Gunmen shot dead a regional minister in his office in Ingushetia today only six weeks after the president of the Russian region was badly wounded in a suicide bomb attack.
Construction Minister Ruslan Amerkhanov, was shot dead "at point-blank range and died of his wounds at the scene," the local interior ministry said in a statement.
Two unidentified gunman then fled the office in the heavily fortified regional capital Magas, the statement said.
The deputy minister, a nephew of Mr Amerkhanov, was also injured in the attack, Interfax news agency reported.
Growing lawlessness and Islamist violence in Russia's North Caucasus region, including Ingushetia and neighbouring Chechnya, are undermining the Kremlin's control of its southern flank.
Corruption is rife in Russia's Caucasus regions with much of the graft focused on state infrastructure spending, analysts say.
Reuters