Ingushetian president severely injured in suicide bombing (Roundup)

Jun 22, 2009, 12:04 GMT

   Moscow - The president of the Russian republic of Ingushetia was severely injured on Monday, when the convoy he was travelling in came under suicide bomb-attack.

At least one of Yunus-Bek Yevkurov's bodyguards was killed in the attack and several others were injured, the Interfax news agency reported. The bombing took place in the city of Nazran.

A spokesman from Yevkurov's office said the president had been in surgery and was no longer in life-threatening danger. He is believed to have been transported to Moscow for further care.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev condemned the attack as a cowardly act by 'bandits' unhappy that Yevkurov 'is bringing order to the region.' He ordered the Interior Ministry and state secret services to investigate the attack.

   The attack on the presidential convoy is believed to be the work of a suicide bomber who hid an 'enormous bomb' in a car, a police spokesman said.

According to Russia's FSB security services, the bomb had contained some 20 kilos of TNT.

No one has yet claimed official responsibility for the attack, although tensions have been rising in the area as Islamist rebels have become more bold in fighting local powers. Their attacks have claimed the lives of a former vice premier and the deputy chairwoman of the supreme court since the start of June.

   Medvedev has promised a campaign against such terrorist attacks. To that end, the government has planned military anti-terror manoeuvres with about 8,500 troops and 650 tanks in the region for the end of June.

Monday's attack came on the fifth anniversary of a rebel attack in Nazran in which some 100 people were killed.