Two policemen killed in car bomb in Russia's Dagestan

A car bomb exploded Monday at a police checkpoint in Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan, killing two officers and wounding 13 people, investigators said.

"An improvised explosive device went off in a car at a traffic police post in Derbent of Dagestan Monday morning," the Dagestan branch of the Russian Investigative Committee said.

Two policemen were killed and seven others wounded in the explosion, it said, adding that six civilians were also wounded.

Police officers were checking the Lada Priora car that approached a checkpoint near the village of Dzhemikent on the Caspian Sea.

Bomb-disposal experts found out that the car was blown up by an improvised explosive device made of two artillery shells with the explosion yield of about 30 kilograms of TNT.

RT (Russia Today) TV channel reported that the incident was thought to be organized by a local terrorist band "Yuzhdag," while Islamic State terrorists claimed responsibility in a tweet.

Moreover, it said that a 23-year-old man was identified as the attacker, who had studied in Russia's southwestern city of Astrakhan and allegedly spent time in Syria and Turkey.

However, no official statement came out clarifying the perpetrator or other details of the case.

Violence is common in southern Russia, especially in North Caucasus, with militants attacking government establishments and civilians regularly. Two suicide attackers blew themselves up in October and December of 2013 separately, killing at least 20 people altogether.

Ramazan Abdulatipov, head of the Republic of Dagestan, said on Feb. 1 that over 800 people from the republic have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside terrorists. Endit