GROZNY, June 24 (RIA Novosti) - The authorities of Ingushetia and Chechnya will conduct their own joint probe into Monday's assassination attempt on the Ingush president, the Chechen president said on Wednesday.
"It will be our probe, and we will continue it regardless of the progress of the official investigation into the terrorist attack," Ramzan Kadyrov said.
Ingush President Yunus-bek Yevkurov survived an assassination attack on Monday near the city of Nazran and is currently in a critical condition in a Moscow hospital. He received serious head and internal injuries when his motorcade was hit by an explosion believed to have been detonated by a suicide bomber.
"We are ready to pay for any information about the terrorists," the Chechen leader said, also threatening "the international terrorists" behind the attack with "harsh punishment."
Acting Ingush President Rashid Gaisanov also announced a 5 million rubles ($158,000) award for information about the attackers.
Kadyrov said he personally would lead a special operation against the warlords and their groups he said were responsible for the attack.
"We have evidence of the whereabouts of certain militant groups and their leaders, and we will soon start special operations to neutralize them," the Chechen president said.
Kadyrov also pledged Chechnya's assistance and support to the Ingush people in resolving the problems facing them. Ingushetia witnesses frequent attacks on officials and police by militants.
Also on Monday, a senior Ingush investigator had his leg ripped off after an explosive device believed to have been planted in his car went off. A top judge and a former deputy prime minister were also shot dead in the republic in separate incidents earlier this month.
Kadyrov's statements prompted talks on the possible unification of the two republics.
Russia's Chechen and Ingush autonomous areas were joined into a single republic in 1934. An independent Chechen-Ingush republic was established in May 1991, seven months before the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was subsequently divided into two Russian republics.
