At least 15 policemen and a priest have been killed by gunmen in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan.
Two churches, a synagogue and a police traffic post were targeted in a series of coordinated attacks on Sunday, at around 6pm local time.
Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said a group of men armed with automatic weapons opened fire on the places of worship in Derbent and set them ablaze. A 66-year-old Orthodox priest, Father Nikolai, reportedly had his throat slit.
Pictures show a minimum of three gunmen, all dressed in black.
The attackers then fled in a car. Russian authorities have claimed that two of them have been killed.
?Breaking News?
In Dagestan bearded men have attacked a Synagogue & a church. It appears six people have been killed, possibly two policemen.
Dagestan is in the extreme south of Russia on the border with Georgia. It is 83% Islamic. pic.twitter.com/7GfS8AgISd
— David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) June 23, 2024
At the same time as the attack on the churches and synagogue, a police traffic post was attacked in Makhachkhala, about 75 miles north of Derbent, on the coast of the Caspian Sea.
Footage posted on social media shows fighting in the streets of the city, as black-clad attackers engage the police, and civilians fleeing as police chase the attackers across a beach.
15 police officers are said to have been killed. Dozens of civilians are also believed to have been injured. Russian authorities say four of the attackers were killed.
Civilians flee as police chase attackers onto beach in Makhachkhala, Dagestan
Image: East2West
Officials in the region, which has a history of Islamic atrocities, are already blaming the attacks on Ukraine and NATO.
On Telegram, local politician Abdulkhakim Gadzhiyev wrote: “There is no doubt that these terrorist attacks are in one way or another connected with the intelligence services of Ukraine and NATO countries.”
Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov said, “What happened looks like a vile provocation and an attempt to cause discord between confessions.”
This attack comes a few months after the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in recent memory, when gunmen stormed the Crocus concert hall in Moscow and killed over 130 people.
That attack has been blamed on a faction of ISIS called ISIS-K, while others, especially in Russia, have suggested NATO and US involvement in coordinating the attack.
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