7 women shot dead in Russian sauna

MOSCOW. August 14. KAZINFORM. Seven women were shot dead in a sauna in Dagestan and, in separate attacks, eight policemen and two separatists were also killed in Russia's northern Caucasus region late on Thursday, police and media said on Friday; Kazinform refers to China Daily.

The attacks are the latest in a sharp upswing in violence against civilians across the region, where a local minister was shot dead in his office earlier this week.

The seven women were shot by rebels at around the same time as separatists attacked and killed four policemen manning a nearby checkpoint in Buinaksk, a town 41 km (25 miles) from local capital Makhachkala.

"At least four died when they attacked the traffic police. Around the same time they entered the sauna and shot seven women," a spokesman for local police said on Friday. He gave no further details; Kazinform cites China Daily. See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.