Death toll in Dagestan suicide bomber attack rises to 7 - TV

MOSCOW, January 6 (RIA Novosti) 

 The number of police killed in a suicide bomb attack in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan has risen to seven, after a police officer died from blood loss, Russian TV channel NTV reported on Wednesday.

Surgeons are now struggling to save the lives of 15 police officers wounded in the deadly bomb attack, NTV said.

The suicide bomber drove a car into a traffic police depot in Dagestan's capital, Makhachkala, early on Wednesday but was blocked by a police vehicle before exploding.

A police spokesman said that casualties could have been considerably larger, if the car had not been blocked by the police officers who died as a result of the explosion.

The force of the explosion is estimated at 50-60 kg of TNT equivalent, the spokesman said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday ordered the Federal Security Service to tighten security in the North Caucasus following the suicide bomb attack.

Medvedev has instructed Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service, to investigate thoroughly the circumstances of the terrorist attack in Makhachkala and ordered Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev to enhance control of the situation in the North Caucasus and provide assistance to those injured in the bomb attack and the families of the victims.

Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen an upsurge of attacks lately, with frequent attacks on police and officials.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has earlier pledged to wage "a ruthless fight" against (insurgent) groups but also acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption as causes of the ongoing violence.

6 police killed in S Russia suicide attack

    MOSCOW, Jan. 6, 2010 (Xinhua) --

Six police were killed and about 10 others were injured in an explosion in Russia's restive North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.

    A suicide bomber detonated his car laden with explosives outside the traffic police headquarters in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, local police source said.

    The blast completely destroyed the building's alert center, a spokesman for Dagestan's law enforcement services was quoted as saying by Interfax.

    Senior officials of Dagestan's Interior Ministry and investigators are working at the scene.

    Dagestan and the other mainly Muslim regions of Russia's North Caucasus have been involved in fighting between fighters and government forces.

Bomb attack foiled in Russia's North Caucasus

    MOSCOW, Jan. 5, 2010, (Xinhua) --

A bomb attack was thwarted in Russia's turbulent North Caucasus region on Tuesday, local media reported.

    Police in the Kabardino-Balkaria republic discovered a powerful bomb, equivalent to 50 kg of TNT, near a busy road, the RIA Novosti news agency cited a police source as saying.

    The bomb, a 40-liter barrel stuffed with dynamite, which had been planted some two meters from the highway, had been removed and detonated.

    It "might have resulted in many deaths," said the police source.

    Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, including Muslim republics such as Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, has been plagued by an upsurge in violence over the past year, with attacks on troops, police and officials being reported almost daily.

    In order to control the regional situation, the Russian Defense Ministry might send two armored trains to the North Caucasus, said the Interfax news agency, citing an anonymous law enforcement source.

    The trains, attached to independent railway battalions, "have been kept in reserve for about two years after they were pulled out of Chechnya," the source said.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Police kill four militants in Russia's Dagestan

    MOSCOW, Dec. 31, 2010 (Xinhua) --

Four suspected gunmen, including a militant leader, were killed in Russia's volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Thursday, the RIA Novosti news agency said, quoting a local police official.

    Insurgents opened fire on police when required to stop their car for a routine check in the town of Khasavyurt on Thursday night, the official said.

    Police returned fire and killed all the four militants, the official said, adding that one of the dead has been identified as Umalat Magomedov, also known under alias Albaro, who allegedly led the insurgency underground in Dagestan.

Editor: yan