Three Islamist insurgents, including a man tasked with delivering judgment according to sharia law, were killed by law enforcement officers in Kizlyar forest in the Russian province of Dagestan on Friday.
The sharia judge, Magomed Makhmudov, found dead with a machinegun next to him, was the only militant to be identified so far, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said. He was on a wanted list since 2011.
Heavy gunfire on the outskirts of the forest prevented the law enforcement personnel from picking up the other two bodies for identification, a law enforcement source said earlier.
The special services located the so-called “Kizlyar gang” near the eponymous village earlier on Friday, reports said.
Attempts were made to detain them, but the insurgents fought back with automatic rifles and a grenade launcher, injuring three policemen and four army soldiers, two of whom were hospitalized. An operation to detain or eliminate them was in progress.
