The deadly attack also left two other policemen wounded and came after a wave of suicide bombings that has killed more than 50 people in Russia in the past one week. The attacker detonated himself in front of the police station in Karabulak in Russia's pre-dominantly Muslim republic of Ingushetia, police said.

"The suicide bomber died on the spot and four police officers were rushed to hospital where two of them succumbed to their injuries," they said. The suicide blast was followed half an hour later by second explosion as police carried out a controlled explosion of a car bomb found fitted with a timer device. The suicide bomber had been trying to enter the police station premises, when guards stopped him forcing him to detonate his explosives prematurely, investigators said.

Had the bomber managed to break into the police station the casualty figures would have been higher as there were about fifty traffic policemen gathered inside for morning briefing. With today's killings, so far 12 people have died including local police chief and eight police personnel in Ingushetia, Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS