Attacks on synagogues and churches in the Caucasus killed seven people, including police officers and a priest

Gunmen attacked synagogues and churches in the Russian Caucasus on Sunday, June 23, killing a priest and six police officers, the National Counter-Terrorism Committee and the police of the Russian Republic of Dagestan announced. “This evening, in the cities of Derbent and Makkahla, armed attacks were carried out against two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police checkpoint”RIA Novosti quoted the Russian anti-terrorist group as saying.

“According to preliminary reports, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church and police officers were killed in these terrorist attacks”, he added. Without elaborating, he announced that he had opened a criminal investigation into “acts of terrorism”.

Six police officers were killed and 12 others wounded in the attacks, Dagestan Interior Ministry spokeswoman Kayana Garieva said. He said the 66-year-old priest was killed in Derbent. The Dagestan Ministry of Internal Affairs told Russian news agencies that four were soon after “Aggressors” They were killed by the police “In Magachala”.

The synagogue is on fire

For his part, Poruch Korin, the head of the General Council of Jewish Communities of the Russian Federation, announced in a telegram. “Derbend Synagogue Burns”. “Fire cannot be extinguished. Two people were killed: a police officer and a security guard”, he adds. He also promised “Synagogue in Magachala set on fire”.

Dagestan leader Sergey Melikov wrote In Telegram : “Tonight, in Derbent and Makhachkala, unknown persons tried to disrupt the community. » Dagestan is a republic of the Russian Federation that neighbors Chechnya, a Muslim-majority country, and is close to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Anti-terrorist measures are regularly announced there by Russian authorities.

In October, at a time of heightened tensions associated with the conflict between Israel and Hamas, anti-Israel riots broke out at Makkah airport, with a crowd occupying the tarmac as a plane from Israel was landing.

Even though Russia’s influence in the country has been limited, Russia has been targeted on several occasions by attacks and attacks claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). In March, more than 140 people were killed in an ISIS attack on Crocus City Hall, a suburb of Moscow.

Last weekend, several ISIS members were killed after taking two prison officers hostage at a prison in southern Russia, officials said.

Russia faced an Islamist insurgency in the Caucasus in the early 2000s, a movement that grew out of the first conflict against separatist Chechnya in 1994-96. It was defeated by Russian federal forces and in recent years, armed incidents have become rare. According to official figures, nearly 4,500 Russians have fought alongside IS, particularly in the Caucasus, Iraq and Syria.