s train explosion in St Petersburg, Russia, which killed 11 people and injured dozens, has been identified by Kyrgyz security services, according to several news agencies.

The suspect, named as Akbarjon Djalilov, is a Kyrgyzstan national.

CCTV images of the suspect have been released and shows him in a red Parka jacket, wearing glasses and a dark green beanie hat and carrying a rucksack on his back through the Metro.

Another CCTV image shows him walking along the street with both his fists clenched -- potentially because he was clutching the trigger for his suicide bomb. Police believe he has close links to radical Islamists.

Jalilov’s home country of Kyrgyzstan, which borders Kazakhstan and China in central Asia, is predominately Muslim and has seen up to 500 citizens travel to Syria to join Islamic State. Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were also born there. It was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence in 1991.

Rakhat Sulaymanov, the spokesman for Kyrgyzstan’s secret service, said: “It was established, that the suspect in this act of terror was born in our republic.”

The blast, which struck a crowded metro train near the historic city centre at 2:20 local time, and came as Vladimir Putin was visiting the city.

Security has been intensified around Russia, said reports. Thousands of policemen in civil clothes have been deployed in St Petersburg's shopping centres, railway stations, airports -- and other areas with crowds of people, reported Life.ru.

Following the tragedy, the driver of the train won praise for deciding to continue to the next station, Technologichesky Institute, rather than stopping in the tunnel, a move that investigators said probably saved lives and made it easier for rescuers to reach the injured.