NAZRAN, May 14 (RIA Novosti) - Three police officers were killed as their car came under fire on Wednesday in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, a police spokesman said.
A group of unknown assailants traveling in two cars opened fire on a traffic police patrol. The head of the local traffic police department and two officers died in the attack, which occurred at 5.30 p.m. local time (1.30 p.m. GMT), the spokesman added.
The attackers left one of the cars at the scene and escaped in the other vehicle. An investigation is under way.
Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes remain common in Russia's North Caucasus republics, although the active phase of the Kremlin campaign to fight militants and terrorists in Chechnya is officially over. Violence often spills over into neighboring republics, in particular Ingushetia and Daghestan.
