Russian forces killed five suspected Muslim rebels in the southern region of Dagestan today, Interfax news agency reported.
The shootout took place in a house in Khasavyurt, about 60km (40 miles) west of the capital Makhachkala and the centre of fighting between rebels and federal forces in the increasingly violent north Caucasus region.
"According to preliminary information five rebels were killed," a security service source told Interfax. A civilian also died in the clash, and two security agents were wounded.
Bomb attacks and shootouts hit Dagestan and next-door Ingushetia almost daily - in contrast to increased stability in neighbouring Chechnya, where Russia has fought two wars against separatist rebels since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Analysts say the growing violence could destabilise the north Caucasus, and separatist feeling there could be fuelled by Russia's recognition of two rebel provinces in neighbouring Georgia as independent states.
Dagestan is a Russian republic of 2.5 million wedged between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea. Analysts say poverty is one of the main drivers of the violence as disenchanted youths join radical Islamic groups.
On Wednesday police said rebels killed a well-known television journalist who campaigned against radical Islam. Three days earlier a leading opposition website owner died of gunshot wounds while in police custody in Ingushetia.
Reuters