Security alert in southern Russia after at least five bodies found

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has put security forces on combat alert in the southern Stavropol region after the discovery of at least five corpses with gunshot wounds and an explosive device there barely a month before the start of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Stavropol, about 300 km (190 miles) from the Black Sea resort of Sochi, is the gateway to the North Caucasus region, where Russia faces an insurgency by Islamist militants who have threatened to try to prevent the Olympics going ahead.