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Two gunmen were in the car, which exploded in Tabasaransky District, Dagestan, killing a police officer. One of them was preliminarily identified as a native Azerbaijani called Hajiyev Elchin Nurmahomed-Ogli, Interfax reports. 

The other man exploded in the car was also preliminarily identified as Sheikhmahomedov. Both gunmen were members of a gang named “South.” It was earlier reported that the group had sworn loyalty to the Islamic State.
Meanwhile, Utro website reports that according to Special Services, numerous radicals, who have escaped from Syria and have a good fighting experience, hide in the Caucasus. According to law enforcement agencies, an increase of terrorist threat is expected in Dagestan in the near future.

According to experts interviewed by an Utro reporter, it may really be very “hot” in the Caucasus in the near future. The reason is the Islamic State (IS) militants’ forced retreat from Syria after surrendering the control over Palmyra to the government of the Syrian Arab Republic. It is emphasized that IS terrorists arrive in Azerbaijan and Georgia, commit crimes there, form detachments, and then move to Russian mountainous states. 

In its turn, Vzglyad newspaper reports that according to Konstantin Kazenin and Stanislav Tarasov, experts on the South Caucasus and Dagestan, the recent incidents and sorties of gunmen in Dagestan are not accidental.

“We watch the events unfolding in the Near East, Syria, Iraq, where a large-scale battle is carried out against the IS. There are forces, which try to generate problems for Russia in its southern wings,” Tarasov said.

In addition, the gunmen’s intrusion into Russia through Azerbaijan also raises the specialists’ concerns.

On March 30, a policeman died as a result of a car explosion near the checkpoint on the border of Tabasaransky District, Dagestan. A day earlier, on March 29, two explosive devices were blown up on the Kavkaz highway. As a result, a policeman was killed, and two were injured. Terrorist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the explosion.