Police officer killed in Russia's Dagestan

MAKHACHKALA, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - A police officer was shot down early on Tuesday in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti.

"Unidentified assailants, believed to be using automatic weapons, opened fire at him when he went into the yard of his house," the source said.

The attack happened in the republic's Kizilyurtovsky district, some 60 kms north of the capital, Makhachkala.

Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus republics, in particular Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, have seen a marked rise in militant violence of late.