MAKHACHKALA, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - Police in Dagestan in Russia's North Caucasus have surrounded an apartment block, in a special operation to apprehend a group of suspected militants in the capital, Makhachkala, a local police spokesperson said Thursday.
Anzhela Martirosova said police had surrounded an unidentified number of militants in an apartment building, adding that the operation began at 8:00 p.m. Moscow time (5:00 p.m. GMT) Wednesday. The group is still returning fire from the apartment.
Another police source said the group is believed to consist of three men, and that no fatalities or injuries in the operation have yet been reported.
As part of the same operation in the capital of the republic bordering on Chechnya early Thursday, police raided another apartment believed to be used by the group, and found explosives, detonators, a map showing police stations in the city, and Islamist Wahhabite literature.
