Two powerful explosions derailed a cargo train Sunday in the violence-plagued Russian province of Dagestan but no one was injured, officials said. The blasts capped a week of daily attacks that have killed at least 55 people. A blast equivalent to five kilograms of TNT exploded early Sunday near the town of Izberbash, derailing the locomotive and eight cars, transport police spokesman Akhmed Magomayev said. Another, less powerful blast aimed at killing rescuers detonated nearby shortly after the first explosion, he said. Dagestan is the epicenter of almost daily violence that has plagued Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region for years following two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. Human rights groups and opposition figures accuse Russian forces of extrajudicial killings, abductions and abuses in the North Caucasus. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has vowed to “drag out of the sewer” the organizers of the subway bombings, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev promised “crueler” measures to crack down on terrorism.
