"The Chechen office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) received information indicating that a 15-strong illegal armed group, led by field commander Suleiman Elmurzayev, had been moving toward the village of Dyshne-Vedeno [in the Vedensky district]," said Yury Rossinsky, an FSB spokesman.
He said FSB operatives with soldiers from the Vostok battalion set up an ambush and intercepted the militant group at about 6 p.m. local time [2 p.m. GMT] Tuesday.
Rossinsky said the militants refused to surrender and opened fire at federal troops in an attempt to escape into the woods. He said the exchange of fire lasted three hours, and that several militants were killed or wounded.
"During the gunfight, the group split in two parts -- one continued the exchange of fire with federal troops, and the other attempted to escape into the forest carrying dead and wounded," the official said.
Soldiers stopped the pursuit at dusk in order to avoid unnecessary casualties but resumed the search for the remaining members of the group Wednesday, Rossinsky said.
"Operatives discovered two Kalashnikov assault rifles, a set of webbed gear, ammunition, and bandages soaked with blood at the site of the gunfight," he said.