At least 2 dead, many wounded as bomb explodes in South Russia shop

Two people were killed and more than a dozen, including police and local officials, have been injured in a bomb blast in the South Russian republic of Ingushetia.

Violence has once again flared in Russia's southern republics.

Russian news agencies reported on Friday that the explosion took place in a shop near a military monument in the village of Sagopshi at about 2.30 pm Moscow time. The blast killed a policeman and wounded 16 others, including the head of the village administration and two of his deputies. Some reports said two people were killed and gave the number of wounded as 10.

The shop was completely destroyed and, at the time of the report, rescuers were sifting through the rubble in search of other victims.

Ingushetia is a republic in the Northern Caucasus region in southern Russia and neighbors Chechnya. Terrorist attacks in the region are often perpetrated by radical Islamists.

In a separate incident, a gunman opened fire on worshippers outside a mosque in Dagestan, killing one.