One police officer was killed and another wounded in a special operation in Chechnya in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, in which two militants were killed, a police source said on Sunday.
Two gunmen were blocked on Sunday morning in an apartment of a residential building in the capital of Chechnya, Grozny. In response to the demand to surrender, the militants opened fire, following which a special security operation began, the source said.
"Unfortunately, during the operation, one police officer was killed and another wounded," the police source said.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov confirmed on Sunday that both gunmen had been destroyed during the security sweep.
The Kremlin has pledged to wage "a ruthless fight" against militant groups but also acknowledged a need to tackle unemployment, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption as causes of the ongoing violence.
Moscow announced an end to 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.
GROZNY, August 8 (RIA Novosti)
