Police killed a militant who tried to plant a roadside bomb in the Republic of Dagestan in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, the regional interior department said on Sunday.

Police noticed a car and a man trying to plant a bomb late on Saturday on a road near the village of Durangi in the Buinaksk district in central Dagestan, the interior department said.

"The man opened fire when he caught sight of police. By retaliation fire, the man was shot dead," the interior department said.

Militant attacks and clashes remain common in Russia's North Caucasus, even though the Kremlin campaign to fight separatists and terrorists in Chechnya has officially ended.

Violence often spills over into nearby republics, in particular Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria.

MAKHACHKALA, November22 (RIA Novosti)