Gunmen opened fire on two synagogues, two Orthodox churches and a police station in the republic of Dagestan in Russia’s North Caucasus region on Sunday.
Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee opened a terrorism investigation after “armed attacks in Derbent and Makhachkala left police officers and civilians dead and wounded,” the agency’s Telegram page said.
Shamil Khadulaev, head of the Dagestan Republic’s Public Monitoring Committee, said the 66-year-old priest was found with his throat slit inside an Orthodox church, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
At least two police officers were killed, Reuters reported, citing the Russian Interior Ministry, and news agencies reported at least six were injured.
FBI Director Wray warned about the terrorism threat posed by open borders just days before the arrests of eight ISIS suspects across the US.
Attackers set fire to synagogues and churches in Russia’s Dagestan region. (East/West)
The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming that “coordinated attacks took place in two cities in the Dagestan region, Makhachkala and Derbent.”
“A synagogue in Derbent was set on fire and burned down. A local security officer was killed. A synagogue in Makhachkala was shot at, details are unclear,” the statement said. “At the same time, a church was attacked in Makhachkala and a priest was killed in Derbent.”
“As far as is known, there were no worshippers in the synagogue at the time of the attack and there have been no casualties among the Jewish community,” it added. “The Israeli embassy in Moscow is in contact with leaders of the Jewish community in the area.”
Buildings were set on fire and videos circulated online showing armed men exchanging gunfire with police.
Reuters, citing unspecified reports, reported that one police officer was killed in a shooting at a synagogue in Derbent, home to an ancient Jewish community in the North Caucasus region.
Gunfights were reported at an Orthodox church in the town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Another shootout was reported at a police station in Makhachkala, the main city of Russia’s Muslim-majority southern republic of Dagestan, about 75 miles north on the Caspian Sea coast, according to Reuters.
Sergei Melikov, head of the republic of Dagestan and a man appointed by President Vladimir Putin, said “unknown individuals” in Derbent and Makhachkala were “trying to destabilise the social situation”, according to the Russian news agency RIA.
The attack was not immediately attributed to a specific group.
Gunmen have reportedly engaged in a gun battle with police in Russia’s Dagestan region. (East/West)
But these moves come amid concerns over the rise of Islamic extremism in the region, particularly the ISIS-K group.
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FBI Director Christopher Wray warned earlier this month of an increased terrorism threat following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel, warning of “the possibility of coordinated domestic attacks similar to the ISIS-K attack seen at a Russian concert hall in March.”
March 22, Crocus City in Moscow A concert hall was attacked by terrorists, killing more than 140 people and wounding more than 180. Russian media reported that the gunmen who carried out the attack were Tajik nationals. The terrorists entered the hall with automatic rifles and fired indiscriminately into the 6,200-seat venue.
Smoke can be seen rising from synagogues and churches in the Russian cities of Makhachkala and Derbent in the Dagestan region after gunmen reportedly attacked them. (East/West)
Images taken from the scene showed a large fire inside the concert venue.
Sunday’s reports of the attack in Russia came the same day that U.S. Rep. Douglas Emhoff, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and others attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility at the site of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 Jews were killed on Sabbath morning, Oct. 27, 2018, in the worst anti-Semitic act in U.S. history.
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Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president and vice president, said his goal on Sunday was to “send a message to the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, the nation and the world that we must never forget the poison of anti-Semitism.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
