You're reading: Local imam killed in Russia’s restive province

Police in Russia's southern province of Dagestan say gunmen have killed a local imam.

Police spokesman Vyacheslav Gasanov says the two attackers fired gunshots into the window of the imam’s home in Yasnaya Polyana village, killing him Saturday.

Nikolai Sintsov, a spokesman for Russia’s Anti-Terrorist Committee, blamed Islamic militants for the killing, saying the imam had denounced them.

Dagestan and other provinces in Russia’s North Caucasus have been destabilized by an Islamic insurgency that has spread following two separatist wars in nearby Chechnya.

Dagestan has emerged as the militants’ main base, and they regularly attack police and other authorities. Many moderate local imams oppose radical Islam, leaving them vulnerable to assassinations.