MAKHACHKALA, Russia - Police in Russia's troubled republic of Dagestan say two insurgents have been killed in a counterterrorist operation.
A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, Fatima Ubaidatova, says officers blocked a small band of rebels on Sunday in a wooded area near the city of Kizlyar. Two of the fighters were killed in the ensuing gunfire and the operation continued Sunday evening.
Dagestan is plagued by near-daily bombings and small clashes with insurgents apparently inspired by separatists in neighbouring Chechnya.