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The number of people killed in Dagestan is increasing

2024-06-24 13:46:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

More than 15 police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed by armed militants in Russia's southern Republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement released Monday morning. .

Authorities said gunmen opened fire on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police checkpoint in two cities.

Russia's National Counter-Terrorism Committee described the attacks in the Muslim-majority region, which has a history of armed uprisings, as acts of terrorism.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been declared days of mourning in the region.

Dagestan's Interior Ministry said a group of gunmen opened fire on a synagogue and a church in the Caspian Sea city of Derbent. Both the church and the synagogue caught fire, according to state media. Around the same time, an attack on a church and a traffic police post in Dagestan's capital, Makhachkala, was reported.

The authorities announced an anti-terrorism operation in the region. The Anti-Terrorist Committee said five gunmen were "eliminated". The governor said the six "thugs" had been "liquidated". The data was unclear, as was the number of militants involved in the attacks.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Russia's state-run Tass news agency cited police sources as saying an official in Dagestan was arrested over his son's involvement in the attacks.

Governor Melikov said the situation in the region was under control and vowed that the investigation into the attacks would continue until "all sleeper cells" of the militants were uncovered.

He claimed, without providing evidence, that the attacks could have been prepared from abroad and referred to what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in an apparent attempt to link the attacks to it.

In March, gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, killing 145 people. An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Russian officials also sought to link Ukraine to the attack, without providing any evidence. Kiev has strongly denied any involvement./ VOA