ROSTOV-ON-DON, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - Six suspected militants have been killed in an ongoing counterterrorism operation in Russia's volatile southern republic of Ingushetia on Monday.
Casualties were also reported among troops.
"Shooting continues between security forces and militants. According to the latest information, six members of an illegal armed group have been killed. There are casualties among the troops, but there are not as yet precise figures," a security official told RIA Novosti by telephone.
Ingushetia, one of Russia's poorest regions and situated in the mainly Muslim North Caucasus, has been hit by a series of high-profile attacks on troops, police and other officials recently. Violence has been linked to separatists in neighboring Chechnya and local inter-clan rivalry.