Two of the four police officers who were wounded on Wednesday in an attack in North Caucasus Republic of Ingushetia later died in hospital, an Interior Ministry source said.

The officers were in an armored vehicle when at least three unidentified attackers opened fire at their car with automatic weapons.

"As a result of the attack, four policemen were wounded and two of them died later in hospital," the source said.

A search for the attackers, who reportedly fled the scene in a Lada Priora sedan, is underway.

Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen an upsurge of militant violence lately, with frequent attacks on police and officials.

Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Yedelev said on January 16 that 235 police officers and interior troops died and that 686 were injured in Russia's volatile North Caucasus in 2009, as recorded terrorist acts, including suicide bombings, rose sharply.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, January 28 (RIA Novosti)