Officers kill 2 suspected terrorists

4 gunmen dead in clashes with police

MOSCOW, Oct 23, (Agencies): Russian security forces have shot dead two people suspected of “terrorism” carrying explosives in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing law enforcement sources.

An explosion during the operation injured two special police officers, while a third suspect was detained alive, reports said.

“Law enforcement officers stopped a car, two suspects resisted arrest and were liquidated on the spot. Explosives were found in the car,” TASS state news agency quoted a source as saying.

The special operation is reportedly taking place in a residential area of Nizhny Novgorod, an industrial city of more than 1 million on the banks of the Volga River, around 400 kms (250 miles) east of Moscow.

A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti: “They have shot dead two (people) suspected of terrorism. They were driving in a Daewoo Nexia car. Now FSB (security force) officers are working at the scene.”

There was no immediate official confirmation of the reports. Such special operations are frequent in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus but are rare in the central region where most Russians live.

A law enforcement source quoted by TASS named those killed as

of the Republican party primary vote will win the presidential election in April, most likely in a run-off against far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.

Francois Hollande’s approval rating fell 1 percentage point to 14 percent in October, its lowest since June, according to a poll conducted by Ifop for Sunday’s edition of the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls appealed for unity at a party rally on Saturday.

“I know what our debates are, but in “members of illegal armed groups,” a term also used by officials to describe Islamist insurgents in the North Caucasus.

Two special police officers were wounded in an explosion during the operation, TASS reported, citing a local police source.

“The officers suffered blast injuries as the result of an explosion. They have been taken to hospital, the source said.

Quoting

A third suspect was detained alive, Interfax news agency said, quoting a regional law enforcement official.

A Rossiya 24 state television correspondent reported that details of the incident would only be released on Monday.

The regional branch of the FSB security service told Interfax news agency that “until urgent investigative steps are finished, we will not comment. Later we plan an official press release.”

Local media posted photographs from social networking sites apparently showing two bodies lying on the ground close to a car with doors open, as vehicles and security officers block the nearby road in a suburb called Tsvety.

A robotic device can also be seen in the photograph. TASS reported that the anti-mine robot was used

the end, what brings us together?” he said. “The fact that we governed together with the president and values of the Republic”.

Vall’s approval rating rose by 2 percentage points to 26 percent in October, its highest since March, the poll showed.

Cambadelis called for his party members to support one candidate who would be chosen during primaries.

“I think it is necessary that we should be united despite disagreements. We have the primaries to overcome all this,” Cambadelis

Soldiers of the Hungarian honour guard hoist the national flag in front of the parliament building, during a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of 1956

anti-Soviet uprising in Budapest on Oct 23. (AFP)

to neutralise an explosive device in the car.

A local resident told Interfax that he heard shots in the morning between 8 and 9 am and security forces told people living in the residential area not to leave their homes.

In August, Russian special forces raided an apartment building in the second largest city of Saint Petersburg in an operation targeting North Caucasus militants, killing four suspects.

Elsewhere, the Russian Interior Ministry says four suspected militants have been killed by police in the restive Caucasus province of Dagestan.

Police spokeswoman Fatina Ubaidatova said two gunmen were killed late Friday after they allegedly fired on police who tried to stop their vehicle for a check outside the village of Stalskoye.

Ubaidatova said Saturday another two suspected militants were killed in a separate clash with law enforcement agents in the village of Kvanada.

Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim province on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, has become the epicenter of the Islamist insurgency following the two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya.

Militants there launch frequent attacks on police and other authorities.

added.

Valls said the aim should be to get to the second round of elections.

“We must act, act quickly ... act now in order not to die tomorrow,” he said. (RTRS)

Kalashnikovs used in theft:

Three masked men who were reportedly armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles robbed a jewellery store located in a shopping mall in Chatelineau in southern Belgium, local police said.

“When the shop opened, three masked men attacked the staff with heavy weapons. They took the stolen goods in a vehicle fitted with stolen registration plates,” police spokesman Eric De Brabander told the RTBF television channel.

“No one was injured but the staff are in shock.”

According to Belgian media reports, the men were wielding Kalashnikov rifles when they stormed the jewellery store — similar to those used in the Paris attacks in November last year.

While there appeared to be no jihadist link, the robbery occurred with Europe on edge over the fear that attacks like those that have struck Belgium, France and Germany in the past year may occur again.

Witnesses said two explosions were heard during the hold-up.

The mall was evacuated for several hours, though by midday it had been reopened.

The thieves were able to escape, eluding the security forces. (AFP)