The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia's North Caucasus region of Ingushetia, in which a police officer was killed.



Two young men rammed their car into a police officer on December 31, and then attacked other police officers with knives in the Ingush capital, Magas.



Regional authorities said one police officer died and three others were wounded in the incident. One of the attackers, 18-year-old Mikail Miziyev, was killed while another, 23-year-old Akhmed Imagozhev, was wounded and is currently in hospital.



The IS group said in a statement dated January 1 that it was responsible for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks the online activity of jihadist organizations.

Ingushetia's leader, Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov, publicly criticized police for what he called "insufficient measures to beef up security on New Year's Eve."



Attacks on police and authorities have persisted for years in the volatile North Caucasus region after Russia drove out a separatist government in one of the region's provinces, Chechnya, in the second of two devastating post-Soviet wars.

With reporting by Dozhd, TASS, and Interfax