Tatar president says attack on Mufti is challenge to whole society

The President of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, says the recent attack on the republic's Supreme Mufti is a challenge to the whole of Tatar society, the republican government's press service reports.

The mufti of Russia’s Volga Republic of Tatarstan, Ildus Faizov, was injured when his car exploded in the republic’s capital Kazan on Thursday, RIA Novosti quoted the Russian Investigative Committee as saying.

“The shockwave threw him out of the car, he received injuries of varying degrees and was hospitalized,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.

"According to preliminary data, there were three blasts in total," Markin added. "The type of explosive device and its force are currently being established by specialists. They believe the explosive device was planted under the chassis of the car, near the passenger seat."