Russian FM pledges action on militants

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MAKHACHKALA, Russia, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev says his country will retaliate against militants responsible for killing five police officers in Dagestan.

During a visit Friday to Makhachkala, the capital of the North Caucasus republic where the police officers were killed in a suicide bombing two days earlier, Nurgaliyev echoed Russian Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's stern words regarding the militants operating in the volatile republic, RIA Novosti reported.

"We will carry out serious retaliatory action, aimed at the elimination of militant activity and militant hideouts," Nurgaliyev said.

Two militants suspected of being involved were killed Thursday when authorities caught up with them at a house in the Dagestan village of Kormaskala.

RIA Novosti said while meeting with Federal Security Service head Alexander Bortnikov Friday, Medvedev insisted Russia would continue to target militants in the North Caucasus region.

"As far as these criminals are concerned, our policy remains the same," the president said. "They should simply be eliminated, and this must be done systematically."