Minsk - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that a blast at a metro station in the capital Minsk which he said had killed 11 people was aimed at undermining peace and stability in the country.
In televised remarks during a meeting with key ministers, he linked Monday's explosion to a 2008 bomb at a rock concert which wounded about 50 people.
“These are perhaps links in a single chain. We must find out who gained by undermining peace and stability in the country, who stands behind this,” he said.
Saying those guilty had to be found and punished, he added: “I do not rule out that this (the blast) was a gift from abroad.”
Lukashenko is at odds with Western governments which have imposed a travel ban on him and his close associates after a police crackdown on an opposition rally on December 19.
Scores of opposition activists were arrested at that rally, which protested against his re-election for a fourth term. - Reuters