Armed men attacked synagogues and Orthodox churches in the Russian Caucasus on Sunday June 23, killing nine people, including a priest and police officers, authorities announced, denouncing acts “terrorists”.
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.
Churches targeted
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.
Unknown motives
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 « phase active » of the anti-terrorist operation in Derbent, and indicated that two attackers had been killed.
The police 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.
Synagogue on fire
Synagogues in Derbent and Makhachkala were burned, according to the chairman of the public council of Jewish communities of the Russian Federation, Boruch Gorin. Images, reported by Russian media, showed a burning building, presented as a synagogue.
In other videos, gunshots could be heard in the streets of Makhachkala, where a large police force was deployed. The authenticity of these images could not immediately be verified by AFP.
An attack strongly denounced
The leader of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, claimed that “unknown people tried to destabilize society” Sunday night. Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and staunch supporter of the Kremlin, assured that the“enemy sought to destroy inter-religious peace” in Russia.
In October, riots hostile to Israel 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.
Multiple attacks
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.
