You're reading: Prosecutor killed by gunmen in Russia’s Caucasus

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) — The Interior Ministry says unidentified gunmen have shot and killed a local prosecutor in the province of Dagestan in Russia's restive North Caucasus.

Vyacheslav Gasanov of the ministry’s regional branch said the attack occurred early Thursday in the provincial capital, Makhachkala.

He says five masked gunmen broke into the home of the official who served with the local prosecutor’s office. The assailants seized cash and valuables and then killed the official with a shot to his head in front of his family.

Dagestan and other provinces in Russia’s North Caucasus region have been plagued by near-daily attacks by Islamist insurgents, who have spread since two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya.