Four people found shot dead in Russia's Dagestan

Investigators found four people shot to death in the Republic of Dagestan in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, a spokesman for the republican Investigative Committee said on Sunday. "On Sunday morning, residents of the village of Botashyurt reported that they had found the bodies of four people with gunshot wounds on the edge of the village. According to preliminary information, they were killed on the night of August 13-14," the spokesman said. A group of investigators is working at the scene to establish the identities of those killed, the spokesman said. "According to preliminary information, all the people found dead are local residents. One of them is a police officer," the spokesman said. More than a decade after the end of a war against separatists in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Russian security forces continue to fight militants in other regions in the area besides Chechnya, including Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia, Dagestan, and North Ossetia. Frequent attacks are staged on security forces, police and civilians.