Chechen Rebel Claims Responsibility for Moscow Metro Blasts

Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov has said his group was behind March 29 twin suicide bombings on the Moscow Metro, which left 39 people dead, reports BBC News.

In a video message posted on a Chechen rebel website, he said he had personally ordered the attacks. Umarov said they were carried out to avenge the killings of "poor Chechens" by Russian security forces in February 11 near the town of Arshty.

He said the civilians were "massacred by Russian occupiers" as they were gathering wild garlic to feed their families.

The message came as Russia buried the first victims of Monday's attacks. Russian investigators have said they believe two female suicide bombers were linked to militants in the North Caucasus.

It was not possible to confirm independently that the man in the video — posted on a rebel website — was Doku Umarov. The rebel, who styles himself as the Emir of the Caucasus Emirate, said attacks on Russian soil would continue and warned Russia to prepare for more.

"The war will come to your street... and you will feel it on your own skins," he warned Russian citizens in the video, which he said was recorded on March 29 — just hours after the Metro attacks.

Earlier on Wednesday, Doku Umarov's spokesperson had told Reuters that his militant group "did not carry out the attack in Moscow, and we don't know who did it."