MOSCOW -- Russian news reports say police have killed two suspected terrorists in a shootout in a central Russian city and that a bomb was found in the suspects' car.

The reports on state television and state news agencies RIA Novosti and Tass said the shooting started Sunday afternoon when police stopped a suspicious vehicle in Nizhny Novgorod, a city 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Moscow. The suspects opened fire and police shot back, the reports said.

The bomb allegedly found in the suspects' car was detonated by a robot. Two police suffered concussions in the explosion, the reports said.

The reports cite law enforcement sources as identifying the suspects as terrorists, but without detail of their alleged goals or affiliation.