A shopping centre explosion in the home country of the Boston marathon bombers has killed two people.

The blast came in a busy area of Makhachkala, capital city of the Russian republic of Dagestan, and several other people were injured.

Dagestan is plagued by Islamic insurgents who frequently mount small attacks on police.

The republic is home to the parents of the suspects in last month's Boston bombing. One of the suspects, who was killed in a shoot-out with Boston police, paid a long visit to Dagestan last year and investigators are probing whether he has contact with extremists there.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.