Ten Chechen policemen gunned down in deadliest attack in Russia's Caucasus

Ten Chechen police officers were killed on Saturday in the Russian republic of Ingushetia after gunmen opened fire on their convoy, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing the republic's interior ministry.

"As a result of the attack, ten police from Chechnya were killed and ten more were badly wounded," the head of Ingushetia’s security council Alexei Vorobyev told the Interfax news agency.

Their vehicle came under grenade and gun fire from unknown individuals hidden in the forest and burst into flames at around 8:45 Moscow time, Russian news agencies said, quoting security officials.

The Chechen police were in Ingushetia to conduct a joint special operation against militants with their Ingush colleagues, the reports said.

The fact that Chechen police were the victims is especially significant as Chechnya’s controversial leader Ramzan Kadyrov has in recent weeks positioned himself as the strongman of the entire Caucasus region.

Concerns have grown in recent weeks about the stability of Ingushetia, one of Russia’s most violent regions, after its leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was gravely wounded in a car bombing on June 22. 

Officials said Friday Yevkurov has regained consciousness after almost two weeks in a coma, but the Kremlin has appointed the local prime minister Rashid Gaisanov to act as Ingush leader until he recovers.

The attack is the deadliest single militant strike in the Caucasus since April, when Russia abolished a decade-long anti-terror operation in Chechnya, the scene of two separatist wars since the collapse of communism.

Local authorities have already opened a criminal investigation into the case in accordance with Criminal Code articles ("Attempt on the life of a law envorcement official" and "Arms trafficking"), Interfax news agency reports.