Mount Elbrus. Photo: John Brennan CC-BY-ND-2.0

The Foreign Office is advising mountaineers not to travel to Europe’s highest mountain after three tourists were shot dead by terrorists in the area.

In an attack at the weekend, militants dressed as police officers also blew up a cable car pylon on Mount Elbrus, causing some of the cars to crash to the ground, though no-one was injured.

The Russian Federation’s national anti-terrorist committee spokesman Nikolai Sintsov told the news agency Itar-Tass special forces had found a militants’ camp containing police uniforms and weapons.

The latest violence in the North Caucasus follows growing tension between the Moscow authorities and separatists. The Elbrus district of Kabardino-Balkaria had escaped the worst clashes, but on Friday two men and a woman from Moscow were shot dead when masked men opened fire on their minibus near the village of Zayukovo.

Special forces are continuing to hunt for the terrorists and gun battles have been reported in the area.

Vice-premier Alexander Khloponin demanded no more tourists be allowed into the area while anti-terrorist operations were being carried out.

The climb of the 5,642m (18,510ft) mountain is not technically difficult but its altitude and variable weather make it a challenge. Many commercial companies organise mountaineering trips up the twin-peaked inactive volcano, which lies on the boundary between Europe and Asia.