Gunmen attack Russian school, killing one

Three masked gunmen attacked a grammar school in southern Russia on Thursday after classes had ended, killing a soldier who was playing volleyball with a group of friends, security officials said.

The incident in Nalchik, capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic in the restless North Caucasus region, occurred just after 9:00 pm (1700 GMT) when the building was almost empty, the local investigative committee said.

The gunmen burst into the school gym, ordered the men inside to lie face down on the floor, and cut the throat of a Russian soldier before leaving the building, the committee said in a statement.

“According to preliminary information, the victim was a serviceman,” the statement said.

Nearly a thousand gunmen from war-torn Chechnya attacked a school in the nearby republic of North Ossetia in September 2004, killing more than 380 people — more than half of them children — in a three-day hostage crisis.

Russia is still fighting a simmering Islamist insurgency in the region, although most of the violence has since moved from Chechnya to neighbouring republics such as Dagestan and Ingushetia.

Kabardino-Balkaria, which is known for its ski resorts, has also seen a rise in attacks in the past year.