Medvedev denounces bomb attack on south Russian republic's president

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has called the Monday bomb attack on the president of Russia’s southern Ingushetia region an "act of terror".

Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was wounded as a bomb exploded near his car early on Monday morning.

Medvedev had appointed Yevkurov as Ingush president in October after sacking his deeply unpopular predecessor Murat Zyazikov for failing to stem endemic corruption, unemployment and violence, AFP said.

Meanwhile, the president of neighboring Chechnya, former militant turned into pro-Kremlin politician Ramzan Kadyrov, called the attack on Yevkurov a “mean and inhuman act”.

“They (the attackers) have revealed their true face [as those] of murderers,” he was quoted by Interfax as saying.

“The bandits want to wreak chaos on Ingushetia, to unleash endless bloody conflicts, to cause fear and uncertainty among the general public,” he told a press conference.

Kadyrov also vowed to help Ingushetia solve the problem of banditism.

An unnamed source in the law-enforcement structure told RIA Novosti that top law-enforcement officials were considering the necessity of a regime of counter-terrorist operations in the republic.

The law-enforcement operation regime, which was triumphantly proclaimed in Chechnya in April, includes a system of harsh security measures and restrictions.

Ingushetia became a republic within Russia in 1992. It has a close-knit population of over 450,000 that is based around tribal families.

Officials say that a half dozen underground extremist groups are lurking in Ingushetia's mountains and thick forests, emerging only to replenish supplies and stage attacks against police.