Double Car Bombings Kills Four in Dagestan

There has been a report of a double car bomb explosion in Makhachkala, capital of Russian’s Dagestan Republic, killing at least four and injuring over forty people just outside the headquarters of the court bailiff’s service.

According to Interfax news agency reports, the first car bomb went off on Monday in front of the Justice ministry, but no fatalities were reported. Just as the police arrived at the scene, a second car bomb detonated, Interfax reported, citing local investigative committee.

Although, there were conflicting reports about the number of casualties with initial reports suggesting 8 deaths, law enforcement officials have put the death toll at three people, with dozens injured in the second attack.

According to the local Interior Ministry, the majority of injured were police officers who arrived at the scene after the first blast, adding that there were about 15 of them in the hospital.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but investigators are already working on tracking down suspects using registration plates of one of the vehicles involved.

An ethnically mixed region comprising mostly of Muslims, Dagestan has been a province with the highest rate of violence in the Northern Caucasus. The violence, which was due to insurgency, has led to the deaths of at least 400 people according to a website monitoring events occurring in the region.