ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - A drive-by shooting involving militants in Russia's volatile Caucuses republic of Ingushetia has left two police officers injured, local police said on Monday.

The police officers returned fire and shot out one of the windows of the militants' vehicle. It is unclear whether any of the assailants were injured. A search for the attackers is underway.

"At approximately 8:40 am [05.40 GMT]... a police patrol vehicle with two officers came under gunfire by assailants traveling in a silver Lada. Both officers received gun wounds and have been hospitalized," the police source said.

Ingushetia and the republic of Dagestan have seen a spike in violence in recent weeks. Ingushetia's former deputy prime minister Bashir Aushev was killed in the republic on Saturday. Casualties in two other shootings included a senior judge and a local interior minister.