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Circled by unidentified local top officials, Chechen regional President Ramzan Kadyrov, left, holds his ballot at a polling station at his home village, Tsentoroi, in eastern Chechnya, on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, during the first municipal elections in the ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AP) — Security forces on Saturday killed four suspected militants during security sweeps in Chechnya and a neighboring province in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region, officials said.

Police acting on a tip tracked the two suspects down in the eastern village of Belgatoi, regional Interior Ministry spokesman Magomed Deniyev said. They refused to surrender and were killed in fighting, he said.

Deniyev said that Chechnya's regional President Ramzan Kadyrov personally led the operation.

Another two suspected militants were killed Saturday in the province of Dagestan east of Chechnya, said Mark Tolchinsky of the Interior Ministry's branch in Dagestan.

Chechnya and other provinces in southern Russia have remained mired in violence stemming from wars between separatist Chechen rebels and the Russian government. There has been an upsurge of bombings and other recent attacks on police and other authorities in the region.