Russia's Ingush leader in grave condition after bomb

By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The head of Russia's Muslim region of Ingushetia was fighting for his life on Tuesday after a suicide bomb that dealt a fresh blow to Kremlin attempts to quell unrest in the North Caucasus.
Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was badly wounded on Monday morning when a suicide bomber detonated about 70 kg (150 lb) of TNT equivalent by the side of the road, destroying Yevkurov's armoured Mercedes car.
Yevkurov, 45, was rushed to hospital in the town of Nazran but was flown to Moscow after doctors decided he needed more specialized treatment.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Moscow's Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery where Yevkurov was being treated late on Monday to ask doctors about his condition.
"He has received serious injuries and as a result, a whole host of organs are damaged, above all the skull. The rib cage and liver are also damaged," Vladimir Fyodorov, the institute's director, told Medvedev in remarks show on state television.
"His condition remains grave ... he is on artificial respiration."
The Kremlin chief -- who appointed Yevkurov as president last year -- condemned the attack as a terrorist act and vowed a "direct and severe" response.
"A top-level decision has been taken to boost sharply anti-terrorist and anti-sabotage activity on the territory of the Southern Federal District," Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed senior Interior Ministry official as saying.
The official said the area with tight security restrictions, which covers Ingushetia's capital Nazran, could be widened.
"After the attempt on Yunus-Bek Yevkurov's life we received a clear-cut signal from the country's leadership to take extra measures to reinforce law and order in the region," the official said.
Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya, is one of the main centres of violence along Russia's turbulent southern flank. Security forces say it is providing a foothold for global networks of Islamist militants.
Russian officials said Monday's attack was an attempt to undermine stability in Ingushetia, whose population of around half a million rank among the poorest in the country. Corruption, poverty and violence plague the region.
The attack outside Nazran was so strong it ripped roof tiles off a nearby house as well as wrecking Yevkurov's armoured car.
Local media said that after the blast, Yevkurov's guards rushed to pull him out of the car just seconds before it burst into flames. No one has claimed responsibility.
Medvedev appointed highly decorated ex-paratroops officer Yevkurov as president in October, replacing former secret police officer Murat Zyazikov who was blamed by critics for fanning an insurgency with heavy-handed measures by special services.
(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Richard Meares)

Source: Reuters