MAKHACHKALA, Russia, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A gas pipeline in Dagestan, in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, was bombed Tuesday, disrupting supplies to 11 towns, officials said.
A spokesman for Gazpromtransgaz Makhachkala told ITAR-Tass the bomb started a fire, which was reported just after 8 p.m. Moscow time.
Dagestan, a mountainous area of great ethnic diversity, is bordered by the Russian republic of Chechnya, where an independence movement has been fighting for years, and by Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The Federal Security Service said a suspected bomb was found near the pipeline just after 5:45 p.m. Bomb disposal experts were sent to the site but a detailed investigation was postponed until daybreak Wednesday.
Five police officers were killed by a suicide bomber at the traffic police headquarters in Dagestan. Government forces killed at least three suspected militants, including an alleged terrorist leader, Sunday and Monday.
