Three policemen were killed during a security operation in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Saturday, Sept 15, according to a local security official, RIA Novosti reported.

Earlier, it was reported that one officer was killed and two others injured.

Local police reportedly came into contact with insurgents in the village of Khutrakh while conducting a search operation. The insurgents have blocked themselves inside a building on the outskirts of the village.

Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region has been the site of a low-intensity Islamic insurgency in recent years, where fundamentalists have carried out attacks against local officials and religious leaders with the intent of establishing Islamic Sharia law.

Dagestan remains the bloodiest of the republics, followed by Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria.