Religious leader killed in Dagestan Mosque
MAKHACHKALA. June 29. KAZINFORM A religious leader and a visitor of a countryside mosque have been killed in Dagestan, the Russian North Caucasus republic's interior ministry reported on Friday, Kazinform has learned from RIA Novosti.
"Unknown armed assailants entered a mosque in the village of Karamakhi, killed its imam and a believer," a ministry spokesman told RIA Novosti. "After that, they set the mosque on fire and escaped."
He said local residents put out the fire on their own.
The spokesman also said the assailants stole a car parked nearby.
An investigation is underway.
More that a decade after the end of a federal war against separatists in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Russian security forces continue to fight militants in other regions in the area, including Dagestan, where attacks on security forces, police and civilians are frequent.