Four die in N Caucasus killings

Three policemen and a prosecutor have been killed in two separate shooting incidents in the North Caucasus. The policemen were attacked in the town of Karachaevsk and the prosecutor in the Chechen capital, Grozny. Four die in N Caucasus killings The deaths are the latest in a campaign which militant groups are carrying out against officials loyal to the Russian federal government. They are a reminder of the ongoing instability in a region scarred by war in the 1990s. The attackers struck as a team of three traffic policemen had gone into a cafe. Two or three men - reports from the area do not agree on the exact number - opened fire, killing the policemen instantly, officials say. The assailants escaped with the officers' weapons and ammunition. Their identity and motive are unknown, but the attack fits the ongoing pattern of shootings and bombings targeting officials in the North Caucasus. In a separate incident, an acting prosecutor in the Chechen capital Grozny was also shot dead. Despite the end of large-scale conflict between separatist fighters and federal forces, there are still militant groups ready to attack officials loyal to the Kremlin.

Four die in N Caucasus killings

The deaths are the latest in a campaign which militant groups are carrying out against officials loyal to the Russian federal government.

They are a reminder of the ongoing instability in a region scarred by war in the 1990s.

The attackers struck as a team of three traffic policemen had gone into a cafe.

Two or three men - reports from the area do not agree on the exact number - opened fire, killing the policemen instantly, officials say.

The assailants escaped with the officers' weapons and ammunition.

Their identity and motive are unknown, but the attack fits the ongoing pattern of shootings and bombings targeting officials in the North Caucasus.

In a separate incident, an acting prosecutor in the Chechen capital Grozny was also shot dead.

Despite the end of large-scale conflict between separatist fighters and federal forces, there are still militant groups ready to attack officials loyal to the Kremlin.