MAKHACHKALA, January 25./TASS/. Law enforcement officers have killed several gunmen in a special operation in the settlement of Andi in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, where a counter-terrorist operation regime was declared early on Monday, a source from a republic’s law enforcement agency told Tass.

According to the source, having received an intelligence report, law enforcement officers blocked a house where gunmen were hiding. The gunmen opened fire, after which an active phase of the special operation began, he added.

"During the fight, the house was strongly damaged, the exact number of the killed gunmen and their identity will be clear after the debris is cleared," he added.

"The counter-terrorist operation regime was declared at 9:30am in the settlement of Andi in Dagestan’s Botlikhsky district. Search for militants is underway," a spokesperson for National Anti-Terrorism Committee’s operational headquarters in Dagestan told TASS early on Monday.