A synagogue, two churches and a police checkpoint in the North Caucasus cities of Derbent and Makhachkala in Dagestan were target of armed attacks on Sunday.
Of the attacks six police officers and a priest were killed, while a dozen other officers were injured. According to state media, at least two perpetrators were also killed.
The search for more gunmen continues.
The death toll in Dagestan as a result of a militant attack has risen to 9
7 of them are law enforcers. 25 people were injured, the Dagestan Muftiate reported. pic.twitter.com/fG5tOFfEc7
-NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 23, 2024
The perpetrators were not identified. but Dagestan has been the scene of Islamist attacks in the past.
Social Media Images show burning buildings in both cities.
In another video, people in dark clothes can be seen shooting at police cars before a convoy of emergency vehicles, with sirens on, arrives at the scene in Makhachkala, the largest city in Dagestan.
BREAKING: Suspected terrorist attack against an Orthodox Church and a Jewish Synagogue in the Dagestan region of Russia. pic.twitter.com/tWwXTJRfrU
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) June 23, 2024
An unofficial channel on the Telegram Mash messaging app reported that armed men were hiding in a building in Derbent.
Investigation into ‘terrorist acts’
The Investigative Committee of Russia announced that investigation launched into ‘terrorist acts’reported the AFP news agency.
In April, the Russian FSB security service arrested four people in Dagestan on suspicion of involvement in the attack on the Crocus Town Hall in Moscow the previous month.
More than 140 people were killed in that attack, which was claimed by Islamic State.
Between 2007 and 2017, a jihadist organization called the Caucasus Emirate, and later the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, organized attacks in Dagestan and the neighboring Russian republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Kabardino-Balkaria.
With information from the BBC