Tatar Investigators Look For Two Suspects In Cleric Attacks

The funeral of the mufti's former deputy, Valiulla Yakupov, in Kazan on July 20.

Officials from Russia's Investigative Committee in the republic of Tatarstan have said that authorities are looking for two local citizens allegedly involved in a July attack against two Islamic clerics.

The officials said that Robert Valeyev, 35, and Rais Mingaleyev, 36, could be among individuals who appear on a video in which a group of masked men took responsibility for the attack.

The video started circulating on the Internet on July 19, right after Tatarstan's Mufti Ildus Faizov was injured in a car bombing and his former deputy Valiulla Yakupov was shot dead near his house.

In a second video posted on the Internet on August 4 an Islamic militant who called himself "Muhammad -- the leader of Mujahidins of Tatarstan," took responsibility for the attacks.

Tatarstan’s investigators say the two videos were added to the investigation files.

Based on reporting by Interfax and Regnum