NALCHIK, Russia, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Russian security forces Friday stormed a police station and a souvenir shop held by militants and freed their hostages, government officials said.
Gennady Gubin, prime minister of the southern Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, claimed that the resistance of militants who Thursday attacked government buildings in the republic's capital, Nalchik, had been "suppressed."
Gubin told the Interfax news agency, "Law enforcement agencies are currently carrying out a sweep operation in the city in order to find any militants who might be hiding there."
More than 100 people are estimated to have died in fighting between Islamist militants and security forces, government sources said. The figure includes up to 24 civilians, 68 militants and 24 members of security forces and police officers.
An estimated 120 civilians and 58 members of the security forces have been admitted to Nalchik hospitals with injuries.
Separatist rebels from the nearby republic of Chechnya claimed responsibility for the attack on their Web site, Kavkazcenter.
