Car Bomb Wounds 2 in Dagestan
A car bomb exploded in southern Russia near Chechnya early today, injuring a local government official and his driver, police said.
The bomb ripped through an armored jeep outside the Kavkaz hotel in the city of Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, police said.
The vice premier of Dagestan, Ilyas Umakhanov, and his driver were hurt in the blast, according to the Dagestan Federal Security Service. It was not clear whether the two were in the vehicle.
It was also unclear whether the explosion might be linked to Russia’s presidential election on Sunday. Police had been on alert around the country to prevent Chechen terrorist attacks.
A wave of apartment blasts last fall in Dagestan and elsewhere in Russia killed about 300 people. Moscow blamed Chechen militants.
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