Gunmen kill Russian policeman in Caucasus attack

Gunmen shot dead one policeman and wounded three others in an attack on their vehicle Tuesday in the troubled Dagestan region of the restive North Caucasus, Russian news agencies reported.

The identity of the attackers was not known, said the reports from Dagestan, a Caspian Sea region that has borne the brunt of attacks blamed on Islamists.

Dagestan experiences almost daily shootings and bombings that officials blame on local criminals and Islamists with links to neighbouring Chechnya, where the Kremlin fought two wars over the past 20 years.

Fuelled by endemic poverty and corruption, the militants are seeking to establish an independent Islamic state across the northern Caucasus.