Moscow - Two attackers stabbed one policeman to death and wounded another in Dagestan in Russia's North Caucasus Monday before being shot by police, investigators said. The attackers used knives in the assault before being "neutralized" by police at a petrol station in the town of Kaspiisk, the regional Investigative Committee said. A reporter at the scene for state television Rossiya 24 said it appeared to be "an attempt to repeat" recent stabbings in western Europe claimed by the Islamic State (IS), but could not confirm the Dagestan incident was a terrorist attack. IS has claimed a number of attacks on police in Dagestan in the last couple of years that have involved guns and explosives. The Rossiya 24 reporter quoted law enforcement sources as saying that one of the attackers had a black extremist banner in his rucksack. An unidentified source also told the state TASS news agency that investigators found two knives and items with the IS logo. The regional health ministry spokeswoman said the injured policeman also suffered gunshot wounds. But his life was not at risk, TASS reported. An investigation has been opened over the policeman's murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in jail, the Investigative Committee said in a statement. Extremist rebels from Dagestan, which lies immediately east of Chechnya, are known to have travelled to join IS. In 2015, the group declared it had established a "franchise" in the North Caucasus. The IS claimed an attack on Aug.19 in the northeastern Russian city of Surgut in which a black-clad man armed with an axe wounded seven people before being shot by police. The independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported Monday that the Investigative Committee was set to make a major announcement on the Surgut case.
