Three police officers shot dead in Russia’s Dagestan

Audio By Carbonatix

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Three police officers were killed and at least four people were injured when gunmen opened fire on police in the southern Russian region of Dagestan on Monday, regional authorities said.

Sergei Melikov, the leader of Dagestan, said the shooting occurred as the traffic officers had tried to pull over the car the assailants were driving.

The attack occurred around 1420 local time (1120 GMT) in the regional capital Makhachkala, the interior ministry said.

Two of the shooters have been killed, a spokesman for the city administration wrote on Telegram. He identified them by name and said they were both born in 2000.

It was not immediately clear how many shooters were involved. Other perpetrators fled in a car, state media reported.

Video published on Telegram channels and verified by Reuters showed multiple bodies lying on a city street beside a police vehicle. As passersby stopped to examine them, more gunshots are heard down the street.

Two other shooters, two police officers and several injured civilians, including a 17-year-old girl, were brought to hospital, where at least one of them later died, according to state media. Authorities have opened a criminal case into the incident.

Dagestan, a mainly Muslim region, has suffered several deadly attacks in recent years.

In March, counter-terrorism forces killed four militants affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) who authorities said were plotting to attack a regional branch of the interior ministry.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)