At least 15 hurt in bombing in Makhachkala

At least 15 people including three children were hurt when three bomb explosions hit the Dagestani capital Makhachkala in the Caucasus region of Russia on Sunday evening, local law enforcement sources said on Monday morning. The blasts took place in a shop on the city's Akushinsky street, followed by a second which hit security forces as they arrived at the scene. "As a result of the first blast, a shopkeeper was hurt. After the second blast, eight people were taken to hospital with splinter and blast injuries, two taken to a clinic and four to a children's hospital including three children," a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti. Six people were also being treated by medics at the scene. An Emergencies Ministry source said on Monday that the number of injured stood at 17 of whom nine were hospitalized. The first bomb was equivalent to around 100g of TNT and was set off by a mobile phone, the local Interior Ministry said. "The interior of the shop was damaged to a radius of at least 10 to 20 meters," a source said. The second bomb was equivalent to 300-350g of TNT and was loaded with wires and pieces of metal to inflict greater damage. The blast produced a 30 by 60 cm crater. Over 40 emergency and rescue staff arrived at the scene to deal with the damage. More than a decade after the end of a federal war against separatists in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Russian security forces continue to fight militants in other republics in the region.