Explosion in St Petersburg wounds 10 people.

Police stand guard next to the scene of an explosion in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

An explosion in St. Petersburg, Russia ripped through a supermarket wounding 10 people. NBC News. No one has taken credit for the attack so far. The bomb used 7 ounces of explosives and ball bearings. The attack comes after a major ISIS plot was disrupted due to intelligence sharing between Russia and America. Seven suspects were arrested in connection to that plot. It is unclear if this attack has any link to that plot or to any terrorist groups. 

My Comment:

It seems very lucky that nobody was killed in this attack. From what it sounds like the location of the bomb might have been the reason why. Instead of being set out in an open area with a lot of people around, it was put into a storage area for customer's bags. That probably reduced the casualties significantly. 7 ounces of explosives and ball bearings is a very effective bomb and it is very lucky that nobody was killed. 

The bomb indicates to me that this is a more sophisticated plot. It's pretty hard for a "lone wolf" attacker to create and plant a bomb. Generally it requires support from a dedicated bomb maker. That generally means a larger plot. It is possible for a lone wolf attacker to create bombs but that indicates a higher level of attacker. 

If I had to guess this was probably an ISIS attack. Not only are they fairly active in Russia, they just had a cell busted up in St. Petersburg. My guess is that this attacker was the bomb maker for that group or someone else associated with that cell, or even a 2nd separate cell. It's possible that this was a lone wolf attacker or even someone with a different motive, but I consider that unlikely.

ISIS has a strong motivation to attack Russia. They have the general reason to target them, the fact that they aren't Sunni Muslim, but given Russia's participation in the Syrian Civil War, it's even more personal. Russia was a key factor in ISIS losing their holdings in Syria so it makes sense that they will target them with terror attacks. 

This situation is extremely dangerous. The bomber is likely still at large and could plant more bombs. Given the fact that New Years Eve is coming up, he could potentially target those celebrations if he has any bombs left or hasn't fled. St. Petersburg authorities need to be on high alert for any other attacks. There is a decent chance of another attack in a situation that is already volatile. 

Still, this attack was mostly a bust. Again, the choice of targets was the main reason this failed. If they had placed this bomb in a more open area it could have killed quite a few people. On the other hand planting the bomb where he did probably lessened chances of discovery. A package containing a bomb is a lot less suspicious in a place with a lot of bags and purses then it is in the middle of a store.