3 Militants killed in Dagestan police sweep

Three suspected militants were killed on Thursday in a special police operation in western Dagestan, police said. "A group of militants was surrounded in a private home in the village of Vitsiatl," a spokesman for the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said. "The militants offered armed resistance and were killed by return fire." One police officer was killed and two others were wounded in exchange of gunfire with the militants. Several gunmen suspected of attacking police were killed earlier on Thursday in a day-long police siege of a private home on the outskirts of Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. No police casualties have been reported. More than a decade after the end of a federal war against separatists in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Russian security forces continue to fight militants in the area.