GROZNY, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - A police officer and a gunman have died during an operation to seize a member of an illegal armed group in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, a local law enforcement source said on Tuesday.

The operation was carried out in the republic's capital of Grozny.

"As a result of a special operation a militant was killed, and a police officer died of gunshot wounds," the source said.

Chechnya saw two Kremlin-led military campaigns in the 1990s and early 2000s against separatist forces. Although the active phase of the operation has been completed, frequent attacks by militants still occur in Chechnya and neighboring republics.