Eight insurgent fighters were killed on Thursday, Sept 20, during a special police operation in Nalchik, capital of Russia's republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, according to the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, RIA Novosti reported.

Four of them, according to the committee, had been gang leaders.

Earlier, the Interior Ministry reported that two insurgents were killed, including the self-styled “amir” of Nalchik, Shamil Ulbashev.

Clashes occur frequently between security forces and Islamic militants in Kabardino-Balkaria, a republic in Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region.

An Islamic insurgency once contained largely to Chechnya has spread in recent years, with attacks reported regularly in the neighboring republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia, as well as in Kabardino-Balkaria.