Interior Ministry officials in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Daghestan say a long-wanted militant leader has been killed.

Taimas Taimasov, the alleged leader of a terrorist cell in the eastern village of Gubden, reportedly barricaded himself in a house there on November 20.

Police say he refused to surrender and opened fire on security forces, killing one officer and seriously wounding another.

Security forces stormed the house.

Police say Taimasov was killed in the operation, but an associate who owned the house managed to escape.

Violence between suspected Islamic militants and security forces in Russia's troubled North Caucasus region leaves scores of people dead and injured each year.

The region's violence-plagued republics include Daghestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Kabardino-Balkaria.