Suicide Bombing in Russian, 6 killed

MAKHACHKALA, Russia: A suicide bomber blew up an explosives-packed car at a police station in Russia’s troubled North Caucasus on Wednesday, killing at least six officers and wounding 16, police said.

The bombing occurred at the traffic police station on the outskirts of Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, just as officers were lining up outside for roll call.

City police chief Shamil Guseinov said the bomber detonated the explosives at the gates to the station after police stopped him from driving through. All those killed were at the gates, he said.

Their actions in stopping the car prevented much wider devastation, he said.

A similar bombing in a neighboring republic in August that killed 24 people and injured more than 200. In that attack, a man succeeded in crashing a bomb-laden van through the gates of the police station in Nazran, Ingushetia. The explosion left a bus-sized crater in what was left of the station.