MOSCOW, March 5 (RIA Novosti) - Two policemen were wounded in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Karachayevo-Cherkessia after an unknown suspect opened fire on them and then cast a grenade, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said.

The spokesman said that on Monday night a police patrol of two officers stopped a man to check his documents in the suburbs of the city of Cherkessk.

“Policemen noticed a man carrying a bag and hiding his face. One of the policemen asked for his documents, but the suspect attempted to flee and having opened fire wounded one of the officers,” the spokesman said.

Another policeman opened fire in return and the suspect threw a grenade at him. The second policeman was wounded in the blast.

The suspect managed to escape and law enforcers launched an operation to find and detain him.

The Islamist insurgency, once confined largely to the republic of Chechnya, has spread across the North Caucasus in recent years. Attacks on security forces, police and civilians are reported regularly in the neighboring republics of Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachayevo-Cherkessia.