At least nine people have been killed and 25 injured in what appear to be coordinated attacks by gunmen in Russia’s southernmost Dagestan province, local authorities say.
Attacks have been reported at multiple places of worship and a police traffic stop in the cities of Derbent and Makhachkala, which are about 120km (75 miles) apart.
Among the dead are seven law enforcement officers, a priest and a church security guard, according to local authorities. One of the law enforcement officers killed was the head of the “Dagestan Lights” police department, Mavludin Khidirnabiev, according to the Dagestan Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Telegram channel.
Four “militants” have also been killed, according to the Russian news agency TASS.
No group has yet claimed responsibility, but law enforcement agencies told TASS that the attackers are “adherents of an international terrorist organization.”
Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission Chairman Shamil Khadulaev said the priest who was killed was called Father Nikolay. “They slit his throat. He was 66-years-old and very ill,” Khadulaev said.
He added that a security guard armed with only a pistol was shot. Nighttime video, shared by the Republic of Dagestan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, showed at least a dozen law enforcement officers – who appear to be armed and wearing tactical gear – outside the gates of a cathedral in northwestern Makhachkala. CNN has geolocated the video to the gates of Svyato-Uspenskiy Sobor, a Russian Orthodox venue in Makhachkala.
Earlier on Sunday, Russian state media TASS reported that a security guard was killed in a shootout at Svyato-Uspenskiy Sobor, and 19 people had locked themselves inside the premises during the attack. While it is unclear if the standoff has fully ended, those who had holed up there have since been evacuated to safety, TASS reported, citing the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Dagestan.
