MOSCOW, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- An Ingush opposition leader was killed in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria on Sunday, Russian news agencies reported.

    Maksharip Aushev was shot dead at about 9:30 a.m. Moscow time (0630 GMT) on Sunday as his car came under attack in western Kabardino-Balkaria, RIA Novosti quoted a local police source as saying.

    A female passenger in the car was wounded and had been sent to hospital, the police source said.

    Ingush presidential aide Musa Pliyev warned that such tragedies may repeat.

    "It's not just an encroachment on people's rights, but a challenge to civil society, the authorities and the state," Pliyev was quoted as saying by Interfax.

    Pliyev said Aushev had received threats before the ambush. "The killing was an expected one," he said.

    An investigation into the assassination has been under way.

    Aushev was an associate of Ingush opposition journalist Magomed Yevloyev, who was killed in police custody in August 2008 from what the police said was "an accidental gun shot," which resulted in large-scale protests in the republic.