Politician Hurt In S. Russia Blast

The second highest-ranking official in the mostly Muslim southern Russian region of Ingushetia was wounded in an apparent assassination attempt on Thursday when two explosions hit the region's main city, Nazran, a regional official said.

Fyodor Shcherbakov, an aide to the Kremlin envoy to the region, said Ingush Prime Minister Ibragim Malsagov had been wounded but that his life was not in danger.

Malsagov's driver was killed and two people in addition to the premier were wounded, said Nikolai Ivashkevich, a spokesman for the southern regional branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry.

He said Malsagov had been wounded in the hand and the leg. Ingush Health Minister Magomet Aliskhanov said his injuries were not life-threatening, the Interfax news agency reported.

The top police official in Ingushetia, Interior Minister Beslan Khamkhoyev, said two explosives placed about 10-15 yards apart had detonated within the space of 10 seconds, the Interfax news agency reported. The attack occurred near one of the city's outdoor markets as the prime minister's motorcade passed.

Nazran is the main city in the Ingushetia region, which has suffered frequent spillover violence from neighboring Chechnya and attacks by native militants and criminal gangs.

Last week, Nazran police chief Dzhabrail Kostoyev was wounded when unknown assailants detonated a radio-controlled land mine as his car was passing.

The republic's police and security forces were also targeted in a devastating overnight assault by militants in June 2004, in which some 90 people were killed. Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev took responsibility for that attack.