Cameroonian student attacked in southern Russian town

Unidentified assailants attacked a student from Cameroon in the southern Russian town of Rostov-on-Don, stabbing him in the neck in the latest of a series of attacks against foreign students that have provoked fears of growing xenophobia, Russian media reported Friday.

A group of seven youths set upon the 21-year-old medical student near his dormitory Thursday evening, NTV television reported. He was hospitalized, but his wounds were not life-threatening, the AP says.

A group of African students got into a fight with people in a cafe where they went looking for the assailants, and a policeman who was present fired into the air to stop the unrest, the Interfax news agency reported.

Rights activists have criticized police and prosecutors for ignoring racist motives in attacks by skinheads and other extremists in Russia and allowing attackers to walk away largely unpunished.

T.E.