At least 6 suspected militants said killed in Russia

Security forces killed at least six suspected militants in a province bordering Russia's volatile North Caucasus on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.

The government is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency in the mostly Muslim region in southern Russia, and violence sometimes spills over into neighbouring provinces.

In one incident, law enforcement officers in a Stavropol province town killed four men who opened fire in response to demands they stop their car and produce identification documents, Interfax reported.

Separately, security forces raided an apartment in the city of Mineralny Vody, also in Stavropol province, and killed at least two suspected militants holed up there,

Itar-Tass reported. Interfax said five suspected militants were killed.

Police could not immediately be reached for comment and the reports, which cited unidentified law enforcement officials, could not be verified.

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