Moscow subway attacks

Female suicide bombers detonated explosions that rocked two subway stations in central Moscow during rush hour Monday morning, killing at least 38 people, officials said.
Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Russian investigators combing two subway stations attacked by female suicide bombers think Chechen rebels may have been behind the rush-hour strike that killed dozens of people.
"Our preliminary assessment is that this act of terror was committed by a terrorist group from the North Caucasus region," Alexander Bortnikov of the Federal Security Service said of the investigation at one of the blast sites...
...Millions of commuters use the Moscow metro system every day. An estimated 500,000 people were riding trains throughout the capital at the time of the attacks. It was unclear when the system would return to normal service, and the incident generated fear among commuters.
London, England (CNN) -- Monday's bomb attacks on the Moscow subway bear the hallmarks of an operation carried out by female Chechen suicide bombers called "Black Widows," according to security analysts.
At least 38 people were killed by twin explosions at the height of the rush hour in what appears to be Chechen separatists' latest salvo in their long-running battle for independence in Russia's northern Caucasus.
Chechens, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslims, regard the region as their ancient homeland, while Moscow fears the creation of an independent Muslim-majority state in its midst and has refused to grant any real autonomy.
The struggle can be traced back to the Stalin era when hundreds of thousands of Chechens were forcibly displaced to Siberia, according to Bob Ayers, a retired international security analyst.
rush hour = hora puntapreliminary assessment = evaluación preliminar
commuter =[kə'mjʊ:təʳ] persona que viaja diariamente al lugar de trabajoblast sites = el lugar de la explosión
hallmarks = sello distintivo
to grant = conceder, otorgar struggle = luchaforcibly displaced = desplazados por la fuerza