Policeman killed in a clash in Chechnya

A Russian police officer was killed on Monday during an armed clash with militants in Chechnya's Shelkovskaya district.

According to the Chechen interior ministry, police stopped a car with a driver and two passengers to check their documents. All of a sudden, one of the men in the car opened fire on policemen, killing one and wounding another. The one who was killed had been sent to Chechnya from a far-away northern Russian region.

During the clash that followed, police killed two of the assailants and wounded the third one, who nevertheless managed to escape. Of the two that were killed, one had a document identifying him as an officer of Chechen police.