VLADIKAVKAZ (Russia), Nov 26: The mayor of one of the biggest cities in Russia’s turbulent North Caucasus region died from his wounds on Wednesday after gunmen attacked him in the street, prosecutors said.

Vitaly Karayev, mayor of Vladikavkaz, is the most senior official to be killed for several years in the North Caucasus, a mountainous area on Russia’s southern border where insurgents, some linked to militant Islam, mount regular attacks.

“Today at about 9:00 am (0600 GMT)... unknown individuals shot at the mayor of Vladikavkaz Vitaly Karayev,” the investigative committee of the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office said in a statement.

“Karayev died in hospital from the wounds he sustained.” The statement said prosecutors had opened a murder investigation.—Reuters