Five militants killed in Russia's Dagestan

Five militants, among whom two were so-called district "emirs", were killed early Wednesday in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

These rebels were killed by return fire from police during an identity check at 01:00 Moscow time (2100 GMT Tuesday) at the Khasavyurt-Dylym highway, news agencies reported citing local police.

Four of the five militants have been identified, one of whom was 26-year-old "emir" of the Khasavyurt district, Khasan Daniyalov, and another was 29-year-old "emir" of the Kazbek district, Yusup Suleimanov.

Police also found some rifles and a large amount of ammunition inside the Zhiguli car these rebels were driving in.

An investigation was currently underway on whether they were involved in terrorist attacks on Dagestan.

On Tuesday, a militant leader and three of his accomplices were eliminated in another North Caucasus republic, Ingushetia.

Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia saw an increase in violence for the last week with media reporting on a new attack almost every day.

Source: Xinhua