Two police officers have been killed in the Russian Republic of Karachay–Cherkessia, in a battle with gunmen suspected of killing two other officers a week earlier.

According to the authorities, the five assailants were killed after attacking a traffic patrol and killing two officers in Mara-Ayagy, a village in the centre of the republic on Monday morning.

Four other members of the security forces were reportedly injured.

Following the attack, Karachay–Cherkessia’s Investigative Committee identified the assailants as the same group that attacked and killed two police officers the previous week in Karachaevsk, south of Mara-Ayagy.

[Read more: Two police officers killed in attack in Karachay–Cherkessia]

The authorities in the republic last week launched a criminal case against the five suspects, men aged 27–35, on charges of an attempt on the life of law enforcement officers,  illegally carrying and storing weapons and ammunition, and theft of firearms and ammunition.

It is unclear if the assailants were part of a larger group.