At least nine people have been killed and 25 injured in what appear to be co-ordinated attacks by gunmen in Russia’s southernmost Dagestan province, local authorities say.
Attacks have been reported in churches, synagogues and a police traffic stop in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala, which are about 120km apart.
Among the dead are seven law enforcement officers, a priest and a church security guard, according to local authorities. Four “militants” have also been killed, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
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“According to the information I received, Father Nikolay was killed in the church in Derbent, they slit his throat. He was 66-years-old and very ill,” Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission Chairman Shamil Khadulaev said.
He also said a security guard at the church armed with only a pistol was shot.
One of the law enforcement officers killed was the head of the Dagestan Lights police department, Mavludin Khidirnabiev, according to the Dagestan Ministry of internal affairs telegram.
At a church in Makhachkala, 19 people locked themselves in for safety during a shootout that ended with at least one attacker being killed, TASS reported, citing the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Dagestan.
Meanwhile, the synagogue in Derbent was set on fire with photos showing large flames and plumes of smoke billowing heavily out of a series of windows on at least one floor of the structure.
In what appears to be coordinated attacks that took place around the same time as those in Derbent, a synagogue and a police traffic post in Makhachkala also came under fire.
The Israeli foreign ministry described what it said was “a combined attack” on the two synagogues.
“The synagogue in Derbent was set on fire and burned to the ground. Local guards were killed. The synagogue in Makhachkala was attacked by gunfire, there are no further details,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“As far as is known, there were no worshippers in the synagogues at the time of the attack, and there are no known casualties from the Jewish community,” according to the statement.
The head of the Dagestan Republic, Sergey Melikov, has issued a message on Telegram saying that “unknown persons made attempts to destabilise the social situation. Dagestan police officers stood in their way. According to preliminary information, there are victims among them.”
Melikov said the identities of the attackers are being established, an operational headquarters has been set up and a plan for a counteroperation “Interception” is underway.
He urged the public to remain calm, saying, “Panic and fear are what they were counting on in … They won’t get this from Dagestanis!”
The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Dagestan said it had launched a terror investigation into the attacks under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
“All the circumstances of the incident and the persons involved in the terrorist attacks are being established, and their actions will be given a legal assessment,” the investigative directorate statement reads.
