Two policemen and two militants were killed in a clash in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Friday, Xinhua quoted the Interfax news agency as reporting.
The clash occurred in a forest in the Kazbek district during a joint "special operation" conducted by Chechen and Dagestani police, a spokesman for the Combined Armed Forces Group in the North Caucasus said.
Two gunmen and two Chechen police died and another policeman was wounded in the shootout, the spokesman said.
Dagestan, along with its neighboring republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia, has seen a rise in violence in recent months, with attacks on police, troops and authorities being reported almost daily.