A suspected militant was killed in Chechnya when police encountered a group of over 10 gunmen in the Caucasus republic's Shali district, a police official said on Monday.

The shootout occurred on Sunday in a mountainous wooded area, the police source said.

"The gunmen opened fire, one of them was killed when police returned fire, the others fled," he said, adding that no police were injured in the attack.

The gunman is being identified, the official said.

Attacks on police and other officials have been reported almost daily as fighting has resurged in Chechnya, which saw two brutal separatist conflicts in the 1990s and early 2000s. Violence has also spiraled in neighboring regions of Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus.

MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti)