ROSTOV-ON-DON, July 17 (RIA Novosti) - The head of Ingushetia's Security Council has told RIA Novosti media reports that either the republic's sports minister or his deputy were assassinated on Friday are false.
"Sports Minister Ruslan Balayev is alive and well, and is at his office. His deputy, Akhmed Chakhkiyev, is also alive and well, and is currently on a working visit," Alexei Vorobyev said.
The security chief added that the bodies of two people killed when unknown assailants opened fire on a car some 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Ingushetia's largest city, Nazran, were being identified.
Russia's Ingushetia has seen a rise in violence in recent months, with the republic's president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, badly injured in an assassination attempt on June 22. He is currently recovering in a top Moscow clinic.
A leading Chechen human rights activist, Natalya Estemirova, was shot dead in the republic on Wednesday.
