Police and protesters clash in Ingushetia

Two protesters have been injured as a result of clashes with police in the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia. Around 500 people have demonstrated in the region’s main city of Nazran against the sharp increase in abductions in the area.

They demanded police find two Ingush citizens who were abducted in the neighbouring Chechnya on Tuesday.

Riot police used batons and fired into the air to break up the demonstration.

The protesters have remained in the centre of the city and vowed to stay through the night.

“The two Ingush citizens went missing on Tuesday. According to their relatives, the two were travelling to Ingushetia though Chechnya. Unidentified people in military clothing and masks stopped them when they were in a taxi and kidnapped them. The relatives came to the authorities asking for help. We are doing our best to find the missing men,” said Musa Medov, Ingushetia’s Interior Minister.