Moscow, May 09: A car bomb exploded near a military base in Russia’s southern Dagestan region on Sunday, killing at least one person, a military official said.
The blast occurred about 100 meters (yards) from a military base in the town of Kaspiysk in the mainly Muslim region of Dagestan, a spokesman for border guard troops at the base said a news agency.
“According to provisional information no-one died except the driver of the car,” he said, adding that police were investigating reports the bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber.
The explosion completely destroyed the car, a white Lada, a witness at the scene told a news agency.
Police were on alert for possible attacks ahead of Sunday’s celebrations of the 65th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War Two.
A bomb disposal expert was killed overnight by an explosive device near apartments housing the families of military officials in Kaspiysk town center, a police spokesman said.
Insurgents from neighboring Chechnya have launched attacks on Victory Day, a holiday associated with the mass deportation of ethnic Chechens by Stalin during the war.
—–Agencies