Dagestan, Russia: At least 15 law enforcement officers, priests killed as gunmen attack parks of devotion

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At least 15 police officers and a pastor were killed by gunmen in coordinated attacks on several parks of devotion in Russia’s southernmost Dagestan province on Sunday, the local government said.

Sergei Melikov, the head of the Republic of Dagestan, said at least six “terrorists” were also killed after attacks on church buildings, synagogues and police posts in the towns of Derbent and the regional capital Makhachkala, which are about 120 kilometers (75 miles) apart. Side.

A priest killed during an attack on a church in Derbent was identified by Shamil Khadulev, chairman of the Dagestan People’s Tracking Commission, as Father Nikolay. “They cut his throat. He was 66 years old and very ill,” Khadulev said.

Khadulev said a security guard armed with a pistol was also shot. The state of the safe, with full choice of victims, remains dense.

The Deni team has yet to claim responsibility for the attacks, which come three months after ISIS affiliate ISIS-K claimed an attack on the Crocus Town corridor in Moscow that killed more than 140 people in one of Russia’s deadliest terrorist atrocities in years. had lost his life.

Law enforcement agencies told state information agency TASS that the gunmen in Dagestan were “followers of an international terrorist organization.”

Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim patch home to a small Christian or even small Jewish minority. Russian security forces fought an Islamist insurgency in the mountainous region in the 2000s that spread from neighboring Chechnya, although attacks have recently become rare.

The Muftiyat of the Republic of Dagestan, a centralized Islamic group that has reported on casualties in the past, has since removed all posts related to counts of the dead and injured.

Earlier, the local government had reported that at least nine community members were killed and 25 injured in the attacks.

The Muftiat now says “law enforcement officers, clergy and civilians” were some of the victims, but no longer provides specific numbers.

According to the Telegram channel of the Dagestan Ministry of Internal Affairs, one of the prominent law enforcement officers killed was the head of the “Dagestan Lights” police department Mavludin Khidiranbiev.

Midnight video shared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan shows at least several law enforcement officers – who appear to be armed and wearing tactical equipment – ​​outside the gates of a cathedral in northwestern Makhachkala . CNN has geolocated the video to the gates of Svyato-Uspensky Sobor, a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Makhachkala.

Last Sunday, TASS reported that a security guard was killed in a shooting at the Svyato-Uspensky Sobor, and that 19 congregants had barricaded themselves in the complex during the attack. TASS, citing the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, reported that the day the standoff has completely ended, it is dense, those who were hiding there have been evacuated to safety.

Meanwhile, two synagogues in Dagestan – one in Derbent and one in Makhachkala – were attacked, according to a commentary by the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC).

According to RJC, the attack on the synagogue in Derbent occurred 40 minutes before night service. It said the attackers “set fire to the building using Molotov cocktails,” killing future police and security guards.

The footage showed massive flames and plumes of smoke billowing from a series of windows on at least one floor of the building.

“The exact number of dead and injured is being clarified,” the RJC said. The group said it would “participate in the restoration of synagogues and provide assistance to the families of the victims.”

The Israeli International Ministry said that the Derbent synagogue was “burned to the ground” and local guards were killed, with a synagogue in Makhachkala later attacked with gunfire.

“As far as is known, there were no worshipers in the synagogues at the time of the attack, and there have been no casualties from the Jewish community,” the ministry said in a comment.

Security guards were deployed outside local synagogues after an anti-Semitic mob attacked the local airport in October.

An attack on a police traffic post in Makhachkala was also reported.

“Unknown persons attempted to destabilize the social situation,” Dagestan premier Melikov said in a previous Telegram post. Dagestan police officers stood in their way. According to initial information, there are victims among them.

Melikov said the identity of the attackers was being established, an operational headquarters had been set up and a counter-offensive was underway.

He advised the crowd to maintain peace. “Terror and fear are what they were relying on,” he said. “They won’t get it from the Dagestanis!”

The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Dagestan said it has announced an investigation into suspected attacks under the Legal Code of the Russian Federation.

“The full circumstances of the incident and the individuals involved in the terrorist attacks are being identified, and their actions will be legally assessed,” the company said in a comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated.