MAKHACHKALA, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - Law enforcement officers have killed two suspected militants in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, the Interior Ministry reported.

“Police officers tried to stop a VAZ-2109 car but people inside the car opened fire. Two attackers were killed by return fire,” the ministry said.

A Makarov handgun and a Kalashnikov assault rifle were seized from the site, located in the Khasavyurt District in Dagestan's north. An investigation is underway.

The Islamist insurgency, once confined largely to the republic of Chechnya, has spread across the North Caucasus in recent years. Attacks on security forces, police and civilians are reported regularly in the neighboring republics of Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in mid-October that more than 300 terrorists were killed in the North Caucasus “in the past few months.” “Terrorism” in official Russian politics is used loosely and in preference to more neutral terms, such as “insurgency.”

Over a decade after the war against Islamist separatists in Chechnya ended, Russian security forces continue to fight militants in the volatile region.