Russian security officers work at the site of an explosion near a bus stop at Michurinsky Avenue in Moscow, capital of Russia, Moscow March 9, 2011. (Xinhua/Lu Jinbo)

MOSCOW, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia has detained five residents of the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya on suspicion of producing and selling firearms to terrorist groups, the Russian Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

"More than 20 Makarov pistols with silencers, over 400 cartridges for Makarov and Yarygin pistols, and a large number of components for firearms were seized," the ministry's spokeswoman Irina Volk said in a statement.

She did not disclose which terrorist groups the detainees allegedly had connections with.

Violence has been plaguing Chechnya since the mid-1990s, with separatists and extremists frequently attacking governmental, military and police facilities as well as civilians.