4 dead in clash between police, militants in Russia's south
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russian authorities say two suspected militants and two law enforcement officers have been killed in a skirmish in the volatile southern province of Dagestan.
The National Anti-terrorism Committee's spokesman, Alexander Polyakov, said the two suspects holed up in a building in the town of Khasavyurt near Chechnya on Monday. They refused to surrender and died in a gunbattle that also left two law enforcement agents dead.
Dagestan, a mostly Muslim region located between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, has been a breeding ground for Islamic militants who mount regular attacks on police and officials. Some of the militants have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Russia fought two wars against separatists in the neighboring province of Chechnya after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.