Interior Ministry spokeswoman Marina Riasulova said police were fired on as they approached a building in the capital, Makhachkala, to search for suspected militants.
Russia's deputy Interior Minister Andrei Novikov said later that one of the two gunmen killed was Rasul Makasharipov, the head of Jamaat Shariat, a Dagestani-based militant group.
Two gunmen escaped while a civilian asked by police to witness their search was killed in the shootout.
Meanwhile, officials are investigating a breakdown on the Mozdok-Kazimagomed gas pipeline south of Makhachkala, which has affected supplies to Azerbaijan and southern Daghestan.
Gazan Abdurakhmanov of Kaspiigazprom energy company said the breakdown was likely caused by sabotage.
(ITAR-TASS/AP)
Russia's deputy Interior Minister Andrei Novikov said later that one of the two gunmen killed was Rasul Makasharipov, the head of Jamaat Shariat, a Dagestani-based militant group.
Two gunmen escaped while a civilian asked by police to witness their search was killed in the shootout.
Meanwhile, officials are investigating a breakdown on the Mozdok-Kazimagomed gas pipeline south of Makhachkala, which has affected supplies to Azerbaijan and southern Daghestan.
Gazan Abdurakhmanov of Kaspiigazprom energy company said the breakdown was likely caused by sabotage.
(ITAR-TASS/AP)