One police officer was killed and another was wounded by unknown gunmen in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria on Friday, local police said.

The accident took place at about 19:30 Moscow time (16:30 GMT) in the village of Nartan in the republic's Chegemsky district, a local investigative committee said in a statement.

Police have rushed to the scene and a wounded police officer has been hospitalized.

Earlier on Friday, two police officers were killed by unidentified assailants in Ingushetia, another republic in Russia's North Caucasus region.

The gunmen opened fire on a police car in Nazran, the republic's largest city, and then fled the scene.

Sporadic terrorist attacks, shootings and militant clashes are common in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, where Russia has held two brutal wars against separatists in the republic of Chechnya.

MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti)