North Caucasus: Russia kills 2 suspected militants

In a house raid turned gunfight Russian security forces killed two suspected militants outside the capital of Ingushetia, west of Chechnya, on Tuesday.

A spokesman for investigators told RIA Novosti the men were shot dead after they refused to surrender.

"During negotiations, a woman and a child left the house. Two or three people refused to lay down arms and engaged in a shootout with law enforcers," the police source said.

On Monday, two car bombs exploded in the semi-autonomous North Caucus republic of Dagestan, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens more in what has been called a possible assassination attempt of court officials. 

The long-held insurgency in the North Caucasus, at first mostly confined to Chechnya, has spread in recent years, with attacks on security forces reported in Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria.

More from GlobalPost: Russia’s North Caucasus militants: a primer 

Also Monday, security forces killed two suspected militants in a Moscow suburb who Russian officials claim had been plotting an attack in the capital.

"Our forceful actions prevented an attempted act of terror in the capital," the National Anti-Terror Committee said in a statement.

The 2014 Winter Olympics are to be held in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which is near the North Caucuses.