This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/8112109.stm

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 6 Version 7
Attack on Russian regional leader Attack on Russian regional leader
(about 3 hours later)
The president of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia has been wounded in an assassination attempt. The president of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia has been wounded in an assassination attempt, apparently launched by a suicide bomber.
Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has been taken to hospital and his condition is unclear. One bodyguard was killed and several others are reported wounded. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov is said to be in critical but stable condition in hospital, with head and chest injuries.
An explosion hit their convoy near the city of Nazran, officials say. No group has said it carried out the attack. Reports said one bodyguard was killed and several others were wounded, after a car travelling at high speed rammed the president's vehicle.
Ingushetia, which neighbours Chechnya, has seen an increase in violence in recent years. Ingushetia, which neighbours Chechnya, has seen violence soar recently.
"A car bomb was set off at about 0820 (0420 GMT) when a motorcade of the Ingush president was going by the highway," said an interior ministry officer. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called the attack, in the city of Nazran, "an act of terror".
Federal investigators said a car that was parked on the side of the road detonated just as Mr Yevkurov's car passed, AP news agency reported.
'Act of terror'
The brother of the president was among at least three bodyguards injured in the attack, the spokesman told Itar-tass news agency.
The Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev has called the attack "an act of terror".
He has ordered the interior ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) "to fully investigate the attack on the Ingush president's life and to take all the necessary law-enforcement efforts", presidential press secretary Natalya Timakova said.He has ordered the interior ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) "to fully investigate the attack on the Ingush president's life and to take all the necessary law-enforcement efforts", presidential press secretary Natalya Timakova said.
Monday's attack is the third to hit the republic in as many weeks. Charred shell
On June 10, gunmen killed Ingushetia's deputy chief supreme court justice in Nazran as she dropped her children at a kindergarten. The attack was launched at about 0820 (0420 GMT) as the president's motorcade passed, carrying him to work, an official told Itar-Tass news agency.
Mr Yevkurov is a decorated Russian military officer
The brother of the president was among at least three bodyguards injured in the attack, he said.
Witnesses said they saw a 4x4 vehicle - apparently the president's - on the road with broken windows and bodywork damage.
The charred shell of another car - presumably the bomber's - lay at the bottom of an embankment.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it seems probable that it was carried out by Muslim separatists fighting against Moscow's rule in Ingushetia, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Moscow.
Monday's attack is the third on a senior figure in Ingushetia in as many weeks.
On June 10, gunmen killed the deputy chief supreme court justice in Nazran as she dropped her children at a kindergarten.
Three days later, the region's former vice prime minister was shot dead outside his home in Nazran.Three days later, the region's former vice prime minister was shot dead outside his home in Nazran.
Hundreds of refugees from the wars in Chechnya have sought refuge in Ingushetia, a mainly Muslim republic, which is itself one of Russia's poorest regions. Hundreds of refugees from the wars in Chechnya have settled in Ingushetia, a mainly Muslim republic, which is itself one of Russia's poorest regions.
The North Caucasus region, which also includes Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, is regarded as a major security challenge for the Kremlin. The insurgency in Chechnya has largely been suppressed, but the violence has spilled over and now seems to be escalating in Ingushetia and Dagestan.
President Yevkurov, a former paratrooper general, was installed by the Kremlin last year to try to bring stability to Ingushetia.
Mr Medvedev paid tribute to the progress made by Mr Yevkurov, saying: "The Ingush president did much recently both to bring order and... civil peace to the republic. The bandits did not like this activity."