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An IT worker for a US software company and a KGB officer have been gunned down in a shootout amid a violent crackdown of pro-democracy protesters.
Andrei Zeltser, who works for EPAM Systems, resisted arrest during a raid in Minsk and opened fire on the officers, killing one of them, according to the KGB.
They returned fire on the 'terrorist and he was shot dead during the apartment search.
Officers stand outside an apartment in Minsk in preparation for a raid amid a democracy crackdown
It is believed Zeltser was a US citizen who was supporting the pro-democracy movement in Belarus, although the US Embassy is yet to confirm his citizenship.
Belarusian authorities have also blocked access to a news site, the latest in a series of steps restricting independent media in the country after it was shaken by a wave of anti-government protests.
The Belarusian Ministry of Information blocked access to the Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus website after it ran a story about the shootout.
The news site, the Belarusian subsidiary of a popular Russian newspaper of the same name, published a comment from the opposition supporter's friend, who described him a positive light.
Andrei Zeltser, who works for EPAM Systems, resisted arrest during a raid in Minsk and opened fire on the officers, killing one of them, according to the KGB