A suspected suicide bomber today strode into the public area outside the international arrivals portion of Moscow's busiest airport and detonated an explosive device, killing at least 35 people and wounding nearly 170 people, according to the Guardian [1], although casualty reports differ.

The bomb went off at 4:37 p.m. and targeted the area of the Domodedovo Airport where people wait to greet arriving air travelers.

Voice of America, relaying news from RT, reports that the explosive device was packed with bolts, nuts, nails and ball bearings [2] to maximize its lethality. A YouTube video posted online, and viewable after the jump, shows the smoky carnage left in the attack's wake. 

Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti says a law enforcement source told it that security services were aware of the plot but failed to identify and detain the three suspects [3] allegedly involved in the attack before it could occur. The three suspects are believed to be from the country's North Caucasus, where Russia fought two vicious wars against Islamic separatists between the years of 1994-1996 and 1999-2005, reports the Guardian. (To learn more about this war-torn and volatile southern region of Russia, check out this overview from the BBC [4].)

TheMoscowNews.com, an online English-language daily, reports the attack has led to security precautions at Moscow's other airports [5].

At Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, Moscow's two other airports, security has been tightened. Both airports are working to a regime of heightened terrorist threat with detailed baggage checks. St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport has also announced a security alert and President Dmitry Medvedev called for extra security at all of Russia's airports.

Some planes for Domodedovo have been diverted to Sheremetyevo but the airport is still accepting some incoming flights.

According to The Wall Street Journal, it was only a matter of time before terrorists successfully targeted a public area of an airport [6] again.

The explosion outside Moscow brought to reality a dire scenario that aviation officials have long known about but had seen little practical possibility to prevent: an attack on the public area of a major airport. Airport designers try to keep airplanes a safe distance from any attacks outside the facility, but planners know that as long as people are coming and going from planes, crowds will occasionally occur outside the security perimeter.

"Obviously, it's always been a concern, but the public area is no different from a shopping mall or a school," said Art Kosatka, chief executive of TranSecure, a transportation security consulting firm in Leesburg, Va.

In reaction to the attack Monday, Russian authorities ordered 100% security screening of all passengers and visitors entering airports, as well as their baggage, across the country.

So far the terrorist attack has not caused security protocols to change at U.S. airports, according to MercuryNews.com [7].

♦ Photo of exterior of Domodedovo Airport by moedusa/Flickr [8]

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