In nearly simultaneous attacks, assailants armed with grenade- and rocket-launchers seized the Interior Ministry headquarters and police buildings in Ingushetia, a Russian region bordering warring Chechnya, local officials said Tuesday.

Ingushetia's acting Interior Minister was killed, and witnesses reported at least six other people dead. Emergency and military officials estimated 100 to 300 armed assailants were involved in the attacks, which took place in the city of Nazran and at least one village, Karabulak.

An official from the Ingush Interior Ministry said it was not immediately clear who the attackers were, but said some of them were shouting "Allahu akhbar" �� a frequent cry of Chechnya's separatist rebels as their insurgency increasingly comes under the influence of radical Islam.

Fighting from the 4-year-old Chechen war has occasionally spilled into Ingushetia, highlighting the Russian military's ineffectiveness against the rebels despite having heavier weapons and far superior manpower.

But the latest attack comes after recent statements by separatist leaders indicating plans to step up military actions outside of Chechnya.

In addition to the Interior Ministry building in Nazran, which was attacked late Monday, assailants seized police buildings in Karabulak, the Interior Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Emergency officials in Rostov-on-Don said that the fighters had targeted border guard posts in Karabulak and Nazran, and that three Russian servicemen had been wounded.

Acting Ingush Interior Minister Abukar Koshtoyev was wounded in the first minutes of the fighting in Nazran and was taken to Vladikavkaz in neighboring North Ossetia, where he died, the Ingush Interior Ministry official said. A convoy of three ambulances later could be seen speeding into Vladikavkaz from Ingushetia.

The ITAR-Tass news agency reported that the building of the border guard service in Nazran and an Interior Ministry warehouse in the city were on fire.

Source: Agencies