At Least Six Suspected Militants Killed In Southern Russian Region

Russian news agencies report that security forces have killed at least six suspected Islamist militants in two incidents in the southern region of Stavropol.

In one incident, law enforcement officers in Achikulak village killed four men who opened fire in response to demands they stop their car and produce identification documents.

Separately, at least two suspected militants were killed during a raid by security forces overnight on the apartment where they were held up in the town of Mineralnye Vody.

There were no reports of casualties among the security forces.

The mainly ethnic Russian Stavropol Krai is part of the North Caucasus.

It lies to the north of the troubled mainly Muslim Russian republics that are regularly the scene of Islamist unrest.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and Interfax