Freight train derailed in Russia's North Caucasus

Some 12 carriages of a freight train were derailed by a blast in Russia's restive North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, Russian media reported on Friday.

The bombing occurred near a petroleum tank farm and a motor transport depot outside Makhachkala, the regional capital of Dagestan, said the Interior Ministry of the republic on Thursday evening, adding that no one was injured.

"The electric locomotive and 12 carriages were derailed. Two repair trains were dispatched to the scene from Derbent and Makhachkala. The undamaged carriages will be moved to Tarki station," a spokesman from the regional department of North Caucasus Railways told the Interfax news agency.

Meanwhile in another North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, two servicemen were slightly injured in an attack on a traffic control checkpoint late Thursday.

"Shots were fired with shoulder-held grenade launchers and automatic rifles at the Volga-16 checkpoint outside the village of Yandare," said a source from the republic's law enforcement services.

Russia's volatile North Caucasus republics, particularly Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have been plagued by violence stemming from militants and criminal gangs. The government is struggling to contain the insurgency.

Source: Xinhua