Uzbekistan Launches Terror Attacks Probe | Chicago Tribune

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Uzbekistan Launches Terror Attacks Probe

By BURT HERMAN
Associated Press Writer
Published March 29, 2004, 10:29 PM CST

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- Uzbekistan has launched a massive hunt for suspects after two women set off bombs at a children's store and bus stop in the capital -- the first suicide attacks in the former Soviet Central Asia that's now a key supporter of the U.S.-led war on terror.

At least 19 people were killed in a wave of mayhem that also included two assaults on police and an explosion at a bomb-making hideaway.

There were no reports of further violence in the Muslim-majority nation early Tuesday, after its secular government promised to crack down on the perpetrators and The United States raised fears of more attacks.

President Islam Karimov blamed Islamic extremists for the violence Sunday and Monday and said several arrests were made already. He said backing for the attacks might have come from a banned radical group that has never before been linked to terrorist acts -- Hizb ut-Tahrir, or the Party of Liberation. The group denied responsibility.

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