Evangelical bishop shot to death in Russia’s Dagestan republic

Bishop killed in Russia’s Dagestan

MAKHACHKALA, Russia — Officials in Russia’s violent, largely Muslim republic of Dagestan say a Christian bishop has been shot to death by unknown attackers.

A spokesman for the republic’s police, Vyacheslav Gasanov, said the victim of the Thursday evening shooting in Makhachkala, the capital, was Artur Suleimanov, the bishop in Dagestan for the Russian evangelical denomination Osanna.

Dagestan, which is about 90 percent Muslim, is plagued by insurgent violence, with many of the militants inspired by or affiliated with Islamic separatists in neighboring Chechnya.

Also Friday, Gasanov said two militants were killed by police in a clash in the town of Khasavyurt the previous day.