Several attacks targeting religious places took place in Dagestan, the Russian republic of the Caucasus, this Sunday, June 23. The authorities have denounced terrorist acts.
Armed men attacked a synagogue and two Orthodox churches in the Russian Caucasus this Sunday, June 23, killing at least nine people, including a priest and police officers, authorities announced, denouncing “terrorist” acts.
The attacks took place in the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala, and the coastal city of Derbent. 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.
At least 9 dead
Sunday’s attacks targeted “two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police checkpoint”, announced the Russian Anti-Terrorism Committee, cited by the Ria Novosti agency. Jewish representatives, including the Russian Jewish Congress, said a second synagogue was also attacked.
A 66-year-old priest of the Russian Orthodox Church was killed in Derbent, according to authorities. The death of six police officers was also announced by the Dagestan Interior Ministry. Authorities later said a National Guard officer also died, and another police officer succumbed to his injuries. Nine deaths in total, even if the authorities have not communicated an overall toll.
In total, sixteen people, including thirteen police officers, were injured and hospitalized, according to the ministry. 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 further clarified to Russian agencies.
There is no evidence to determine the motivations or identities of the perpetrators of these attacks, which appear to be coordinated. The Russian Anti-Terrorism Committee announced in the evening the end of the “active phase” of the anti-terrorist operation in Derbent, and indicated that two attackers had been killed.
Law enforcement also “eliminated four attackers in Makhachkala,” according to the Dagestan Interior Ministry. The Russian Investigative Committee indicated that it had opened a criminal investigation into “terrorist acts”, without further details.
