Five police officers died and another 17 injured during a special operation conducted early Sunday in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya that also killed 12 militants, said the republic’s investigators.

Two police officers died on the spot in the operation carried out in the Tsentaroi village of Kurchaloyevsky district, the hometown of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Another three policemen died of severe injuries.

Additionally, seven civilians suffered from wounds in the operation, said the investigators.

Earlier Kadyrov who led the operation told media that only two law enforcement officers died in the operation, and among the wounded were two officers, four civilians including two minors.

Kadyrov also denied reports of five civilian deaths.

Currently the militants were being identified, some of whom have been confirmed as involved in an illegal armed group.

It was for the first time over the past six years for the Tsentaroi village to be under attack. In May 2004, three militants died in a shootout when an armed group assailed security personnel who protected the village. One police officer also died in the clashes that resulted in the arrest of several rebels.

Russia’s mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia saw increase in violence for the last week with media reporting on a new attack almost every day.