Court bailiff gunned down in southern Russia's Ingushetia

A court bailiff was shot to death by gunmen on Friday morning in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, a police spokesman has said.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - A court bailiff was shot to death by gunmen on Friday morning in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia, a police spokesman has said.

According to the spokesman, the court employee was shot on a federal highway.

"At approximately 8:30 a.m. [05:30 GMT] on the Kavkaz federal highway near the village of Gazi-Yurt, unknown assailants opened fire on a passenger car, in which the court bailiff was traveling in," the spokesman said.

The deceased's father and brother were killed in the summer of 2004 during a militant attack on Ingushetia by Basayev rebels.

On Wednesday, an officer from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) was killed in a shootout with militants in the North Caucasus Republic of Daghestan.

The shootout occurred on Wednesday near the village of Muzhichi in the republic's Sunzha district. Four militants were also killed in the clash and their identity is currently being established.

Daghestan and Ingushetia have seen a rise in violence recently linked both to militants based in neighboring Chechnya and local criminal groups.