NALCHIK/MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) – At least one suspected militant and a security forces officer were killed in a shootout in Russia’s turbulent North Caucasus early on Tuesday, officials said.
Security forces in the Zolsky district of the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria trapped a group of militants during a special counter-terror operation in the area, the National Antiterrorism Committee said Tuesday. The suspects tried to blow up the building where they were besieged when approached by law enforcement forces.
A Federal Security Service officer was shot dead and several others were injured in the gun battle that followed, a law enforcement source told RIA Novosti. One insurgent was also reported killed.
The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed in a statement that one police officer had been killed and three more injured in the shootout.
“FSB officers detained one of the militants, and the body of another was discovered at the scene,” the statement said.
The National Antiterrorism Committee reported that two explosive devices were later discovered by officers at the site.
“An inspection of the scene of the special operation led to the discovery of two improvised explosive devices, which were ready for use and contained projectiles and a total equivalent of 13 kilograms of TNT,” the committee said.
Attacks by Islamist militants on security forces, police and civilians frequently take place in the North Caucasus region. Russia’s security forces have for almost two decades been fighting to suppress the insurgency, which is generated by ethnic, religious and political rivalries, as well as poverty and corruption.
Updated with information on discovered explosives in paragraphs 6-7.
