Two officers of the Russian interior ministry's forces were shot dead Friday in the unstable North Caucasus province of Ingushetia as they were driving from neighbouring Chechnya, an interior ministry official said.
The attack in the provincial centre Nazran occurred when the officers realised they were being followed by another car, the official was quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency as saying.
"When the car with the officers in tried to get away from the criminals, it came under assault rifle fire," the official said.
The car then crashed into a block of cement.
Russian officials and security forces in Ingushetia and other North Caucasus provinces are regularly targeted in attacks usually blamed on militant movements and organised crime.
