MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - Three police officers were killed and five wounded in a series of attacks on police in Russia's North Caucasus regions over the weekend, police said.

There have been several violent attacks in recent weeks and three law-enforcers lost their lives in the Republic of Ingushetia on Saturday.

"Unidentified gunmen opened fire with semi-automatic rifles on an armored UAZ minivan carrying police officers," said a police spokesman in Ingushetia, which borders on Chechnya. "Three policemen died and one was seriously wounded as the car burst into flames. The assailants managed to escape from the scene."

Hours earlier on Saturday, two other police officers were seriously wounded in the republic and hospitalized in a critical condition with gunshot wounds, police said.

Two police officers were wounded in Chechnya on Sunday in a drive-by shooting. Both were hospitalized in a stable condition, police said.