Two suspected militants were killed on Monday by police in Makhachkala, the capital of Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a local police official said.

"Around 14:00 Moscow time (11:00 GMT), on Irchi Kozak street, two suspected militants driving a VAZ-2109 car were surrounded. They were killed in a brief shootout," the official said.

He said the two were identified as Gebek Magomayev and Kerim Asadulayev, who were part of a Makhachkala sabotage and terrorist group.

Two gang leaders were also killed in Dagestan over the past weekend.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the Federal Security Service to tighten security in the North Caucasus following a January 6 suicide bomb attack in Dagestan that killed five and wounded up to 19 people.

MAKHACHKALA, January 11 (RIA Novosti)