President of Russia's North Ossetian republic Alexander Dzasokhov dismissed his government on Thursday in the wake of the hostage-taking tragedy that killed over 330 people, Interfax news agency reported.

Dzasokhov's press secretary Igor Dzantiyev said the president has signed the relative decree and it came into force Thursday.

The new government candidates would be presented shortly, said Dzantiyev.

A group of militants held about 1,200 hostages in a secondary school in the North Ossetian town of Beslan on Sept. 1. The crisis ended on the third day after fierce exchanges of gunfire between Russian troops and the militants, but leaving at least 335 dead, half of them children.

Following the hostage-taking tragedy, North Ossetian Interior Minister Kazbek Dzantiyev offered his resignation which the Russian Interior Ministry rejected.

No federal government officials have lost their jobs over the tragedy so far but Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered an internal investigation of the affair, which authorities blamed on Chechen separatists.

Dzasokhov and his government have been criticized for the poor handling of the crisis.

Thousands of protestors have been gathering outside government headquarters over the past several days to demand the resignation of Dzasokhov, but he has not made a clear answer yet.

On Thursday, some 6,000 people organized a pro-Dzasokhov rally that suggested that the regional leader cling on to power despite the popular discontent, according to Interfax.

Source: Xinhua