Correspondents say the fundamentalist Wahhabi Islamic is being blamed for the attack. The group has been active in Chechnya and Dagestan since the Chechen independence war which ended in 1996. It is demanding that the two republics merge into a single Islamic state. Russian news agencies said a third village may also have been taken. The Interfax news agency said Interior Ministry troops would launch a large-scale operation against the militants on Sunday.
Bandits are bandits.
Lessons learnt Russia has stepped up security in recent weeks Mr Stepashin played an important role in Russia's disastrous war in neighbouring Chechnya as head of domestic intelligence. However he was keen to point out that lessons had been learnt from that conflict. Russia will not repeat its mistakes in the North Caucasus. The Russian Chief of General Staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, is due to leave on Sunday for the area to take command of the operation. Last year violent clashes erupted in the Dagestani town of Makhachkala after armed supporters of another Islamic group, the Russian Union of Muslims, stormed the government building and held a rally calling for the creation of an Islamic state.