GROZNY, October 2 (RIA Novosti) - Eight militants have been killed in Chechnya's mountainous southeast district in an operation led by the president of the Russian North Caucasus republic, Ramzan Kadyrov said in a statement on Friday.

The republic's interior minister said earlier that seven militants were killed on Thursday evening near the village of Benoi in the republic's Nozhai Yurt district.

Kadyrov said the operation was continuing as troops were searching for the rest of the group, which may have had up to 20 members.

"The operation is continuing, there have been no casualties among police," the president said.

Benoi is located 140 km (87 miles) from the capital, Grozny, and is close to the border with Dagestan.

A former Chechen rebel, Kadyrov has pledged to end a recent rise in violence in the republic. In an earlier interview, Kadyrov said he spent weekends fighting militants.

As president, Kadyrov has been credited for bringing relative peace to Chechnya, which saw two Kremlin-led campaigns against separatists in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Grozny, ravaged by the years of conflict, has been restored.