At least four militants were killed and two policemen wounded in a shootout in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, a spokesman for the local investigation committee said on Monday, RIA Novosti reported.
Earlier reports said that two militants had been killed in the course of a special operation in the village of Pliyevo, near Ingushetia's largest city of Nazran.
A police source said that Federal Security Service (FSB) officers stopped a car, which according to their information had militants inside, and who opened fire on them in response.
Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, have seen an upsurge of militant violence lately, with frequent attacks on police and officials.