DEATH TOLL FROM ATTACKS ON RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS IN DAGESTAN ROSE TO 19

Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) has released footage of its counterterrorism units at work throughout Sunday night and Monday morning.

Mon 24 June 2024:

Moscow said on Monday that the death toll from Sunday attacks on religious buildings in the Russian Republic of Dagestan rose to 19.

“According to preliminary data, 15 law enforcement officers were killed, as well as four civilians, including an Orthodox priest,” said a statement by Russia’s Investigative Committee.

Nineteen reported killed in synagogue, church attacks in Russia’s Dagestan

Civilians, including a priest, among dead as gunmen attack religious buildings in Derbent and a Makhachkala police post. pic.twitter.com/tcaaApirws

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) June 24, 2024

Authorities are continuing the investigation launched last night into the attack, the committee said, adding that five militants were eliminated during the clashes.

Earlier in the day, Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee (NAK) said a decision was made to terminate the “counter-terrorism operation” introduced in the region “in connection with the elimination of threats to the life and health of citizens.”

DEATH TOLL FROM ATTACKS ON RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS IN DAGESTAN ROSE TO 19https://t.co/q0biVytEfX pic.twitter.com/b6AKct4KV3

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) June 24, 2024

“On June 24, 2024, at 8:15 a.m. (0515GMT), the legal regime of the counter-terrorism operation within the administrative borders of Makhachkala and Derbent of the Republic of Dagestan was cancelled,” the NAK further said.

On Sunday, it declared a “counter-terrorism operation regime” in the cities of Makhachkala, the administrative capital of Dagestan, and Derbent following attacks by unidentified armed individuals.

The attacks targeted a police checkpoint in Makhachkala, as well as two churches and a synagogue in Derbent. The two cities are located about 128 kilometers (79.5 miles) from each other.

❗️Derbent synagogue fire contained – local reports

Details: https://t.co/w7EgiCdHKB pic.twitter.com/aVXu4zcTuG

— RT (@RT_com) June 23, 2024

Footage of the men responsible for the attack pic.twitter.com/D1SYKn6bRn

— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) June 23, 2024

Five #Russian police officers have so far been killed by the terrorists in #Derbent & #Makhachkala, #Dagestan district of #Russia. pic.twitter.com/jZDbOk89SQ

— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) June 23, 2024

Sergey Melikov, the head of the Republic of Dagestan, said in a video statement on Telegram that three days of national mourning was introduced in the region.

Meanwhile, the head of the Russian Republic of Ingushetia, as well as the governor of the Stavropol territory bordering Dagestan, announced that security measures were strengthened in their respective regions.

Multiple leaders from the region, including the presidents of China, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, have sent telegrams to Russian President Vladimir Putin, extending their condolences regarding the incidents.

BREAKING: 🇷🇺 Suspected terrorist attack against an Orthodox Church and Jewish Synagogue in Russia’s Dagestan region. pic.twitter.com/tWwXTJRfrU

— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) June 23, 2024

Shooting still heard in Derbent, Dagestan region – reports pic.twitter.com/LR5WZe6zuA

— RT (@RT_com) June 23, 2024

Unrest

The attacks come three months after some 133 people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a rock concert in the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow. Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), based in Afghanistan, said it was behind that attack, although Moscow claimed without evidence that Ukraine had a role.

Russia’s FSB security service in April said it had arrested four people in Dagestan on suspicion of involvement in plotting the Crocus City Hall attack.

In an update on the events of June 23, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), noted that the Russian branch of ISKP’s Al-Azaim Media had praised “their brothers from the Caucasus” for demonstrating their capabilities in Dagestan.

“Al-Azaim did not claim credit for the attack itself, notably, and the reference to the Caucasus strongly suggests that Wilayat Kavkaz [ISIL’s northern Caucasus branch] is responsible for the attack,” ISW said.

Daniel Hawkins, reporting for Al Jazeera from Moscow, noted that Dagestan had seen unrest in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“Violence there, as the years have gone on, has died down,” Hawkins said, explaining that the region never saw the kind of conflict that engulfed the neighbouring Russian republic of Chechnya, where Russian forces fought two brutal wars during the same period.

“This sort of attack that’s coordinated and has targeted civilian religious infrastructure is very unusual and will no doubt be shocking to Russians across the country,” Hawkins said.

In October last year, hundreds of people stormed the airport in Makhachkala over a flight from Israel landing there. At least 60 people were arrested after they broke through security to the runway and inundated the area around the aircraft shouting anti-Jewish slogans.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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