Seven women have been shot dead in a sauna in Russia's southern region of Dagestan.
The women were shot by a gang of rebels at around the same time as separatists attacked and killed four policemen manning a nearby checkpoint in Buinaksk, a town 41km from local capital Makhachkala.
The attacks took place in the north Caucasus region late last night, according to police and local media.
Growing lawlessness and Islamist violence in Dagestan, Chechnya and neighbouring Ingushetia, are undermining the Kremlin's control of its southern flank.
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.
