4 Russian Commandos Die in Raids

MOSCOW — Four Russian commandos were killed Saturday while storming two houses used by suspected Islamic militants in the southern republic of Dagestan, Russian media reported.

The regional head of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Nikolai Gryaznov, told the Interfax news agency that the two raids had prevented an act of terrorism similar to last year’s takeover of a school with more than 1,000 hostages in Beslan.

One of the raids, against as many as five militants holding out in a house in Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, lasted for more than 15 hours. The building was destroyed but the rebels continued to shoot from the basement. A commando from Russia’s leading Alfa anti-terrorist squad was killed in the exchange.

NTV television showed a helicopter gunship flying overhead as soldiers pounded the blazing remains of the building with mortars and machine guns.

In another raid, a colonel and two commandos from a special police squad were killed in the town of Kaspiisk, Interfax said.

Dagestan borders the republic of Chechnya, where Russian forces have been battling separatist guerrillas for a decade. The violence has spilled into Dagestan.