MOSCOW

Bomb at parade kills 36; Putin condemns ‘scum’

Thirty-six people, including 13 children, died Thursday morning when a bomb ripped through a military parade in a town near the volatile region of Chechnya, in southwest Russia. Local authorities said more than 150 people were injured.

Black smoke billowed down the main street of Kaspiisk, a Caspian Sea port of 12,000, after the blast tore a hole in the sidewalk just as a military band marched by en route to a wreath-laying ceremony.

Authorities said the bomb packed 6 to 11 pounds of dynamite, metal balls and screws and was probably remote-controlled.

It was the worst such attack in Russia since Sept. 13, 1999, when explosives hidden in sugar sacks in a Moscow apartment building killed 119.

President Vladimir Putin blamed the bombing on “scum who hold nothing sacred.”

Officials suggested the obvious suspects were Islamic militants from neighboring Chechnya, roughly 100 miles west.

Pakistan

Hundreds of militants arrested after bombing

In a sweep against Islamic militants Thursday, Pakistani authorities rounded up nearly 300 suspects while U.S. and French investigators searched for links between al-Qaida terrorists and a suicide bombing that killed 14 people, including 11 French engineers.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie went to the site of Wednesday’s blast and then visited a dozen French citizens wounded in the attack.

President Pervez Musharraf has called the bombing an attempt to destabilize Pakistan and “weaken its resolve” in the fight against terrorism.

Alliot-Marie praised Musharraf for his “brave choice” in joining the U.S.-led war on terrorism. She said the attack on the Frenchmen, who were in Pakistan to build a submarine, had only strengthened French resolve.

No group claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s bombing, the third deadly attack this year on foreigners in Pakistan.