Police have killed eight suspected militants in an operation in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, which shares a border with Chechnya. Among the dead are the group`s leader and two women.

Police stormed the house in the capital Makhachkala, where the militants were holed up.

The bodies of seven militants have been recovered and two more may be trapped in the debris.

Another militant was killed in a nearby street.

The dead militants are believed to be responsible for a series of attacks on police and military convoys.

Investigators believe the gang was behind a deadly blast in the courtyard of one of the local schools.

Authorities say all of those killed are believed to be members of a gang from the Buynaksk region known as the “foresters”.

“This is main terrorist gang operating on the territory of Buynaksk region. They were responsible for the blast that killed six policemen,”  said Adilgerey Magomedtagirov of the Interior Minister of Dagestan.