Dagestan turning into hotspot

A serviceman of the 136th separate motorised brigade quartered in Buinaksk, Dagestan, fired his submachine gun at and fatally wounded a 15-year-old boy near the military unit in Ali-Klych St at about 9:00 pm on 11 May, Zaurbek Akhmedov, Buinaksk garrison military prosecutor, said.

Mr Akhmedov says witnesses give contradictory evidence. The serviceman maintains there was a provocation on the part of the teenagers, while the killed boy's friend says they did not provoke the soldiers, says Interfax.

A source at Dagestan's Internal Affairs Ministry said earlier the incident occurred as a result of the serviceman's carelessness in handling his gun, according RIA Novosti.

A police officer was wounded in a skirmish in Karabudakhkent at 9:50 pm on 11 May, a source at Dagestan's Internal Affairs Ministry told RIA Novosti. Unidentified persons driving two Zhiguli cars fired automatic weapons at Senior Lieutenant Abuzhayev, a chief traffic police inspector, who was going home from service. The officer opened fire in response, which forced the criminals to run away. The policeman was later admitted to hospital, the source said.

• Law enforcement agents targeted in Dagestan
• Events in Chechnya