Dagestan, Russia: Gunmen kill police, priest in attacks on churches, synagogues and police posts in Derbent and Makhachkala

CNN
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Gunmen opened fireplace on locations of worship in two cities of Russia’s southernmost Dagestan province on Sunday, killing at the very least 15 law enforcement officials and 4 civilians, together with an Orthodox priest, in what seemed to be a coordinated assault.

Sergey Melikov, head of the Dagestan Republic, stated at the very least six “militants” had been additionally killed following the assaults on church buildings, synagogues and police posts within the cities of Derbent and the regional capital Makhachkala, that are about 120 kilometers (75 miles) aside.

The assaults occurred within the republic of Dagestan within the North Caucasus, a predominantly Muslim area on the Caspian Sea that has a historical past of separatist and militant violence. The turbulence within the area has been additional fanned by Russia’s struggle in Ukraine, the place ethnic minorities have been disproportionately mobilized to battle.

Video and photographs confirmed giant flames and plumes of smoke billowing closely out of a synagogue in Derbent, whereas footage filmed from the window of a constructing in Makhachkala reveals black-clad unidentified individuals taking pictures at a police automobile in a road.

No group has but claimed accountability for the assaults, which come three months after ISIS affiliate ISIS-Okay stated it carried out an assault on the Crocus Metropolis Corridor in Moscow that claimed greater than 140 lives in considered one of Russia’s deadliest terrorist atrocities in years.

Russian regulation enforcement businesses instructed state-run information company TASS on Sunday that the gunmen in Dagestan had been “adherents of a world terrorist group.”

TASS reported Monday that 5 of the gunmen had been recognized and that a few of them had been associated to the chief of the Sergokalinsky district, which lies between Derbent and Makhachkala. It recognized one of many males as former combined martial arts fighter Gadzhimurad Kagirov. Kagirov had taken half within the assault on Derbent and was additionally a cousin of the pinnacle of the Sergokalinsky district, Magomed Omarov, it stated. Omarov’s son and nephew had been additionally among the many attackers, authorities alleged.

The top of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, instructed reporters Monday that Omarov had been relieved of his duties and expelled from one of many major events within the Russian parliament, the United Russia social gathering, pending an investigation.

Russia’s Nationwide Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) stated Monday that “armed militants attacked two Orthodox church buildings, two synagogues and law enforcement officials” within the two cities. It added that the counter-terrorism operation in Makhachkala and Derbent had ended, TASS reported.

4 civilians had been killed within the assaults, Russia’s investigative committee stated on Monday, bringing the dying toll as much as 19.

Dagestan head Melikov additionally stated in a Telegram submit early Monday that the energetic part of the “operational and fight measures in Makhachkala and Derbent” was accomplished however additional investigations would proceed.

Melikov described the potential involvement of “sleeper cells” and instructed the assaults could have had overseas assist.

“Operative-search and investigative measures shall be carried out till all members of the sleeper cells are recognized, which, undoubtedly, embrace some that had been organized from overseas,” he added.

Three days of mourning have been declared in Dagestan following the lethal shootings, with state flags lowered to half-staff, Melikov stated. Monetary help will even be given to households of the victims, in accordance with TASS.

Dagestan is residence to a small Christian minority and even smaller Jewish inhabitants that seemed to be among the many targets of Sunday’s assaults.

A priest killed throughout an assault on a church in Derbent was recognized as Father Nikolay by Dagestan Public Monitoring Fee Chairman Shamil Khadulaev.

The priest’s spouse stated her husband had been shot within the head by one of many attackers, contradicting earlier reviews that his throat had been slit.

“He (the attacker) walked in, shot him within the head and left,” Valentina Kotelnikova stated, in accordance with a video printed by the Russian on-line media outlet Mash on Monday.

Nighttime video, shared by the Republic of Dagestan’s Ministry of Inside Affairs, confirmed at the very least a dozen regulation enforcement officers — who look like armed and carrying tactical gear — outdoors the gates of a cathedral in northwest Makhachkala. CNN has geolocated the video to the gates of the Cathedral of the Assumption (Svyato-Uspenskiy Sobor), a Russian Orthodox cathedral within the metropolis.

Earlier Sunday, TASS reported {that a} safety guard was killed in a shootout on the cathedral, and 19 individuals had locked themselves contained in the premises through the assault. Those that had holed up there have since been evacuated to security, TASS reported, citing the Ministry of Inside Affairs of Dagestan.

In the meantime, two synagogues in Dagestan — one in Derbent and one in Makhachkala — had been additionally attacked, in accordance with a press release from the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC).

Forty minutes earlier than night prayer, gunmen stormed the synagogue in Derbent and “set the constructing on fireplace utilizing Molotov cocktails,” whereas police and safety guards had been killed outdoors, the RJC stated.

Pictures confirmed flames and plumes of smoke billowing out of a collection of home windows on at the very least one flooring of the construction.

Dagestan’s small Jewish neighborhood is a part of the Mountain Jews that traditionally lived for hundreds of years in components of Azerbaijan and what’s now Russia’s Caucasus, in accordance with Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Middle in Israel.

The Israeli International Ministry stated the Derbent synagogue had “burned to the bottom” and that native guards had been killed, whereas the synagogue in Makhachkala had been attacked by gunfire.

“So far as is thought, there have been no worshipers within the synagogues on the time of the assault, and there aren’t any identified casualties from the Jewish neighborhood,” the ministry stated in a press release.

Safety guards had been positioned outdoors of native synagogues ever since an antisemitic mob stormed by the native airport in October in an try to dam a passenger airplane arriving from Tel Aviv.

The clashes left at the very least 10 individuals injured and movies confirmed a crowd of individuals contained in the Makhachkala Uytash Airport and on the runway, some waving the Palestinian flag, others forcing their method by closed doorways within the worldwide terminal.

The airport assault got here amid rising public anger within the area over Israel’s bombardment and blockade of Gaza in response to Hamas’ lethal October 7 assaults on Israel.

An assault was additionally reported Sunday at a police site visitors submit in Makhachkala.

One of many regulation enforcement officers killed was Mavludin Khidirnabiev, the pinnacle of the “Dagestan Lights” police division, in accordance with the Dagestan Ministry of Inside Affairs’ Telegram channel.

In an earlier Telegram submit, Dagestan head Melikov stated, “unknown individuals made makes an attempt to destabilize the social scenario. Dagestan law enforcement officials stood of their method. In line with preliminary data, there are victims amongst them.”

The identities of the attackers was being established, he stated.

“The assaults, the encroachment on our brotherhood, on our multinational unity, on our confessional indivisibility, are an try to separate our unity, thereby creating rifts between us,” Melikov stated later in a video tackle.

The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Dagestan stated it had launched a terror investigation into the assaults below the Legal Code of the Russian Federation.

“All of the circumstances of the incident and the individuals concerned within the terrorist assaults are being established, and their actions shall be given a authorized evaluation,” the company stated in a press release.

Whereas the investigation is underway, some native Russian officers pointed the finger at Ukraine, with out offering proof. The State Duma Deputy from Dagestan, Dmitry Gadzhiyev, stated he believes “particular companies of Ukraine and NATO nations” may very well be behind the assault.

However Russian senator Dmitry Rogozin disputed the declare, saying in a Telegram submit that writing off each terrorist assault because the “machinations of Ukraine and NATO” would result in “huge issues” for Russia.

A US State Division spokesperson stated the US doesn’t have an evaluation of who was behind the assault, however known as Russian claims that Ukraine and NATO had been behind it “ridiculous.”

It is a creating story and shall be up to date.

Correction: This story has been up to date to right the timing of the assault in relation to night prayers.