Russia has reportedly been rocked again by another shooting incident in Dagestan, days after a horrifying terror attack.
On Sunday gunmen went on the rampage in Dagestan’s capital Makhachkala and in Derbent, attacking police posts, churches, and a synagogue.
At least 20 people were killed as well as five gunmen. Around 46 others were injured and taken to hospital.
It is believed the assailants were the sons of Magomed Omarov, a senior regional official.
Independent Russian media sources report that a further shooting incident occurred in the capital on Tuesday after police stopped a suspicious car.
According to reports, officers spotted a black Lada Priora with two men dressed in black sitting inside as it approached a check point.
When they tried to get closer to the vehicle, the men reportedly opened fire, before fleeing.
Security officials advised people in the vicinity to leave the area, as an armed police unit mounted an intensive manhunt.
“The area of University Square where the car was stopped is cordoned off in connection with previously known events for the safety of the population,” they said.
“In the area of Magomed Gadzhiev and Korkmasov streets in Makhachkala, law enforcement agencies are carrying out activities and warning the population about the need to leave this territory.”
Video footage filmed at the site shows several police SUVs, officers in full uniform and with machine guns, asking residents to leave the street.
Dagestan is located in the North Caucasus and is a predominantly Muslim country neighbouring Chechnya.
The republic has seen plenty of political turbulence and has been the scene of Islamist attacks in the past.
On several occasions the Islamic State group (IS) has claimed responsibility for attacks in Dagestan, including a shooting outside a church in the city of Kizlyar in 2018.
Russia, though, tried to pin the blame for the latest attacks on Ukraine, despite the lack of any credible evidence.
On several occasions, the Islamic State group (IS) has claimed responsibility for attacks in Dagestan, including a shooting outside a church in the city of Kizlyar in 2018.
Russian MP Abdulkhakim Gadzhiev told state TV that the intelligence services of Ukraine and Nato countries may have orchestrated the attacks.
The pro-Kremlin news site Komsomolskaya Pravda even suggested the possible involvement of British intelligence services.