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Rferl, September 27, 2016

A local deputy imam in Russia's southern Stavropol region in the North Caucasus has been slain.

The grand mufti of the Stavropol region, Mukhammad Rakhimov, said the deputy imam of a mosque in the village of Kara-Tyube, Ravil Kaibaliyev, was shot dead by unknown assailants on September 26.

In August 2015, Kaibaliyev's predecessor as deputy imam of the mosque, Zamirbek Makhmutov, was also shot dead by unknown assailants.

Kaibaliyev is the seventh imam killed by unidentified attackers in the Stavropol region since 2012.

Imams appointed by the officially registered Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Russia usually support the government's policies and propagate moderate Islam.

They are often attacked by radical Islamist groups that call for separation from Russia and the establishment of an Islamic state in the region.