Police and security forces laid siege to an apartment in the violence-plagued Dagestan region, firing grenades and bullets and killing three suspected militants, a law enforcement official said Monday. Authorities surrounded and evacuated the building on the outskirts of Dagestan's capital Makhachkala late Sunday and a gun battle broke out after suspected militants in a second-floor apartment refused to surrender, deputy city police chief Shamil Guseinov said. One police officer was wounded. After a hiatus overnight, the government forces opened fire again in the morning. After a few hours, they entered the ruined apartment and found the bodies of three suspected militants, Guseinov was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
