A suicide bomber Tuesday blew himself up outside the headquarters of the security service in the northwestern Kazakh city of Aktobe, wounding three people, officials said. The mysterious bombing was a rare event in Kazakhstan, a majority Muslim nation that prides itself on being the most stable nation in Central Asia and a hub for Western investment.
General prosecutors office spokesman Zhandos Umiraliyev told reporters in the capital Astana that the authorities had identified the bomber. “It has been confirmed that that the act was carried out by Rakhimzhan Makhatov. A criminal investigation has been opened,” he said. He played down claims that it may have been a terrorist attack, saying the bomber suspected in several unspecified crimes detonated the bomb as a way to flee prosecution.
Asked if this was an act of terror, Umiraliyev said, “No, no.” Three people, including a member of the security services, were wounded, he said. The bomber was killed.