Road bomb kills 2 police officers in Russia's Dagestan

MAKHACHKALA, May 29, 2010 (RIA Novosti)

A police officer was killed on Saturday in a road bomb in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan, a local police official said.

"According to the latest information, one police officer was killed in an explosion that occurred this morning on the road leading to the Dagestan town of Kaspiysk," the official said.

Three police officers were travelling in the car when the bomb was detonated.

"One had minor injuries and was not taken to hospital. The second was concussed and dismissed from hospital. The third, unfortunately, was killed," a Kaspiysk law-enforcement source said.

Earlier on Saturday local police reported that three militants (Dagestani fighters) had been killed in the region after they opened fire at police officers during an inspection of the militants' car.

Terrorist attacks and shoot outs with police are common in the volatile North Caucasus, where Russia has held two brutal wars against separatists in the region of Chechnya, which borders Dagestan.

Police kill three militants in Russia's Dagestan

MAKHACHKALA, May 29, 2010 (RIA Novosti)

Three militants (Dagestani fighters) were killed early on Saturday in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a local police official said.

The militants opened fire at police officers when the officers were trying to stop their car for inspection, the official said.

"All three people in the car were killed by retaliatory fire," he said.

Russia has been fighting militants in the North Caucasus for almost two decades, including two brutal wars against separatists in Chechnya.

Russia to adopt U.S. terror alert level

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2010 (RIA Novosti) 

 The U.S. so-called terror alert level (Homeland Security System) is ready for introduction to Russia, the Russian president's special envoy on counter-terrorism said.

Russia's plans to introduce a system for responding to terrorist threats were declared in March 2008 by Director of Russia's Federal Security Services Nikolai Patrushev.

"As far as I know, the technical issues surrounding the introduction [of the system] have been sorted out. Now only the legal and political questions remain. It is almost ready," Anatoly Safonov told journalists in Washington after the meeting of a U.S-Russia working group on fighting terrorism.

The Homeland Security Advisory System was developed in the United States after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in response to complaints from the public that the state was not giving enough warning of known terrorist threats.

The system has five color-coded levels, with green the lowest, signifying almost no danger, and red the highest, signifying severe risk. The danger level is determined by intelligence from the federal security services.

Responses to terrorist threats depend on their color code. While no response is taken to the two lowest levels or risk, responses to the top three levels include increasing police presence and border control, deploying members of the state guard and stepping up security measures at military bases and airports. The red level causes public and government agencies to be shut down and staff to be evacuated to designated areas, including underground bunkers.