MAKHACHKALA, April 24 (RIA Novosti) – Police in central Dagestan killed two suspected militants on Wednesday, including a former student of a university in Cairo, Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) said.
“Two militants were killed in a special operation in the village of Sogratl,” a NAC spokesman said.
The official said both suspects had been identified as local residents. One of them had allegedly studied in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.
Police surrounded the suspects at a house in the village of Sogratl earlier today. During negotiations with authorities, the men released two women and a child being held hostage in the building, the NAC said.
However, the suspects refused to surrender and opened fire at law enforcement officers, the NAC spokesman said.
The spokesman said that the suspects belonged to the Kadar militant group, and could have been involved in a number of high-profile assassinations in the region. One of the suspects was on a federal wanted list.
Mainly Muslim Dagestan, which neighbors Chechnya, is home to a low-level Islamist insurgency and sees frequent attacks on police and other officials.
