Ingushetian Cabinet Member Assassinated

MAGAS/GROZNY -- Ingushetian Construction Minister Ruslan Amirkhanov has been shot dead by insurgents in his office in the volatile North Caucasus republic, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.

The shooting took place just one day after Ingushetia President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was released from a Moscow hospital, seven weeks after he sustained serious injuries in a suicide-bomb attack on his motorcade.

Yevkurov warned upon his release that "those who refuse to lay down their arms and surrender will be killed."

Dozens of government officials and Islamic insurgents have been killed in Ingushetia this year.

Meanwhile, the same evening in the capital of the neighboring Chechen Republic, Grozny, two policemen were killed by unknown assailants.

Earlier in the day, the bodies of Chechen rights activist Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband were found on Grozny's outskirts less than 24 hours after they were abducted from their home.