Police Killed in IED and Shooting Attacks

A radio-controlled bomb detonated in the Dagestani city of Kizilyurt on July 18 and killed four policemen and injured six. Newsru.com reported that the blast took place at 7:33 a.m., local time, on the sports field of a local school where policemen were reportedly jogging. Interfax, citing the press office of Dagestan’s Interior Ministry, reported that a preliminary investigation had found that the bomb consisted of a 76-milimeter artillery shell detonated by remote control. RIA Novosti quoted the chief doctor at the Kizilyurt city hospital as saying that one of the wounded policemen was in grave condition and would undergo an operation.

ITAR-Tass reported sources in the Dagestani prosecutor’s office as saying that the explosive device was placed near the school’s fence and that the Kizilyurt district administration building is located near the school. At the time of the blast, around 40 police officers were in the area, most of them members of the extra-departmental guard service. Dagestani Interior Ministry sources said that the perpetrators apparently knew when the policemen would be at the school for their morning exercises and planted the bomb accordingly.

The separatist Kavkaz-Center website on July 18 posted an item describing the attack in Kizilyurt as a “successful diversion.”

On July 15, unknown attackers in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt fired on a police vehicle carrying members of the city police force, Newsru.com reported. Three policemen were wounded in the attack, one of whom later died.