MAKHACHKALA, Russia -- Russian forces fought Islamic militants in scattered skirmishes in Dagestan Saturday, suffering at least four deaths as officials admitted that the rebels remained in control of seven villages.
The fighting was concentrated in the Caucasus region of Dagestan, a mountainous Russian republic that borders breakaway Chechnya. A Dagestani government spokesman said the heaviest ground fighting was in villages north of the main combat zone in Dagestan's Botlikh district.A force consisting mostly of local volunteers repelled rebel attacks for three hours, killing at least seven militants, the Russian Interior Ministry said.
Russia has primarily conducted an air campaign against the rebels. The ministry said Russian warplanes and helicopters targeted villages in the Botlikh district Friday night and Saturday morning.
The rebels remained in control of seven out of Botlikh's 32 settlements, the ministry said. That is more than previously reported.
Russian troops backed by Dagestani volunteers have been trying to oust the militants since they seized several areas in Dagestan a week ago.
Many of the militants belong to the fundamentalist Wahhabi sect and are seeking an independent Islamic republic in the mostly Muslim regions of the Caucasus Mountains.
A majority infiltrated Dagestan from Chechnya, a neighboring Muslim republic that has had de facto independence since a 1994-96 war with Russia. This week's fighting represents the most serious challenge to Russian authority in the Caucasus since that campaign.
Russia's acting Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, said Friday the fighting may be carried into Chechnya. That was the strongest indication yet that the violence in Dagestan could lead to a wider war.
Planes continued to arrive in Dagestan's capital of Makhachkala Saturday, carrying soldiers, weapons and medical equipment. The daily Noviye Izvestia said the composition of the arriving units -- including elite interior troops and engineering brigades -- signaled that Moscow was prepared to extend the fighting.
It was unclear how many federal troops were involved, though the business daily Kommersant said thousands arrived on Friday alone. The rebel numbers were estimated at up to 1,000.
Total casualty figures were uncertain. The Interior Ministry says at least 160 rebels have been killed and 300 wounded, with Russia suffering some 14 killed and 40 wounded. The rebels said earlier in the week that only five of their fighters had been killed and 15 wounded.
The Russian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, sought international support for Moscow's actions in Dagestan.