MAKHACHKALA, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - Police in the southern Russian Republic of Daghestan shot two militants and arrested another in a clash on Friday, a local Interior Ministry spokesman said.

"The police stopped a VAZ-2109 vehicle for a check. When the vehicle stopped, three people got out, one of them attempted to throw a grenade at the officers, but was killed by police," the spokesman said.

One of the two remaining bandits was shot as he tried to escape, while the other was detained.

The identity of the dead militants is being established.

Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes are common in the Russian republics of Ingushetia and Daghestan, and in neighboring Chechnya, although the Kremlin has ended its campaign to fight separatists and terrorists there.