Authorities in the Russian republic of Tatarstan say three suspected members of an Islamic group that was planning a terrorist attack have been killed in an explosion, which tore their car apart.
Officials said the car appeared to have been destroyed by a handmade explosive that detonated accidentally on the Kazan-Zelenodolsk highway early on August 20.
Officials said the remains of three men, Kalashnikov assault rifles, and Islamic leaflets and books were found in the debris of the destroyed car.
The blast comes after Tatarstan's Mufti Ildus Faizov was injured in a car bombing and his former deputy Valiulla Yakupov was shot dead in Kazan on July 19.
Both clerics were known for criticism of religious extremism.
A previously unknown group calling itself the "Mujahedins of Tatarstan" took responsibility for those attacks.
Officials said the car appeared to have been destroyed by a handmade explosive that detonated accidentally on the Kazan-Zelenodolsk highway early on August 20.
Officials said the remains of three men, Kalashnikov assault rifles, and Islamic leaflets and books were found in the debris of the destroyed car.
The blast comes after Tatarstan's Mufti Ildus Faizov was injured in a car bombing and his former deputy Valiulla Yakupov was shot dead in Kazan on July 19.
Both clerics were known for criticism of religious extremism.
A previously unknown group calling itself the "Mujahedins of Tatarstan" took responsibility for those attacks.
