Reports of skirmishes in Dagestan

At least seven Russian police officers have been wounded in a rebel attack on a government building in Rabbanikala, it has emerged.

A government spokesperson said that the building came under attack from gunmen armed with automatic weapons at around 11.15pm last night. After an initial burst of fire the rebels withdrew leaving a car packed with explosives outside the building. It exploded a few seconds later causing substantial damage to the building and destroying a number of nearby police vehicles. There were no fatalities.

In a separate incident, the Russian Military claims that it's forces killed three rebels in a shootout at a checkpoint outside Shamilkala. Rebels have claimed that they have "no knowledge" that any of their fighters were involved in the incident and said they believed that Russian forces may simply have fired on a car at random - killing three young male occupants. The Russian Military claims it's forces were fired on from the vehicle.