Suicide attack on police station kills two in Russia

Nazran, Russia:  A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police station in a troubled Russian province on Monday, killing two officers and wounding two others as Islamist insurgency continues to spread across the region.

The bomber's car exploded later, wounding an investigator.

The attack took place in Ingushetia, a primarily Muslim province in the impoverished North Caucasus area, in southwestern Russia.

Ingushetia, Dagestan and other Caucasus provinces have been plagued by attacks and bombings by militants who have spread across the region after two separatist wars in neighbouring Chechnya.

The violence is increasingly being described as a civil war between Kremlin-supported administrations and Islamist rebels. Widespread abuse of civilians by police, including abduction, torture and killing, have swelled the militants' ranks.

Dagestan, wedged between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, was the site of two suicide bombings on Wednesday that killed 12 people, mostly police officers. Another explosion there on Thursday killed two suspected militants. On Sunday, two powerful explosions derailed a cargo train, but no one was injured.

A week ago, two suicide bombers killed 40 commuters and wounded 121 on the Moscow subway — the city's first terrorist attack since 2004. Authorities have blamed militants from the North Caucasus.

In Ingushetia, the attacker detonated his explosives at the police headquarters in the town of Karabulak, said regional prosecutor Yuri Turygin.

Roll call was being taken

More officers were lining up for roll call inside the compound, and investigators believe they may have been the target. But the attacker set off his explosive belt when the guards at the entrance demanded identity documents.

About half an hour later, a vehicle the attacker had parked outside the headquarters exploded, wounding an investigator inspecting the area after the first blast. The explosions damaged the police headquarters and nearby residential buildings and destroyed several cars.

There have been several previous suicide bombings at police stations in the Caucasus. In the deadliest, in August, an assailant crashed a bomb-laden van through the gates of the police station in Nazran, Ingushetia's main city, killing 24 people and injuring more than 200.

Another suicide bomber blew up a car at a police station in Dagestan in January, killing six officers and wounding at least 16 people.

And the Moscow subway bombing may be linked to Dagestan, as well: One of the two suicide bombers has been identified as the 17-year-old widow of a slain militant from Dagestan.