STAVROPOL. Dec 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Border guards have detained two rebels in Dagestan, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Livantsov, press service chief of the North Caucasus regional border guard directorate, said on Tuesday.
"A border patrol sent by a reinforcement unit detected and detained two rebels in the rear of a border picket near the Khirbak pass at approaches to the state border on Monday," Livantsov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Several scattered rebel gangs tried to break out of the sealed-off area near the border section controlled by the Khunzakh unit on Monday, he noted. However the guerillas were spotted by border patrols.
According to Livantsov, the detainees carried an assault rifle and a large amount of ammunition.
The same patrol found another rebel gang and engaged it some time later.
"Bandits suffered losses, the number of killed rebels is being updated. No border guards were hurt," Livantsov said.
Border aviation inflicted missile strikes on the areas where rebels may be hiding, he added.