One shot, one wounded in southern Russian region of Dagestan

Gunmen shot dead a policeman and wounded a woman overnight in the troubled Russian Republic of Dagestan, an official said Tuesday.

The policemen was shot while sitting in a car with a female friend near a beach outside the regional capital, Makhachkala, said a spokesman for the local branch of the Interior Ministry, Abdul Musayev.

Near-daily explosions and attacks on police and authorities in Dagestan have led to fears that trouble from neighboring Chechnya is spreading to other Russian Caucasus regions. The violence in Dagestan is believed to be linked to insurgents and criminal gangs, the AP reports.