MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) - The National Anti-Terrorist Committee has reported that a special task force has stormed an apartment in Tyrnyauz where militants are hiding.
"During the negotiations, it was determined that the girlfriend of one of the militants and her 2-year-old daughter were in the apartment. The special task force managed to convince the militants to release the child from the encircled building. He mother refused to come out," the National Anti-Terrorist Committee's information center said in a report obtained by Interfax on Wednesday.
The militants and the woman who remain in the apartment refused to surrender and opened fire on the law enforcement officials.
"The special operation has now entered an active phase," the National Anti-Terrorist Committee reported.
The administration of the operative headquarters on the territory of the city imposed a counter-terrorist operation regime at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday. The police encircled the building and local residents were evacuated.
To avoid unneeded casualties, the special task force began negotiations involving the militants' relatives and friends and clergymen. The relatives who were unable to arrive at the site of the operation for some reasons have been contacted by phone.
The National Anti-Terrorist Committee reported that the militants have been repeatedly urged to surrender their weapons and turn themselves in.
According to earlier reports, a group of armed individuals were encircled in a five-storey building on the outskirts of Tyrnyauz, Elbrus district of Kabardino-Balkaria.