MOSCOW -- Seven suspected militants and four interior ministry troops have been reported killed in two incidents today in the restive Russian republic of Daghestan.
Three suspected insurgents and four troops were killed in a shootout in the northern Khasavyurt region when police stormed a house where the militants were hiding.
Russian media reports said the militants were suspected of involvement in attacks on security forces.
In a separate incident, police shot and killed another four suspected militants near the city of Derbent on the Caspian Sea after stopping their car at a checkpoint.
Russian authorities are struggling to contain a movement by separatist Islamist insurgents in the North Caucasus, where attacks on security forces are common.
compiled from agency reports