Ten militants and two police officers were killed in a shootout which occurred early on Sunday when the militants were trying to attack Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's home village, Kadyrov said.

The shootout took place in Chechnya's Kurchaloyevsky district.

Kadyrov, who controls the operation, said bodies of the ten killed militants were found at the scene, adding that the militants were being identified.

"Currently servicemen and police are scouring the nearby forest. The situation is stable and controllable," he said.

Another shootout occurred early on Sunday in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

According to a local interior ministry official, unidentified assailants opened fire at a traffic police post in the republic's Khasavyurt district when police stopped their car for a check. Police opened retaliatory fire, killing all four militants in the car.

Russia's North Caucasus republics, in particular Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen frequent attacks on police and officials despite the end of a decade-long special regime for counterterrorism operations in Chechnya last year.

GROZNY, August 29 (RIA Novosti)