Militant attack kills 9 cops

2009-07-04 13:00

Nazran - An official says militants ambushed a Russian police convoy and killed nine officers in the volatile southern province of Ingushetia.

Regional investigative committee spokesperson Svetlana Gorbakova says another 10 officers were wounded in Saturday's attack in the Ingush district of Sundja.

The police officers had been travelling from neighbouring Chechnya as part of a joint anti-terrorism operation launched after a suicide bombing last week left Ingush President Yunus Bek Yevkurov badly injured and killed three of his bodyguards.

Ingushetia borders Chechnya to the west and shares ethnic and cultural ties.

A separatist Islamic insurgency mounts almost daily attacks on police and other officials throughout the North Caucasus region.

- AP