Gunmen opened fire on places of worship in two cities in Russia’s southernmost province of Dagestan on Sunday, killing at least 15 police officers, an Orthodox priest and an unknown number of civilians in what appeared to be an attack. coordinated.
Sergey Melikov, head of the Republic of Dagestan, said at least six “militants” were also killed following attacks on churches, synagogues and police posts in the cities of Derbent and the regional capital Makhachkala, which are about 120 kilometers away.
The attacks took place in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim region on the Caspian Sea that has a history of separatist and militant violence. Turbulence in the region has been further exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, where ethnic minorities have been disproportionately mobilized to fight.
Videos and photos showed large flames and clouds of smoke rising from a synagogue in Derbent, while footage filmed from the window of a building in Makhachkala showed unidentified people dressed in black shooting at a police car in a street.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, which come three months after ISIS-K, an affiliate of ISIS, said it carried out an attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that claimed more than 140 lives in one of the most deadly terrorist atrocities. deaths in Russia in years.
Russian law enforcement agencies told state news agency TASS on Sunday that the gunmen in Dagestan were “adherents of an international terrorist organization.”
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) said on Monday (24) that “armed militants attacked two Orthodox churches, two synagogues and police officers” in the two cities and added that the anti-terrorist operation in Makhachkala and Derbent had ended, TASS reported.
The number of victims remains uncertain. The Muftiyat of the Republic of Dagestan, a centralized Islamic organization that previously reported on the victims, has since deleted all publications associated with the count of the dead and injured. Previously, local authorities reported that at least nine people died and 25 were injured.
In an update, the Muftiyat said “law enforcement officers, clerics and ordinary citizens” were among the victims, but did not provide specific numbers.
The head of Dagestan, Melikov, also said in a Telegram post on Monday morning that the active phase of “operational and combat measures in Makhachkala and Derbent” had been completed, but further investigations would continue.
Melikov described the possible involvement of “sleeper cells” and suggested that the attacks may have had foreign assistance.
“Operational search and investigative measures will be carried out until all sleeper cell participants are identified, which undoubtedly include some that were organized from abroad,” he added.
Three days of mourning were declared in Dagestan following the deadly attacks, with state flags lowered to half-mast, Melikov said. Financial assistance will also be given to the victims’ families, according to TASS.
Priest killed, synagogue burned
Dagestan is home to a small Christian minority and an even smaller Jewish population that appeared to be among those targeted in Sunday’s attacks.
A priest killed during an attack on a church in Derbent has been identified as Father Nikolay by the chairman of the Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission, Shamil Khadulaev.
“They slit his throat. He was 66 years old and very sick,” Khadulaev said.
A video, shared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan, showed at least a dozen law enforcement officers – who appear to be armed and wearing tactical gear – outside the gates of a cathedral in northwest Makhachkala. A CNN geolocated the video to the gates of the Assumption Cathedral (Svyato-Uspenskiy Sobor), a Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city.
Earlier on Sunday, TASS reported that a security guard was killed in a shooting at the cathedral and 19 people barricaded themselves inside during the attack. Those hiding there were evacuated to a safe location, TASS reported, citing Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Meanwhile, two synagogues in Dagestan – one in Derbent and the other in Makhachkala – were also attacked, according to a statement from the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC).
Forty minutes after evening prayer, gunmen stormed the synagogue in Derbent and “set the building on fire using Molotov cocktails,” while police and security guards were killed outside, the RJC said.
Photos showed flames and clouds of smoke coming from a series of windows on at least one floor of the structure.
Dagestan’s small Jewish community is part of the Mountain Jews who historically lived for centuries in parts of Azerbaijan and what is now Russia’s Caucasus, according to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the Derbent synagogue “was burned to the ground” and local guards were killed, while the synagogue in Makhachkala was attacked by gunfire.
“As far as is known, there were no worshipers in the synagogues at the time of the attack and there are no known victims from the Jewish community,” the ministry said in a statement.
Security guards have been posted outside local synagogues since an anti-Semitic mob stormed the local airport in October in an attempt to block a passenger plane arriving from Tel Aviv.
The clashes left at least 10 injured and videos showed crowds inside Makhachkala Uytash airport and on the tarmac, some waving the Palestinian flag, others forcing their way through the closed doors of the international terminal.
The airport attack came amid growing public outrage in the region over Israel’s bombing and blockade of Gaza in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
Source: CNN Brasil
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