Bomb technicians have defused an explosive device with the equivalent of 15 kilograms of TNT in Russia's volatile North Caucus republic of Dagestan, local police reported on Sunday.
The bomb was discovered on Saturday evening 300 meters from the Kakashura-Dorgeli motor road. The explosive device was destroyed on the spot, the police said.
Early on Sunday, unknown assailants cast a grenade at a police patrol in the city of Kaspiisk in Dagestan, a local police spokesman said.
"Unknown suspects cast a grenade at policemen from a car they were riding and fled the scene. None of the policemen were injured," he said.
The spokesman did not specify whether the grenade exploded or not, adding that the suspects were not detained.
Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes are common in Russia's largely Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia.
The Kremlin has pledged to wage "a ruthless fight" against militant groups but also acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption as causes of the ongoing violence in the region.
MAKHACHKALA, August 22 (RIA Novosti)
