Police officer gunned down in southern Russia

[October 20, 2010]  ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AP) -- Police say unidentified gunmen shot and killed a police officer in a southern Russian province hours after other Islamic insurgents raided Chechnya's regional parliament.

Regional police in the province of Ingushetia west of Chechnya said Wednesday that the officer was gunned down the previous night in the town of Malgobek.

The shooting followed Tuesday's attack on parliament in Chechnya's regional capital, Grozny, by three Islamic insurgents who killed two police officers and a parliamentary aide and wounded 17 others before blowing themselves up.

The brazen suicide raid defied the Kremlin's claim that stability has returned to Chechnya.

Russia's North Caucasus has been plagued by attacks by Islamic militants.

[Associated Press]

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