Military truck explodes in Dagestani capital

A military truck exploded in the capital of the southern Russian region of Dagestan today, killing at least one servicemen, Russian news agencies reported.

The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing preliminary information from the Dagestani Interior Ministry, said two servicemen had been killed and three others wounded. However, the RIA-Novosti and Interfax news agencies quoted medical officials as saying that one soldier had been killed and six wounded.

RIA-Novosti said the blast occurred near a tram station in the capital, Makhachkala.

An ethnically mixed, mostly Muslim region adjacent to Chechnya in southern Russia, Dagestan has been hit by frequent bombings and other attacks in the past year, most of them targeting police and other law enforcement authorities.