4 gunmen accused of killing police are shot dead in Russia

MOSCOW — Police in southern Russia on Thursday hunted down and killed four suspects following the killing of two police officers.

The Investigative Committee said the National Guard in the city of Astrakhan found the suspects, who refused to surrender and fired back at officers. In the ensuing gunbattle early Thursday, all four gunmen were killed and three National Guard officers were wounded.

The shoot-out followed Tuesday’s attack, in which two of the alleged suspects shot two traffic police officers dead at point-blank range and seized their weapons.

The Islamic State group claimed on Thursday that it was responsible for both the Tuesday attack and the Thursday gunbattle, according to the IS-linked Aamaq news agency.