Three militants have been killed in Kabardino-Balkaria, following an attack in the restive North Caucasus republic in which a security officer died.
The Federal Security Service officer died in hospital, where he had been taken after his car was blown up late on Saturday, police said.
Security officials in the region are frequent targets of Islamist militants who seek independence from Moscow.
Police said they later eliminated the three men suspected of carrying out the attack. One of the militants had been on a federal wanted lost, police said.