MOSCOW, Sept 16: A bomb exploded near a crowded bus stop in the capital of Chechnya on Monday, killing 11 people — mostly women and children — and injuring many others, Russian television said.

Attacks against Russian forces are common in Chechnya, but indiscriminate bombings of civilians are rare. Russia’s First Channel television quoted Chechnya’s prosecutor as saying the blast apparently targeted Russian police vehicles, but was detonated too late.

An eyewitness at the scene — a grim, potholed street near Grozny’s main market — said seven people, including two women and two small children, were killed on the spot.

Four others died in hospital. The television said as many as 29 people were treated for injuries, most of them serious.

Most of the victims were on a passenger bus which was approaching the stop when the explosion occurred. Television showed blood spattered on the pavement while policemen gathered what looked like pieces of human flesh.

The rusty bus stood in a nearby street, its side pocked with small holes.

The makeshift bomb was made typically from an artillery shell and had been hidden in a rubbish bin before being detonated by remote control, news agencies said.

Although Chechens have no record of civilian bombings, the Russian military quickly pinned the blame on the rebels trying to intimidate people.

“There is no doubt that behind this inhuman act stand representatives of Chechen bandit groups.

They use such cruel means to destabilise the situation in the capital and across the republic,” Itar-Tass news agency quoted a spokesman for Russian forces in Chechnya as saying.

Russia has fought Chechen guerillas on and off for eight years. It says it controls the mountainous region and urges refugees who have fled the war to return to their homes, saying they are safe to go back.

Russian troops die almost daily from attacks, which have become more intense in recent months.—Reuters