Russia’s Dagestan is temporarily on high alert after reports of armed man in Makhachkala

(Reuters) – Russia’s Dagestan region temporarily placed the highest level of alert late on Tuesday after reports of a gunman in Makhachkala, one of two North Caucasus cities where gunmen killed 20 people over the weekend.

Regional police conducted checks on several streets in Makhachkala and urged residents to leave the area after receiving reports of an armed man in one of the city’s squares, state news agency RIA reported, citing a spokeswoman for the regional Interior Ministry.

“Everything is calm,” RIA quoted spokeswoman Gayana Garieva as saying late Tuesday, adding that reports of the armed man had not been confirmed.

A ministry representative told the state news agency TASS that after a few hours, police removed the cordon around University Square in the center of Makhachkala.

Russian media reported that police carried out further checks and stopped suspicious vehicles.

On Sunday, gunmen killed 20 people in two of the republic’s main cities, Makhachkala and Derbent, in brazen coordinated attacks on churches and synagogues in the predominantly Muslim region.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility. The Russian Investigative Committee said 15 police officers and four civilians were killed, including an Orthodox priest. According to Dagestan’s Ministry of Health, 46 other people were injured.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie Freed)