MOSCOW, October 31 (RIA Novosti) - Police in the south Russian republic of Daghestan say that a local rights activist found dead on Thursday was in fact a militant, the local interior ministry said on Friday.

The Mothers of Daghestan human rights organization said earlier that Mustapa Abdurakhmanov, 37, went missing on Wednesday and was found murdered the following day.

The ministry said that on the night of October 28, local police were conducting an operation against a group of militants, and that during an armed clash killed three of them.

"One of them was 37-year-old Nustapa Abdurakhmanov... who is described by some media agencies as a human rights activist," the ministry said.

The ministry said Abdurakhmanov has been active in illegal armed groups, cooperated with their leaders, and was involved in recruitment of Daghestan youth and their further transportation to Pakistan, where they trained at terrorists camps.