A lone militant killed seven people - five police officers and two civilians - in an attack Saturday in the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan before blowing himself up. The 34-year-old blew himself up once arrested, the country's district attorney said, claiming the life of one of the policemen in the process.
The bloodbath took place in the southern Kazakhstan city of Taraz. A group calling itself Soldiers of the Caliphate claimed responsibility. The terrorist first shot and killed two security officials, and then a guard and a customer in a weapons store, the country's vice attorney general Nurmakhanbet Issayev said. The terrorist then shot two policemen who had pursued him, and used a grenade launcher to attack a government ministry. The terrorist was then captured by the police in a large raid. But shortly thereafter, he blew himself up, killing himself and the policeman, Issayev said. Three other policemen were injured during the suicide explosion.