Russian forces kill five in North Caucasus unrest

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian forces killed five suspected Muslim rebels in the southern region of Dagestan on Thursday, Interfax news agency reported, the latest fighting in its increasingly violent north Caucasus region.

Bomb attacks and shootouts hit Dagestan and next-door Ingushetia almost daily -- in contrast to increased stability in neighbouring Chechnya, where Russia has fought two wars against separatist rebels since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Analysts say the growing violence could destabilise the north Caucasus, and separatist feeling there could be fuelled by Russia's recognition of two rebel provinces in neighbouring Georgia as independent states.

The shootout took place in a house in Khasavyurt, about 60 km (40 miles) west of the capital Makhachkala and the centre of fighting between rebels and federal forces.

"According to preliminary information five rebels were killed," a security service source told Interfax. A civilian also died in the clash and two security agents were wounded.

Dagestan is a Russian republic of 2.5 million wedged between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea. Analysts say poverty is one of the main drivers of the violence as disenchanted youths join radical Islamic groups.

On Wednesday police said rebels killed a well-known television journalist who campaigned against radical Islam. Three days earlier a leading opposition website owner died of gunshot wounds while in police custody in Ingushetia.

Human rights groups in Moscow on Thursday wrote to the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg to ask for help monitoring rights in the region.

They said the situation in the north Caucasus had been worsening swiftly in the past few days against the backdrop of the conflict in Georgia.

(Writing by James Kilner; Editing by Jon Boyle and Mark Trevelyan)