Gunmen slay Russian policeman who killed journalist

A Russian police officer who killed prominent opposition journalist Magomed Yevloyev in turbulent Ingushetia province two years ago was himself shot dead on Wednesday, officials said.

Unidentified gunmen fired on members of the local interior ministry in the town of Nazran, killing policeman Ibragim Yevloyev, 34, a local administrator told Moscow Echo radio.

A second policeman also died in the attack, Ria-Novosti news agency reported.

In August 2008, journalist Magomed Yevloyev, who owned the critical news website www.ingushetiya.ru, was arrested upon arrival at the local airport and shortly afterwards was killed by a pistol shot fired inside a police car.

Authorities ruled that Ibragim Yevloyev fired the shot but that it was accidental, and he was freed on licence.

Magomed Yevloyev’s death sparked protests in the troubled region and critics of the government said his death was murder.

Ingushetia is a predominantly Muslim region of Russia’s North Caucasus which neighbours war-torn Chechnya and has been troubled in recent years by a violent Islamist insurgency that has claimed scores of lives.