Gunmen Attack Church, Synagogue, Police Post; 15 Killed Including Priest And Cops (Photo @ShaykhSulaiman)
Unidentified gunmen have unleashed attacks against churches, a synagogue, and a police station in Russia‘s two cities, killing at least 15 people, including police officers and a priest. At least 12 people were also injured in the attacks. The attack follows the deadliest concert hall terrorist strike modern Russia witnessed March this year, killing 143 people.
The latest incident happened on Sunday across two cities in the North Caucasus region – Derbent and Makhachkala. The governor of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, called the act a “terrorist attack.” Following the simultaneous attacks, police have killed four gunmen in Makhachkala and two in Derbent. Derbent is an ancient Jewish community and is also a region with significant Muslim community. A three day mourning has been announced in the Dagestan region.
Read Also: Vladimir Putin And Kim Jong Un Vow To Help Each Other In Times Of “Aggression”
Videos posted on social media showed the skies of Derbent filled with smoke and flames after the synagogue was set on fire.
🚨BREAKING: A terrorist attack on a Jewish synagogue and an Orthodox church in Russia’s Dagestan.
Five police officers were killed, and nine more were injured. pic.twitter.com/wM2PXwDsFC
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) June 23, 2024
The Russian news agency TASS, citing law enforcement agencies, reported that the gunmen were members of “an international terrorist organization.” However, the attackers are yet to be identified, and no one has claimed responsibility so far.
Echoing the March attack tune, the governor, Sergei Melikov, said, “We know who is behind these terrorist attacks and what objective they are pursuing,” an indirect reference to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Read Also: The Moscow Concert Hall Attackers Have Links To Ukraine: Russian Security Service
Notably, President Vladimir Putin blamed the Ukraine for the March terrorist attack, calling it a cowardly terrorist attack. The ISIS had however, claimed responsibility for the attack back then.
Referring to the oversea forces and allies, the governor further said that the authorities will try to find “all the members of these sleeper cells who prepared (the attacks) and who were prepared, including abroad.”
“We must understand that war comes to our homes too. We felt it, but today we face it,” NDTV quoted the governour as saying.
It is reported that the country’s Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal probe over the attack in Dagestan. However, the attacks have left the locals in shock, as such types of coordinated attacks have been very unusual in the country.
