ONE of four "Black Widow" suicide bombers being hunted in advance of the Sochi Winter Olympics has reportedly been killed in the Russian province of Dagestan.

Zaira Alieva, whom Russian authorities claim was a high risk, was said to be one of seven killed counterterrorist operation on Saturday. Among the dead were three Russian troops and four militants.

Russian authorities say the militants had been trapped in a house in the Dagestan village of Karlanyurt. In addition to the three dead, five officers were wounded in the "special forces operation".

media_camera A photo of a police leaflet seen in a Sochi hotel depicting Dzhannet Tsakhayeva, right, and Zaira Aliyeva. Russian security officials are hunting down three potential female suicide bombers, one of whom is believed to be in Soch.

The young Muslim woman killed was one of four named in a series of "wanted" posters issued by Russian police. The posters claim the women are being dispatched by extremist groups to attack the Sochi Winter Olypmics. The Olympic torch is due to arrive in the city of Rostov tonight before continuing on a 550 mile relay marathon to Sochi where the games are due to begin on February 6.

The posters declare police are seeking Jhannet Tsakhaeva, 34, from Dagestan, and Oksana Aslanova, 26, from Turkmenistan.

media_camera Zaira Alieva, inset, and the proximity of the town she was killed in - Karlanyurt - to the Winter Olympics city of Sochi.

Another woman, Ruzana Ibragimova, is also the subject of a wanted poster. Her husband was killed last year. She bears a distinctive 14 inch scar on her left cheek, said to have been inflicted by Russian police.

Two men are also being sought: Ruslan Saufutdinov, 21, and Murad Musaev, 25.

The city of Sochi is just to the west of Russia's volatile Caucasus region, and ongoing suicide attacks in recent months have raised international fears for the games.

media_camera Zaira Alieva, left, and the three remaining "Black Widow" suspects - Oksana Aslanova, Dzannet Tsakhaeva and Ruzana Ibragimova.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered an aggressive campaign in an attempt to decapitate the leadership of the separatist militant groups, but this has had little effect on the number of "foot soldiers" volunteering to take up the fight.

The militants are fighting for independence from Russia and the formation of a new Islamic state.

A video released at the weekend shows two men vowing they had a "surprise" in store for President Putin and Olympic tourists. They claimed responsibility for the recent bombings in the Russian city of Volgograd.

media_camera Aa torchbearer carrying an Olympic torch in the Volga River city of Volgograd, about 800km south of Moscow. History's longest Olympic torch relay ahead of Winter Games in Sochi, will take the flame across all 83 of Russia's regions.

They appear to be backing up their words with action. In recent days Russian police in the south of the country arrested five men and defused a homemade explosive device packed with shrapnel.

About 37,000 security personnel have been put in place to provide an "iron ring" around the international games. America has offered the support of its warships which have been deployed to the Black Sea off the coast of the seaside city of Sochi.

The International Olympics Committee has expressed confidence in the security measures in place.

media_camera Security personnel walk on the Olympic Park in front of Fisht Olympic Stadium at sunrise on January 10, 2014 in Alder, Russia. The region will host the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images)

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Originally published as Black Widow bomber killed in Russia