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Gunmen fired on a synagogue and a church in Derbent, as well as a police station in Makhachkala.
Gunmen killed at least six police officers in what appeared to be coordinated attacks on a synagogue, an Orthodox church and a police station in the Russian republic of Dagestan, the Dagestan Interior Ministry said.
Twelve people were injured in the attacks that took place on Sunday evening in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala.
The synagogue and church are located in Derbent, home to an ancient Jewish community in the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region. The attack on the police station took place in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, about 125 kilometers away.
The Derbent synagogue was set on fire following the attack, local officials told Reuters news agency, while eyewitnesses also reported smoke rising from the church.
Two of the attackers were shot dead, according to Russian news agencies citing the country’s Interior Ministry.
The Derbent attackers had already been seen fleeing in a car.
“Tonight in Derbent and Makhachkala, unknown persons tried to destabilize the public situation,” said the head of the Republic of Dagestan Sergei Melikov. “Dagestan police blocked their way. According to initial information, there were victims among them. All services act as instructed… The identities of the attackers are being established.
Daniel Hawkins, a reporter for Al Jazeera from Moscow, said there were also reports that a church priest had been killed.
Dagestan previously experienced separatist violence in the 1990s and early 2000s, Hawkins said.
“The violence there, over the years, has subsided,” Hawkins said, explaining that the region has never seen the kind of conflict that has engulfed the neighboring Russian republic of Chechnya, which saw forces Russians and separatists wage two brutal wars during World War II. same period.
“This type of coordinated attack targeting civilian religious infrastructure is highly unusual and will undoubtedly shock Russians across the country,” Hawkins added.
