North Caucasus official survives murder attempt

The head of Baksan district in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Khasan Sijajev was shot several times on Monday, local investigators said. “Several unknown gunmen opened a fire at Sijajev’s car at about 8.20 Moscow time in the village of Krem-Konstantinovskoye,” a spokesperson for the local investigative committee said, adding that he received gun wounds to the abdomen and was sent to hospital. His life is out of danger now, investigation committee said, citing hospital’s officials. According to preliminary information, after firing from a Lada Priora model vehicle, the attackers departed the crime scene. A total of 55 gang members have been arrested, and 34 militants have been eliminated, in Kabardino-Balkaria since the beginning of 2012. Those killed include a ringleader of a criminal gang and one of the organizers of the 2010 attack on the Baksan Hydropower Plant, which left two security guards dead.