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Blast in Russian region kills official
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-21 09:43

A bomb exploded in an apartment building in southern Russia's Dagestan region Friday, killing the area's minister for ethnic relations and his bodyguard, police said.

Zagir Arukhov, 45, was the second minister for ethnic policy to be killed in two years. His predecessor died in August 2003 when his car was blown up. Dagestan is a volatile mix of dozens of ethnic groups.

Russian media reported 10 people were wounded, including three children playing outside the building.

Arukhov, Dagestan's minister for ethnic policy, information and external relations, was killed by the blast at the entranceway to his building in the regional capital, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Musayev said.

He said another man was wounded by the explosion, which had the force of up to a half a pound of TNT.

Several residents were evacuated, some helped through windows by emergency workers.

Makhachkala police spokeswoman Marina Rasulova had earlier said two women were killed by the explosion Friday evening, then that the two dead victims were Arukhov and a woman.n.

A mostly Muslim region on the Caspian Sea, Dagestan borders Chechnya and is plagued by violence, some of it linked to the war between Russian forces and Chechen rebels and some to local criminal activity.

For months, Dagestan has seen a series of bombings and other attacks on police and other law enforcement authorities.

Investigators from the federal Interior Ministry, including organized crime and terrorism specialists, headed to Makhachkala from Moscow to take part in the probe, Interfax reported. Officials gave no motive and named no suspects.



 
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