Twin Blasts In Southwestern Russia Kill 12, Injure Dozens

[News_Editor]

Twin blasts in southwestern Russia kill 12, injure dozens < br /> 2012-05-04 07:45:15 GMT+7 (ICT) MAKHACHKALA, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- Two car bomb attacks hit a police post in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on late Thursday evening, killing at least twelve people and injuring more than 25 others, local media reported.The first attack happened at around 10:10 p.m. local time when a suspected suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle at a police field post on the outskirts of Makhachkala, the capital of Russia's Dagestan.As emergency teams arrived at the scene to attend to the victims, about ten minutes after the initial attack, a second blast followed. Police said the second blast was likely caused by an explosive device planted in a van near the police post, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.A spokesman for the republic's interior ministry told the RIA Novosti news agency that at least twelve people, including three civilians, three rescue workers and six police officers, were confirmed dead as a result of the two blasts. Medical officials said the number of injured was believed to be between 25 and 30.It is feared the death toll will rise, as some unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 20.Militants in the region continue to carry out attacks against security forces, police, and civilians, more than a decade after a separatist war ended in Chechnya. The volatile region of Dagestan neighbors Chechnya where about 50 percent of all militant attacks in Russia took place in 2010.

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