The police found a group of suspected militants in a forest near the village of Solnechnoye in the Khasavyurt district in northern Daghestan Saturday afternoon, the source said.
"During the gunfight, three militants were killed. One of them is a local resident who is on a wanted list for terrorism. The identity of the other two militants is being established," the source said.
Although the active phase of the North Caucasus antiterrorist campaign officially ended in 2001, periodic bombings and clashes between gunmen and federal troops still disrupt Chechnya and nearby regions, including Daghestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachayevo-Circassia.
An interior ministry officer and a contract solider were killed and a policeman was wounded in the clash with the militants, the source said.
The police found three grenade launchers, three Kalashnikov automatic rifles, two Makarov pistols and four grenades at the scene of the fight, the source said.
