At least four hostages were taken after a gunfight at the frontier which left nine Russian border guards dead, say local authorities.

"Our people are trying to make contact with them to find out what they want," a regional official told Russian TV.

Russia's current war in Chechnya began after fighters seized two villages in Dagestan in August 1999.

They held the villages for several weeks, saying they were supporting a declaration of an independent Islamic state in parts of Dagestan and Chechnya.

That incursion - as well as a series of bombings of apartment buildings in Russia that killed about 300 people - prompted then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to send troops into Chechnya.

Four years later, Moscow says it has pacified the rebellious republic, but fighting continues and Chechens may be behind Russia's now regular suicide bombings.

Security response

Between 25 and 50 fighters are said to be involved in the latest incident.

A Russian Interior Ministry spokesman, Roman Shchekochikhin, told the Associated Press that security forces were being sent to the village of Shauri, the scene of the reported hostage-taking.

A Dagestani official died in a car bombing in August

But the village is in a remote area and is difficult to reach, he said.

It is believed the gunmen took a larger number of hostages at a local clinic before fleeing with four.

A local official told Russia's Interfax news agency that security forces had blocked roads into the village from Dagestan, Chechnya and neighbouring Georgia.

Military analysts have suggested the fighters got lost in the snowy mountains while en route to - or from - Georgia.

Dagestan's information minister, Magomedsalikh Gusayev, was killed in August when his car was bombed.