MOSCOW (Reuters) -- A former deputy prime minister of the Russian region of Ingushetia was killed in the capital, Nazran, on June 13, Russian news agencies reported, the third high-profile killing in the restive Caucasus this month.
Russian agencies, quoting police officials, said Bashir Aushev, who had also served as the republic's interior minister in the 1990s, was shot by unidentified gunmen outside his house and died later of his wounds in a local hospital.
Ingushetia and the Caucasus republic of Daghestan have seen a spike in violence in the past weeks. The victims, including a senior judge and a local interior minister, were assassinated in separate attacks.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Dagestan this week seeking to rally officials there in their fight against Islamist insurgents. Two policemen were killed within hours of his visit.
Analysts say Moscow's fragile control over the north Caucasus could be undermined by the global economic downturn which threatens generous subsidies handed out by the Kremlin.