(Reuters) – Russian anti-terrorism units killed four militants affiliated with the Islamic State insurgent group in the mainly Muslim region of Dagestan, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday, citing Russia’s top anti-terrorism agency.
Violence and militant Islamists in Dagestan have been a rising challenge for President Vladimir Putin, with at least 20 killed in June’s brazen attacks on churches and synagogues, and a 2023 rampage at the Makhachkala airport.
The militants were planning an attack at a regional branch of the interior ministry, the National Anti-terrorism Committee told RIA news agency. Grenade launchers, improvised explosive devices, grenades, ammunition and machine guns were found at and near the scene.
There were no casualties among the civilian population or losses among law enforcement personnel, the TASS agency reported.
Dagestan, some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) south of Moscow in Russia’s North Caucasus, is a patchwork of ethnic groups, languages and regions that live in the shadow of the Caucasus mountains between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast.)
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