VLADIKAVKAZ, December 31 (RIA Novosti) - A former mayor of the capital of Russian republic of North Ossetia, was assassinated on Wednesday, a police source said.
According to preliminary information, Kazbek Pagiyev, who was the mayor of Vladikavkaz for five years until 2007, was killed along with another man, when unidentified gunmen opened fire on the Audi car they were riding in.
Pagiyev's murder comes shortly after the assassination last month of his successor as mayor of Vladikavkaz, Vitaly Karayev.
Karayev is believed to have been killed by a sniper as he got into his car after leaving his home to go to work on November 26. Although he was rushed to hospital by his bodyguards, a health official later said he had died from a bullet wound to the heart.
Soslan Sikoyev, a first deputy of North Ossetian Interior Ministry, said the probe into the murder of Pagiyev would investigate links with the killing of Karayev.
"It is still early to speak about this, but the investigation will be definitely considering connection between these two murders and it may be the central thrust of the investigation," he said.
On November 27, an Islamist group claimed responsibility for the mayor's murder on a website believed to have links to Chechen militants.
"Vitaly Karayev, this enemy of Allah, was eliminated near his home while on his way to city hall," the Kataib al-Khoul group said in a statement posted on the kavkazcenter site.
So far no one has claimed the responsibility for the murder of Pagiyev and the police are conducting an investigation.
