NALCHIK. Sept 18 (Interfax) - Two militants have been killed as a result of an antiterrorist operation in Kabardino-Balkaria, the National Antiterrorism Committee (NAC) said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Security services learned about the presence of two armed members of an extremist religious group in a private house on 1st Promyshlenny Proyezd in the city of Chegem in Kabardino-Balkaria during a search operation carried out overnight," the statement said.
The antiterrorism operation began in that part of Chegem at 5 a.m.
"The area around the building was cordoned off. The militants trapped in the house were offered to lay down arms and surrender to the authorities. Yet they opened fire at law enforcers and were neutralized as a result of the shootout," the statement said.
The militants have been tentatively identified. They were plotting terror attacks in Kabardino-Balkaria.
"A ready-to-use improvised explosive device, submachine guns, and ammunition were found on the shootout scene," the statement said.
There are no casualties amongst law enforcers and the civilian population, it said.
Meanwhile, an informed source told Interfax that the militants killed in Chegem were members of ISIL (a terrorist organization banned in Russia).
"Both militants neutralized in Chechnya were members of a cell of the ISIL international terrorist organization," the source said.