Ten militants killed in Russia's North Caucasus

NAZRAN, Russia (Reuters) - Russian security forces killed 10 militants in the turbulent region of Ingushetia on Thursday, a local law enforcement official said, highlighting an escalating Islamist insurgency on the country's southern flank.

The gun battle occurred near the border with neighboring Chechnya, after a tip-off early on Thursday that militants were in the region.

"An anti-terrorist operation was started and 10 militants were destroyed. No information on federal losses has yet been received," the official told Reuters in Nazran, Ingushetia's largest city.

He said some fighting was continuing, but gave no details.

Violence is growing in the patchwork of southern regions -- including Chechnya, the site of two separatist wars with Moscow since the mid-1990s, and Ingushetia -- that make up the North Caucasus.

Local leaders say poverty and unemployment are fuelling the insurgency, though Russia's security services say links to al Qaeda also play a part.

Last month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appointed former metals executive Alexander Khloponin to head the North Caucasus Federal District, which includes Ingushetia, to try to target the corruption, unemployment and poverty that is seen to stoke the violence.

(Writing by Conor Sweeney; Editing by Paul Taylor)