Explosion kills two in Southern Russia

MAKHACHKALA, Russia - An explosion killed a woman and a police officer and wounded at least two others in the southern Russian region of Dagestan on Tuesday, Russia's Interior Ministry said.


A ministry spokesman said traffic policemen noticed a suspicious package on a busy street near the centre of Makhachkala, the capital of the region, which borders Chechnya.


When one went to investigate, it exploded.


One policeman died, the spokesman said. Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said another was seriously injured.


One woman was killed and two people were injured when their vehicle was caught in the blast which shattered windows up to 100m away.


Russian forces have been battling rebels in Chechnya for more than a decade and violence is common in Makhachkala. Russian police say Islamic rebels allied to fighters in neighbouring Chechnya hide out there.


In February a local politician and two of his bodyguards were killed in the town, and in January Russian troops used massive force against five militants barricaded inside a house. The 15-hour siege ended when a tank razed the building entirely.


- REUTERS