Three presumed militants killed in Dagestan security op - source
MAKHACHKALA, Russia. Feb 25 (Interfax) - Three presumed militants were killed in a security operation in Dagestan, a republic in Russia's North Caucasus, on Wednesday, a law enforcement source said.
The three men had been members of the Kizilyurt terrorist group. "One of them has tentatively been identified as Oleg Shalyapin, who was complicit in the murder of the retired police colonel Aitimir Shalimgereyev in July 2014," the source told Interfax.
The site of the operation, which was suspended at nightfall until Thursday, is Kizilyurt district.
The source said between three and five other militants might be hiding in a local forest.
Interfax has been unable to obtain official confirmation of the alleged killings.
The operation started at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with part of the district put under a counterterrorist operation regime.
"The active phase [of the operation] will resume in daylight. So far the site is solidly cordoned off by law enforcement personnel. Obstacles, road blocks and checkpoints have been put up along the routes the bandits may use to escape," a spokesman for the committee that commands anti-militant operations in Dagestan told Interfax.
