Law enforcement officers in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan killed two militants near the capital Makhachkala on Tuesday, a spokesman for the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) said.
"Two militants were killed in a shootout. A special operation continues. Units are examining the house where the bandits hid," the spokesman said.
According to NAC data, the killed militants were connected with a subversive and terrorist group involved in murders and attempts on the lives of police officers.
The NAC earlier said more than half of all terrorist attacks in the North Caucasus in 2010 occurred in Dagestan.
Russia has been clamping down on militant groups in its volatile North Caucasus republics while stepping up efforts to boost the local economies.
The Kremlin ended its decade-long antiterrorism campaign against separatists in Chechnya in April 2009, but has since had to step up the fight against militants as skirmishes and attacks on police and other officials have continued in the republic and around it.
MAKHACHKALA/MOSCOW, January 4 (RIA Novosti)
