Rostov-on-Don (Russia), Aug 12 (RIA Novosti) Ingushetia's construction minister was gunned down in his office Wednesday, an interior ministry official in Russia's volatile southern republic said.

'Unknown gunmen fired at Ruslan Amerkhanov (the construction minister) at about 10.35 a.m. (06.35 GMT). Details of the attack are being verified,' the official said on the telephone.

The minister's aide was later reported to have been injured in the attack and two gunmen fled the scene in a car.

The killing is the latest in a series of high-profile attacks in the North Caucasus republic.

The republic's president, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, was severely injured in a car bomb explosion June 22. He was discharged from hospital earlier this week and said he planned to return to work in a month's time, pledging to continue fighting militants.

Ingushetia's forensics chief died in July after a shooting, and the republic's Supreme Court judge was assassinated in June.