Senior police officer killed in southern Russian republic

Attackers gunned down a senior police officer involved in fighting organized crime in a southern Russian town, authorities said Tuesday.

The attack late Monday took place in the courtyard of the officer's home in the town of Khasavyurt, which is near Dagestan's border with Chechnya, said Abdul Musayev, the spokesman for Dagestan's Interior Ministry.

In a separate incident earlier Monday, a local police department was shelled in Dagestan's Untsukul district. Two people who worked at the police department were wounded.

Violence from the conflict in Chechnya has spilled over into Dagestan, which is also plagued by lawlessness linked to powerful criminal gangs.

Associated Press