MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Armed terrorists have been blocked in several apartments of residential buildings in Makhachkala and Kaspiysk in the republic of Dagestan, Russia’s North Caucasus, the information center the national anti-terrorism committee in Dagestan told TASS.

"In Dagestan, as a result of operational-search activities, the security services received information about the whereabouts of armed persons involved in terrorist activities. Tonight, they were blocked by FSB special forces in several apartments in residential areas of Makhachkala and Kaspiysk," the information center reported. Residents of neighboring houses were evacuated.

In the area where militants were detected, the head of the regional department of the FSB introduced a legal regime for a counter-terrorism operation (CTO).

Earlier, the operational headquarters of the national anti-terrorism committee in Dagestan reported that the CTO regime had been introduced within the administrative borders of the Leninsky and Sovetsky districts of Makhachkala and Kaspiysk.