MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - Gunmen wounded two police officers in Dagestan when they opened fire on a traffic checkpoint, a police official in the southern Russian republic said on Thursday.

The attack occurred late on Wednesday in the town of Kizlyar, 120 km (75 miles) northwest of the capital, Makhachkala. Police attempted to carry out a routine check on a van, but rather than stop the gunmen opened fire from automatic weapons and fled the scene.

"A traffic police officer and another police official were wounded in the shooting," a police source said.

Police later found the van abandoned, with a selection of weapons and extremist literature inside.

Militants have stepped up attacks on troops, police and other officials in Dagestan and other Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics in recent months.