Moscow: At least 15 policemen and several other civilians including a priest were killed by gunmen or armed militants (as per Russian news agency TASS) in Russia’s southernmost Dagestan on Sunday, June 23, AP reported. Reports suggest that five gunmen opened fire on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police post in two cities.
In a video statement briefing on the incident, Governor Sergei Melikov said that Six “bandits” were “liquidated.”
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been declared as days of mourning in the region.
The Dagestan’s Interior Ministry said that a group of armed men shot at a synagogue and a church in the city of Derbent, located on the Caspian Sea. Furthermore, the church and the synagogue caught fire, according to the state media.
Simultaneously, reports also appeared about an attack on a church and a traffic police post in the Dagestan capital Makhachkala.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said that these attacks in the predominantly ‘Muslim region’ have had a history of armed militancy as terrorist acts.
The Muftiate of Dagestan, a Muslim administrative body, however, put the total number of those killed at nine people, including seven policemen, and claimed that over 25 people were injured. The conflicting numbers couldn’t be immediately reconciled.
No immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks has been made.
Following this attack, the respective authorities have launched a criminal probe on the charge of a ‘terrorist act.’
(Inputs from AP)
Russia ‘Terrorist’ Attacks: 15 Cops, Priest and Others Killed as 5 Gunmen Open Fire in Dagestan world-news World News | Latest International Global World News | Todays Breaking News Headlines
