Uzbekistan: Watchdog Group Claims There Was Second Suicide Bomber in Andijan

Two suicide bombs exploded in Andijan on May 26, an Uzbek human rights organization alleges.

According to a report from Rapid Response Group (RRG) released on May 29, both a female and a male suicide bomber detonated, killing several law-enforcement officials. According to the Uzbek government version of events, a lone male suicide bomber killed himself and one police officer.

Sources cited by the RRG report alleged that an explosion occurred at Secondary School No. 25 in Khanabad on May 25, hours before the early morning attacks on police and security services buildings in the town.

The report also hints that the Uzbek authorities had advance warning of events. Entertainment establishments in Tashkent were ordered closed by 9pm on the evening of May 25, RRG said. The Ferghana Valley remains under a heightened security alert, the report added.