Russian special forces shot dead seven militants in Chechnya in southern Russia after an attack on police officers the previous night, Reuters reported.
Agencies cited Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov as saying seven militants had been killed during a special operation on the edge of Grozny, the capital. A further four militants had been detained, three of whom had been wounded, he said.
Russian news agencies reported earlier that the militants had attacked a policeman on Saturday night, seized his car, and run over another policeman who tried to stop the vehicle. The Interfax agency said the militants had opened fired on police when confronted on Sunday.
One policeman had been killed in the shoot-out, the TASS agency and state Rossiya-24 TV channel reported.