Five gunmen were identified as members of a militant group active in the central district of Buinaksk, a ministry spokesman said, adding that "One Interior Ministry soldier was killed and an OMON special police officer was taken to hospital with light injuries."
Later reports said another soldier was wounded in the fighting. The sixth gunman is being identified, the spokesman said.
Police spotted the militant group near the village of Gergentala in the morning. After the operation a trench shelter was discovered in a nearby forest with two machine guns, four automatic rifles, and other weapons believed to belong to the group.
The republic was put on high anti-terrorism alert early on Friday, with police stepping up checks of people and vehicles and tapping conversations over the telephone and email and other media.
The leader of the Buinaksk group - which was involved in an attack on federal soldiers on November 4, which killed two people - was reported killed on Monday along with the other seven militants during a police assault on a militant hideout in the republic's capital Makhachkala.
The predominantly Muslim republic of Daghestan borders Chechnya, which saw two military campaigns by Russia since 1994. Chechen militants are believed to frequently cross into Daghestan, launching attacks on local police.
On September 30, nine civilians and a senior police official were shot dead by unknown assailants in two separate incidents in the republic.
