Three policemen killed in clash with militants in Ingushetia

Three police officers were killed while on duty in Russia’s Ingushetia Region, the Russian Interior Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"Three Interior Ministry officers were killed while on an armed tactical deployment in the Malgobek District of the Republic of Ingushetia in the early hours of April 6," the statement reads.

Law enforcement officials said earlier that three police officers had been killed in a clash with militants in the rural settlement of Zyazikov-Yurt in Ingushetia’s Malgobek District, while another seven officers had suffered wounds.

"The leadership and personnel of the Russian Interior Ministry would like to express their deepest condolences to the families and friends of our fallen colleagues," the ministry added.

According to the Federal Security Service (FSB) division in Ingushetia, in the early hours of Thursday regional law enforcement officers learned about the whereabouts of several members of an armed gang in the Zyazikov-Yurt settlement. The militants resisted arrest and opened fire with automatic weapons at police officers.