One of the key persons involved in Russia's fight against Islamist insurgents in the troubled North Caucasus Region was assassinated this morning as he was going to his office. RIA Novosti reports that Akhmed Kotiyev, the Head of Ingushetia's Security Council, was shot dead after his car came under gunfire early on Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the local Health Ministry said.
Earlier, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that Kotiyev's car came under fire from unidentified assailants at 7.40 a.m. local time at the Nizhniye Achaluki village as he was being driven to work in the city of Magas. The driver died on the spot and Kotiyev was wounded in the attack and taken to a hospital, where he later died of sustained injuries.
Commonspace.eu political editor said in a comment: Ingushetia has been at the epicentre of the Islamist insurgency which has dominated the North Caucasus Region for the last decade. As Russia prepares to host the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 there is throughout the region a heightened level of security. Kotiyev's killing constitutes a blow to this effort and will force Moscow to review its security arrangements in the region.
source: commonspace.eu with RIA Novosti
photo: Ingusheta (archive picture)
