At least four Russian soldiers have been killed after suspected Islamist militants ambushed an Interior Ministry convoy in the strife-torn North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, media reports citing officials said late on Wednesday.
According to Russian media, the convoy came under attack as it was passing through the Sunzhen region in Ingushetia. Four Russian soldiers were also injured in the attack.
The regional Interior Ministry was quoted as saying later on Wednesday that the militants initially detonated explosive devices as the convoy was passing, before opening fire and tossing grenaded.
Several Russian security personnel were attacked by suspected militants in the same district last week. Also, Russian security forces had killed four militants in a shoot-out in the same area in late August.
Islamist separatist groups in the North Caucasus region have carried out several such attacks in the recent past, especially after the end of the second Chechen war. Russia had launched the operation to crush Chechnya's post-Soviet independence movement.
Although Russia ended its counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya in April 2009, periodic bombings and clashes between militants and federal troops still disrupt the southern Republic and nearby regions, particularly Dagestan and Ingushetia. Experts say that insurgency in Russian North Caucasus region is fueled by Islamist extremism, separatism and poor economic conditions.
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