Beheaded bodies found in Russia’s Caucasus

NAZRAN, Russia — The beheaded bodies of a police officer and a bailiff have been found in a volatile province in Russia’s North Caucasus, officials said Tuesday.

The bodies were found late Monday in the trunk of a car parked in the town of Chegem in the province of Kabardino-Balkariya near Chechnya, said Roman Shchekotin, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry’s branch in southern Russia.

He said that bodies had gunshot wounds indicating that they had been gunned down before they were beheaded.

Chechnya and neighboring North Caucasus provinces have remained mired in violence stemming from wars between separatist Chechen rebels and the Russian government.

In the province of Ingushetia, wedged between Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkariya, a police officer and his daughter were killed on Tuesday, said regional police spokeswoman Madina Khadziyeva. The victims were driving in a car near the provincial capital, Nazran, when unidentified gunmen sprayed their vehicle with automatic gunfire.