MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) — Russian officials say five Islamic militants have been killed in two separate incidents in the violence-plagued province of Dagestan.
A regional Interior Ministry spokesman says two militants were gunned down Sunday in Makhachkala after police surrounded a house where a group of wanted terrorists was hiding.
Mark Tolchinsky also said a car with three men inside exploded late Saturday during a shootout with police in the Kumtorkala district. He said the men were part of a local terrorist group and were transporting explosives.
Dagestan and other provinces in Russia’s heavily Muslim North Caucasus are mired in violence stemming from two 1990s wars between separatist rebels in Chechnya and Russia’s government.