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Russian police convoy bombed in Dagestan; 1 dead, 4 wounded 2 Russian police killed in separate bomb attacks in Dagestan
(about 1 hour later)
MAKHACHKALA, Russia — A police convoy hit a bomb in Russia’s restive North Caucasus, killing one person and wounding four others, a Russian official said Wednesday. MAKHACHKALA, Russia — A policeman was killed Wednesday in Russia’s restive region of Dagestan when a man being pursued by police blew himself up in his car, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said.
Fatina Ubaydatova, police spokeswoman in the restive region of Dagestan, said the convoy hit a bomb on the road south of the regional capital of Makhachkala on Tuesday evening. The convoy was ferrying federal police forces to the region. Police are sent to Dagestan on a regular basis to supplement local forces. The explosion happened hours after an explosion Tuesday night struck a passing police convoy in Dagestan, killing one officer and wounding four others.
The Aamaq news agency, affiliated with the Islamic State group, said on Wednesday that IS fighters carried out the attack. The claim could not be immediately verified. Dagestan has become the epicenter of an Islamic insurgency in Russia following two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. For more than a decade, Dagestan has suffered bombings, attacks on police and kidnappings blamed on Islamic militants.
Later in the day, investigators at the scene found three more explosive devices planted on the side of the road on which the convoy was traveling. The anti-terrorism committee said a police unit tried to stop a suspicious automobile on the outskirts of the village of Sirtych, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the border with Azerbaijan. The car’s driver, “recognizing the hopelessness of getting away,” detonated a bomb that killed both the driver and one policeman, the committee said in a statement.
Russian state television showed footage of the scene Wednesday and said one of the bombs is believed to have contained an equivalent of 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of TNT. Earlier, Dagestan police spokeswoman Fatina Ubaydatova said a bomb detonated Tuesday night as a convoy carrying reinforcements of federal police was traveling south of the regional capital of Makhachkala. Federal police are regularly deployed to Dagestan to aid local forces.
Dagestan has been the epicenter of an Islamic insurgency in Russia following two separatist wars in the neighboring region of Chechnya. For more than a decade, Dagestan has seen bombings, attacks on police and kidnappings blamed on the Islamic militants. But violence subsided significantly as law enforcement agencies clamped down on extremists ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and many militants are believed to have left for Syria to fight alongside Islamic State extremists. The Aamaq news agency, which affiliated with the Islamic State group, said Wednesday that IS fighters carried out that attack. The claim could not be immediately verified.
Nearly a third of the estimated 3,000 Russians who are believed to have gone to fight in Syria against the government there are from Dagestan. Investigators at the scene of Tuesday night’s attack said they found three more bombs planted on the side of the targeted road Wednesday.
Violence in Dagestan had eased as law enforcement agencies imposed tougher security measures ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and many militants are believed to have left for Syria to fight alongside Islamic State extremists there.
Russian authorities estimate that most of the 3,000 Russians believed to have traveled to Syria to join IS forces come from Dagestan.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.