Tourists killed in N Caucasus by gunmen disguised as police

NALCHIK, February 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Tourists who were heading for a
ski resort were attacked by "armed men in masks who disguised themselves
as law enforcers," a source in local law enforcement agencies told
Itar-Tass on Saturday.
The skiers arrived to the Mineralnye Vody airport from Moscow late on
Friday and took an unlicensed taxi to get to their destination.
"The attack took place at the very foothills, near the village of
Zayukovo," the source said. "The group of young men arrived from Moscow
and hired an unlicensed taxi with a local driver. While moving along a
highway, their car was overtaken by another car. A man wearing a mask
ordered them to stop waving a policeman's baton from the rear back window."
The driver stopped being sure they were police. "Three men in military
fatigues armed with Kalashnikov guns emerged from the car. One of them
stood in front of the car, the other one came up to the driver's seat,
while the third one opened the car's door and asked whether there were a
woman inside," the source went on.
The woman refused to come out and the masked man tried to drag her out
by force. The other passengers went to bat for her, and then the masked
man made several steps aside and opened gunfire at the car, killing three
and wounding two.