Two killed in Dagestan

Two riot police officers were killed in a skirmish with rebels in Dagestan's Untsukul district earlier today. Seven police officers and military men were wounded, according to the republic's Internal Affairs Ministry. Five rebels were killed and one was wounded according to preliminary information, ITAR-TASS reports.

The rebels remain blocked in a forest and the operation will continue in the morning on Wednesday, 4 January, according to the chief press contact of Dagestan's Internal Affairs Ministry.

The eight rebels are blocked on the mountainside dominating the road to Shamilkala. They have split into two groups of four and continue resistance, RIA Novosti says.

Dagestan's Internal Affairs Minister Adilgerei Magomedtagirov commands the units of the police and Defence Ministry. The task set is to "capture, detain, or destroy," a source in the republic's law enforcement agencies said. The rebels hiding in the forest are remains of the group of Rasul Makasharipov which was practically destroyed in June last year.

Mr Magomedtagirov says that the rebels had been sent from Chechnya to prepare and commit terrorist acts in Dagestan's territory.

It was earlier reported that a group of riot police officers and commandos had been sent to examine a location at about 6:00 a.m. MSK today. Their task included detection of a group of rebels that was in the vicinity of Gimry. As a result, the task force ran into the rebels and a combat began immediately. Backup was sent to the Gimry Tunnel district shortly after that. The location was blocked and shelling began of the place where the rebels hid. They occupied a well prepared and reinforced dug-out which has many tiers according to preliminary information, so it provides not only for autonomous living for a long time, but also defence, NTV channel reports.