Nine Suspected Militants, Including Leader, Killed In Daghestan

Security forces in Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Daghestan say they have killed nine militants, including a prominent commander, in the city of Buinaksk.

Russia's National Counterterrorism Committee said the militants were killed during a security raid on a house in Buinaksk on August 20.

Bammatkhan Sheikhov, the group's leader, was among those killed.

Officials from the Counterterrorism Committee said the group was involved in a series of killings, including that of the imam of the main mosque in Buinaksk last year.

Daghestan has become the epicenter of an Islamic insurgency that has spread through Russia's North Caucasus region after two separatist wars in Chechnya.

Based on reporting by AP, ITAR-TASS, and Interfax