ROSTOV-ON-DON: A suicide bombing in Chechnya killed three police officers Tuesday, authorities in the restive Russian region said.

Magomed Diniyev, a spokesman for the Chechen Interior Ministry, said the blast took place about midday in a gas station-carwash complex in the town of Mesker-Yurt, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of the capital Grozny.

The attack is the latest in a rising wave of violence against police and soldiers in Russia's North Caucasus. At least 25 people died in the Aug. 17 suicide truck bombing of a police station in neighboring Ingushetia.

Separatist rebels and Russian troops have fought two full-scale wars in Chechnya over the past 15 years, and small clashes persist.

Earlier Tuesday, the Chechen Interior Ministry said a policeman was killed and another wounded in an overnight clash with militants.

On Friday, suicide bombers on bicycles killed four policemen in Chechnya.