MOSCOW — Gunmen opened fire at a synagogue, two Orthodox churches and a police post in two cities in Russia’s North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Sunday, killing six policemen and injuring 12, according to the region’s Minister of Internal Affairs, per Russian state media TASS.
The places of worship and traffic police post that were targeted are located in Derbent and Makhachkala, per TASS. The first gunshots were reported around 7 p.m. Moscow time.
The ministry, quoted by Russian news agencies, said two gunmen had been shot dead as the incidents unfolded. An Orthodox priest in Derbent and a church security guard in Makhachkala were also reported to have been killed, Shamil Khadulaev, chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission of Dagestan, told TASS.
The agencies reported that street fights were gripping Makhachkala, the chief administrative town in Dagestan, a mainly Muslim region on the Caspian Sea.
An unofficial channel on the Telegram messaging app, Mash, said police were preparing to storm a building where gunmen were holed up in Derbent, about 75 miles further south. Authorities are also looking for a white Volkswagen that suspects used to flee, per state media.
The gunmen attacked a synagogue and a church in Derbent, home to an ancient Jewish community and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Interior Ministry was quoted as saying that both the synagogue and church were ablaze.
