Police have killed a militant leader in a special operation in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan, a police spokesman said on Sunday.
"The person killed during a special operation has been preliminarily identified as Madrid Begov, leader of the Makhachkala and Shamkhal subversive and terrorist group," the police spokesman said.
Begov participated in last year's attack on a Dagestani security officer near the security service's building in Makhachkala, the spokesman said.
The operation against the militant leader was launched on Sunday morning when he was trapped in a private house near Makhachkala. The militant refused to surrender, following which the police launched an attack on the house.
Earlier reports said that two militants were holed up in the house.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday ordered the Federal Security Service to tighten security in the North Caucasus following a suicide bomb attack in Dagestan that killed five and wounded up to 19 people.
The suicide bomber drove a car into a traffic police depot in Dagestan's capital, Makhachkala, early on Wednesday but was blocked off by a police vehicle before exploding.
Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen an upsurge of militant violence lately, with frequent attacks on police and officials.
MAKHACHKALA, January 10 (RIA Novosti)
