MAKHACHKALA/MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) – A state official with regional finance ministry was shot dead in his car in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Saturday afternoon, investigators said.
The Investigative Committee said in a statement that two gunmen fired shots at a Lexus 570 car in Makhachkala killing the driver, who was later identified as a department head of Dagestan’s finance ministy.
A possible motive for the killing was not immediately clear. A criminal case was opened on murder charges.
Attacks in the North Caucasus on security forces, police and civilians generated by ethnic, religious and political rivalries, as well as poverty and corruption, occur on a regular basis. The violence is fed in part by an Islamist insurgency in the region.
In the most recent incident on Wednesday, a double blast rocked two adjacent stores in Makhachkala, killing at least one and injuring 17 people.
