NAC: five militants neutralized in Dagestan
MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Five militants have been neutralized after being trapped by security forces inside a private house in the village of Gurbuki in the Karabudakhkent district of Dagestan in Russia's North Caucasus, the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) said in a press release, seen by Interfax on Friday.
"Five gang members were neutralized as a result of a shootout," it said.
Earlier, a source in Dagestan's law enforcement agencies told Interfax that a group of militants had been trapped inside a house in the village of Gurbuki.
Prior to Friday's shootout, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had been alerted about a group of militants hiding inside a privately owned house in Gurbuki. The militants were holding several women and children.
"As part of the continuing counter-terrorism operation, specialists of rapid reaction units of the FSB and Russia's Interior Ministry arrived at the site. The house where the militants were hiding was encircled and tenants were evacuated from nearby houses," NAC said.
Security forces held negotiations with the militants and persuaded them to free two women and their children. The gang members, however, refused to surrender and opened fire on the officers. The militants were eliminated in an ensuing shootout.
"None of the civilians and officers were killed or injured," NAC said.