Moscow, Oct 9 (IANS/RIA Novosti): Police shot dead three militants in a gun battle in Russia's volatile southwestern region of Dagestan, the interior ministry said.
Police Monday attempted to stop a car near a supermarket in Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan, but the occupants fired at them in response, the ministry said.
"Three unidentified suspects in the car were killed in return fire," it said.
Two policemen were wounded in the incident.
An Islamist insurgency once confined largely to Chechnya has spread in recent years across the North Caucasus, with attacks reported regularly in the neighbouring republics of Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria.