At least one dead in blast near mosque in Russian Caucasus

At least one person was killed early on Friday when a bomb exploded outside a village mosque in the Russian Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria, AFP reports according to the regional interior ministry. "Today at 3:20 am in the yard of the mosque in the village of Dugulubgei... an IED exploded and human remains were found. The force of the blast blew out windows in nearby houses," the interior ministry said in a statement. "The exact number of victims is being established," an interior ministry spokeswoman told AFP. A law enforcement source told the Interfax news agency that body parts of two men were found and suggested that the men blew themselves up accidentally while planting the explosive device. The blast occurred close to the town of Baksan, where militants set off explosions at the hydroelectric power station in 2010, killing two guards. Kabardino-Balkaria, which has ski resorts and is popular with climbers, is considered as one of the most peaceful areas of the Russian Caucasus, a mountainous region that is plagued by an Islamist insurgency, with near daily attacks on security officials.