Moscow.- More than 15 police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were killed on Sunday by gunmen in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement on Monday.
Gunmen opened fire on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police post in two cities, according to authorities.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said the attacks in the predominantly Muslim region were terrorist acts.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were declared days of mourning in the region.
Dagestan’s Interior Ministry said a group of gunmen shot at a synagogue and a church in the city of Derbent, located on the Caspian Sea. The two temples caught fire, according to state media. Almost simultaneously, reports emerged of an attack on a church and a traffic police post in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
The authorities announced an anti-terrorist operation in the region. The Anti-Terrorism Committee said five gunmen were “eliminated.” For his part, the governor indicated that six “bandits” were “liquidated.” It was not possible to reconcile the conflicting figures at this time, and it is not clear how many individuals participated in the attacks.
No one has claimed responsibility for what happened. The authorities began a criminal investigation on the charge of a terrorist act.
A Dagestani official was detained over his sons’ involvement in the attacks, Russian state news agency Tass quoted police sources as saying.
In the video statement, Melikov said the situation in the region was under the control of police and local authorities, and pledged that the investigation would continue until “all sleeper cells” of the militants were found.
He maintained, without providing evidence, that the attacks could have been prepared from abroad, and referred to what the Kremlin calls “the 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 suburban Moscow concert hall, killing 145 people. An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Russian officials also attempted to link Ukraine without providing evidence. kyiv has vehemently denied having anything to do with it.
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