Two killed in Dagestan car bombing in Russia’s North Caucasus

A suicide car bombing killed two people and wounded many in Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Monday, according to Agence-France Press.

A federal employee and a policeman were killed when an explosives-laden Lada car was detonated outside a police station in Khunchni, a village in Dagestan, before dawn, AFP cited a police statement as saying.

A local Interior Ministry spokesman told Reuters one of the six officers wounded by the blast was in a grave state.

"The car exploded at the gates of the regional police station and, as a result of the explosion, nearby buildings collapsed … Twenty people have been taken to hospital," said Reuters, citing Russia's Interfax.

Turmoil has increased in Russia's North Caucasus due to a growing Islamic insurgency that Moscow has struggled to contain.

Concern about unrest in the region has spread well beyond Moscow as Russia's hosting of the Winter Olympics nears. The 2014 Games are to be held in Sochi, a Black Sea resort city about 400 miles away from Dagestan, according to Reuters.