World

Russia’s Dagestan mourns priest, police killed in attack by gunmen

2024.06.24 01:23

(Reuters) – Russia’s Dagestan began three days of mourning of Monday after gunmen killed multiple police officers, an Orthodox priest and several others in attacks on synagogues and churches on Sunday across two cities in the North Caucasus region.

“This is a day of tragedy for Dagestan and the whole country,” Sergei Melikov, governor of the Dagestan region, said in a video published early on Monday on the Telegram messaging app.

It was not clear how many people died in total in the simultaneous attacks across the cities of Makhachkala and Derbent.

Melikov said more than 15 police officers “fell victim” to what he said was a “terrorist attack”,” but he did not specify how many of the police were killed and how many were injured. Russia’s Interfax agency reported at least 15 police officers were killed.

The attacks came three months after 145 people were killed in an attack claimed by the Islamic State on a concert hall near Moscow, Russia’s worst such attack in years.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in the volatile North Caucasus region.

“We understand who is behind the organisation of the terrorist attacks and what goal they pursued,” Melikov said, without disclosing further details. The search for the gunmen will continue until all of them are identified, he added.

Russia’s state media cited law enforcement as saying two sons of the head of central Dagestan’s Sergokala district were among the attackers and had been detained by investigators.

Melikov said several civilians were among the dead, including an Orthodox priest who worked in Derbent for more than 40 years. The priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov, was “brutally murdered”, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church said on Telegram.

Six of the gunmen were shot and killed as the incidents unfolded, Melikov said. Russian state news agencies cited the National Anti-Terrorist Committee as saying five of the gunmen had been killed.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view shows plumes of smoke rising, in Derbent, Russia, June 23, 2024, in this still image obtained from a video.  VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS/via REUTERS/File Photo

Reuters could not independently verify the reports on how many people or gunmen were killed in the attacks.

June 24-26 have been declared days of mourning in Dagestan, Melikov said, with flags lowered to half-mast and all entertainment events cancelled.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 70,886.99 4.26%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,467.28 2.68%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.999191 0.01%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 572.35 3.41%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 170.63 7.51%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.25%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.519124 3.08%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.178727 9.93%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,461.06 2.32%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.161303 0.98%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.338294 3.26%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 4.73 0.56%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000018 7.51%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,903.93 2.08%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 70,592.91 4.16%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 24.51 7.51%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,464.20 2.50%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 348.38 5.56%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 10.99 6.87%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.08 12.14%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 3.92 4.31%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 6.03 0.41%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 0.992204 0.78%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 66.55 1.09%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.90 6.87%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 8.67 6.93%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,591.79 2.51%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 7.41 8.49%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000009 11.15%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.50 6.44%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 475.10 12.57%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.01 0.58%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.27 12.48%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 158.22 0.83%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.113309 8.35%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.094348 3.60%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.25%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 19.08 1.09%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.47 4.92%
first-digital-usd
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 1.02 1.55%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.30763 4.74%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 1.56 6.37%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 38.18 2.42%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 2.19 12.11%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 139.31 8.12%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 3.45 4.78%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.499137 5.02%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.072721 2.72%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.569984 3.25%
immutable-x
Immutable (IMX) $ 1.10 3.48%