The attacks took place in the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala, and the coastal city of Derbent. They targeted “two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police checkpoint,” announced the Russian Anti-Terrorism Committee, cited by the Ria-Novosti agency.
“According to initial reports, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church and police officers were killed during these terrorist attacks,” he continues.
In total, six police officers were killed and twelve injured in the attacks, said the spokesperson for the Dagestan Interior Ministry, Gaïana Garïeva. The priest, aged 66, was killed in Derbent, she said.
Armed individuals also opened fire on a vehicle carrying police officers, injuring one of them, in Sergokala, a village located between Makhachkala and Derbent, the local Interior Ministry told Russian agencies.
At the same time, the police “eliminated four attackers in Makhachkala”, indicated the same source. “Law enforcement eliminated four attackers in Makhachkala,” the Dagestan Interior Ministry told Russian agencies, referring to the capital of this republic where part of the attacks, earlier described as “terrorists” by the Russian authorities.
The Russian Investigative Committee indicated that it had opened a criminal investigation into “terrorist acts”, without further details.
Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim Russian region neighboring Chechnya, also close to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Anti-terrorist operations are regularly announced there by the Russian authorities.
Synagogue on fire
For his part, the chairman of the public council of Jewish communities of the Russian Federation, Boruch Gorin, declared on Telegram that “the synagogue in Derbent is on fire.” “It is not possible to put out the fire. Two people were killed: a police officer and a security guard,” he adds. He also assured that the “synagogue in Makhachkala was set on fire and burned.”
The leader of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, wrote on Telegram: “Tonight in Derbent and Makhachkala, unknown persons tried to destabilize society.”
Attack in Moscow: why has Russia become a target of Islamist terrorism?
In October, anti-Israel riots broke out at Makhachkala airport. A crowd of men had invaded its tarmac, amid tensions across the world linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, when a plane from Israel landed.
Russia has been targeted on multiple occasions by attacks and attacks claimed by the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS), even if its influence remains limited in the country. In March, an attack claimed by ISIS at Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow killed more than 140 people.
Last weekend, several ISIS members were killed after taking two prison officers hostage in a prison in southern Russia, authorities said.
Russia faced an Islamist rebellion in the early 2000s in the Caucasus, a movement born from the first conflict against separatist Chechnya in 1994-96. It had been defeated by Russian federal forces and in recent years, armed incidents there have been rare.
Nearly 4,500 Russians, particularly from the Caucasus, fought alongside IS in Iraq and Syria, according to official figures.
