MOSCOW. Aug 19 (Interfax) - Two militants who were killed in Makhachkala on Wednesday night were involved in attacks on Dagestani policemen and the murder of two local residents, a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry's Anti-Extremism Department has told Interfax.
The gunmen who opened fire on law enforcement officers near Makhachkala in the early hours of August 18 were suspected of involvement in attacks on a Dagestani OMON officer, a policeman and a local medic, as well as in the murder of local residents, the spokesman said.
On August 18, Dagestani law enforcers, in cooperation with Federal Security Service (FSB) forces, were conducting search and investigative measures to locate the suspects, the spokesman said.
At 1:40 a.m., policemen signaled a black VAZ-2109 car traveling in the direction of Krasnoarmeisk to stop, but the driver and the passenger disobeyed and fired several shots at the policemen. The latter returned the fire, killing the attackers.
Two Makarov pistols and many cartridges were found in the car.
One of the militants was indentified as a member of the Shamkhal subversive and terrorist group. The second attacker has also been identified, the spokesman said.