Investigators said that a severed head had been found at the site of the explosion, suggesting that the act was a suicide bombing. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government declined to comment on the militant group's statement.

The population count, the first since 1998, began last month, and 200,000 soldiers are providing security for about 120,000 government officials for the door-to-door collection of data. "The purpose of the attack apparently was to spread fear within the enumerators and other staff," the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

One possible reason for the attack on the members of the census team was that they were a relatively easy target because they were in a neighborhood, rather than in a fortified area. Witnesses and officials said that the census team, along with security forces, had been gathering near the site of the blast during the past few days, before dispersing to neighborhoods.

On Wednesday morning, the driver of the van carrying the census team had reported a problem with the vehicle and parked, after which the blast occurred. The van was badly damaged.

"The team was getting ready for work when the explosion took place," said Ghulam Haider, the owner of a barbershop about 50 feet from the site of the blast. "We saw lots of smoke, and a motorcycle caught fire. Bodies were lying around, including the soldiers," Mr. Haider added.

The driver of the van, who was among the wounded, has been taken into custody for interrogation, the police said.

Today's explosion in Rostov is a tiny episode in the larger terrorist war against Russia. It must be considered in the context of the confrontation between Russia and the West. In particular, American politicians are accusing Russia of aggression in the Middle East and the whole West's resources to confront Russia in Europe.

Let us recall that several resonant acts of terrorism have occurred in Russia in a very brief span of time lately. Islamist Kazakh immigrants attacked policemen in Astrakhan (a regional center in South Russia), killing two. A bit earlier, Islamists attacked a unit of the Russian National Guard in Chechnya, killing 6 serviceman. Finally, there was the explosion in Saint Petersburg organized by a suicide terrorist from Kyrgyzstan, specifically the city of Osh where the terrorist group Hizb ut-Tahrir has strong positions.

These terrorist attacks (there is no information on the explosion in Rostov yet, so we'll exclude it from the list) were organized by Islamists. ISIS even took the responsibility for the explosion in Chechnya. But it is not obvious that the ones ultimately behind, ordering these attacks are Islamists.

The fact that terrorist activity is concentrating in Russia and terrorist attacks (including those of Islamist sleeper cells) are taking place in a brief span of time speaks to the fact that they have one boss and organizer. The West is most likely the one ordering this.

Another side working on destabilizing Russia is the "non-systemic opposition" headed by Navalny organizing rallies. These are different methods but similar end goals in the "work" of Islamists and the liberal opposition, which boil down to overthrowing the existing order.

President Putin has made Russia an independent power center and the Western elites do not like this. Therefore, these attempts at destabilizing Russia in different ways (not only by terrorist and political means, but also economic) will continue and intensify.