Police have killed four militants in a special operation in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said on Thursday.

Kadyrov said law enforcers had surrounded a group of militants, which might include militant leaders, in the southern mountainous region of Chechnya.

"Four militants were killed in the first hours," Kadyrov said. "Their identities are being investigated. Arms, ammunition and explosives have also been seized."

According to Kadytrov, police forces involved in the special operation found a militant winter base and surrounded it.

The Chechen president said that despite heavy snowfall and thick fog, the operation will continue in the region.

There are so far no reports of police fatalities in the operation which is expected to end in a few days.

Russia's mainly Muslim and ethnically diverse North Caucasus republics have been swept by an upsurge of violence recently, which has also swept neighboring regions, where hundreds of people have been killed in militant attacks and skirmishes between security forces and gunmen.

Moscow announced an end to its decade-long antiterrorism campaign against separatists in Chechnya in April, but has since had to step up the fight against militants as skirmishes and attacks on police and other officials have continued.

GROZNY, December 17 (RIA Novosti)