Russia's southern Dagestan region on Wednesday issued a temporary ban against wearing the niqab in the Muslim-majority republic, citing security reasons after a recent attack against churches and synagogues.

This veil -- which hides the entirety of a woman's face with the exception of the eyes -- is "temporarily prohibited until the elimination of existing threats", said Dagestan's highest religious body.

Last month, gunmen simultaneously attacked two churches, two synagogues and a police checkpoint in two cities in Dagestan, killing 22 people.

The attacks came just three months after Islamic State (IS) fighters killed more than 140 in an assault on a Moscow concert hall, the deadliest terror attack in Russia for almost two decades.

Few details have surfaced about the identities and motivations of the attackers in Dagestan.

The incidents had echoes of the kind of insurgent violence that struck the North Caucasus during the 1990s and 2000s, however, the Kremlin has dismissed fears of a renewed wave of violent unrest.

In the 1990s, Moscow fought two wars for control of the neighbouring Chechnya region, with President Vladimir Putin touted his success in quashing the insurgency at the start of his presidency.

Militants from Dagestan are known to have travelled to join the Islamic State in Syria. 

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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