Russia: Police kill two islamist militants in Tatarstan
Police and federal security service (FSB) operatives on Wednesday killed two militants in Russia’s predominantly Islamic republic of Tatarstan, as the radical Islamist insurgency shows signs of spreading from the North Caucasus to central Russia.
“The gunmen were killed in the police assault on the building,” spokesman for the Russian Investigative committee, Vladimir Markin, said. “They were suspects in the recent attacks on Muslim leaders in Tatarstan.”
The militants were surrounded in a building in Tatarstan’s capital, Kazan, and offered stiff resistance, killing an FSB officer and injuring two others in a grenade blast. A firefight ensued as the suspects refused to surrender.