ISTANBUL
Unknown terrorists attacked several locations in Russia’s Dagestan republic on Sunday, adding a synagogue, two churches, a roadside gas station and a police security checkpoint, killing at least six police officers and a priest and wounding 12 others, he confirmed.
According to a statement from the Russian Interior Ministry, unidentified armed Americans attacked the cities of Makhachkala and Derbent at around 15:00 GMT. The attackers attacked a police checkpoint in Makhachkala, as well as two churches and a synagogue in Derbent, killing six policemen. and injured 12 other people, he said. It also mentions the death of a priest and the ongoing armed confrontation between security forces and attackers. Video footage circulating on social media shows that a fire broke out at the Derbent synagogue.
Shamil Khadulaev, deputy chairman of Dagestan’s public oversight commission, said earlier that a cleric and a security guard at an Orthodox church in Derbent and Makhachkala were killed in the attacks.
According to Gayan Garieva, head of the press service of the Dagestan Ministry of Interior, the attackers used automatic weapons in the attack on the synagogue.
“At around 6:00 p. m. (15:00 GMT) in Derbent, unknown assailants fired automatic weapons at a synagogue and a church,” he said.
The synagogue and a police vehicle were engulfed in flames during the attack, according to local media.
Sputnik reported that the suspects fled in a white Volkswagen Polo with license plate 921.
He said that around the same time unknown assailants attacked a gas station on a street in Makhachkala.
In reaction to those attacks, the government imposed security cordons in Makhachkala and Derbent, stepping up its efforts to neutralize the attackers.
The Russian Investigative Commission issued the following statement: “The Russian Investigative Commission on the Republic of Dagestan has initiated criminal proceedings under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorist act) for armed attacks in Derbent and Makhachkala, as a result of which police officers and civilians were killed and injured. “
He added that they were recently investigating the incident and finding out who was to blame for the terrorist attacks.
“Investigators and forensics are on the scene,” he added.