Russia's Bus Bomber Suffered Disease - Report

The bomb used to blow up the bus in Volgograd on Monday is estimated to have been 2-3 kg TNT, and packed with shrapnel.

Russian authorities revealed that the bomb was strapped to the body of the suicide bomber, Naida Asiyalova, a 30-year-old woman from Dagestan. They also found an unexploded grenade in the remains, reports ITAR-TASS.

Unconfirmed reports say Asiyalova was suffering from a serious disease, for which she was taking tranquilizers and painkillers. Her husband, Dmitry Sokolov, was a militant leader in the Mahachkala gang.

The couple had met in Moscow, where they were studying together in university. Later, they had left for the southern republic of Dagestan to become Islamist rebels. Sokolov, just 21, is also known as Abdul Jabbar.

Artur Ataev, senior researcher at the Russian Institute of Strategic Research, believes the attack in Volgograd closely fits into the overall picture of the terrorist policy pursued by the Caucasus Emirate, a terrorist organization in the southern Russian region associated with Al-Qaeda.

Over the last decade, almost 300 people have been killed in terror attacks in public transport in Russia. Most have been carried out by suicide bombers.