Russian forces search for militants after attacks kill 108 people

RUSSIAN soldiers and police searched the city of Nalchik yesterday in the hunt for alleged Islamic militants who launched a series of fierce attacks that left at least 108 people dead.

Authorities claimed all pockets of active fighting had been put down a day after the attacks on the city began, but there was concern fighters could have melted into the civilian population to regroup.

President Vladimir Putin promised that Russia would put down all attacks "hard and consistently," but the bloodshed underlined how violence in the restive Caucasus region is spreading.