MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - A militant trapped in the Khivsky district of Dagestan let nine people leave the house but refused to surrender. He opened fire on the police and was shot and killed, the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) press center reported.
"The militant was persuaded to let nine civilians, among them four small children, leave the house in the negotiations organized by the operative staff," a press center spokesman told Interfax on Friday.
The militant was offered to surrender but "opened gunfire on the police and was neutralized in a brief shootout," he said.
"The militant has been tentatively identified as S. Velikhanov born in 1969, a member of the Tabasaran gang. There were neither civilian nor police casualties in the counterterrorism operation," he noted.
The operative staff told Interfax earlier a counterterrorism operation regime was put into place in the village of Zakhit in the Khivsky district at 4 a.m. on Friday.
In turn, a source in the Dagestani law enforcement authorities said special-purpose forces had blocked a home in the village. "Reportedly, a suspected militant is trapped inside that house. He is being persuaded to surrender," the source said.