Gunmen Kill 15 Police Officers, Several Civilians Including Priest, in Russia’s Southern Dagestan Region

[Pelican Press 0]

Gunmen ***** 15 Police Officers, Several Civilians Including Priest, in Russia’s Southern Dagestan Region

MOSCOW (AP) — More than 15 police officers and several civilians, including an Orthodox priest, were ******* by armed militants in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan on Sunday, its governor Sergei Melikov said in a video statement early Monday.

The gunmen opened ***** on two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police post in two cities, according to the authorities.

Russia’s National Anti-********** Committee described the attacks in the predominantly ******* region with a history of armed insurgency as ********** acts.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were declared days of mourning in the region.

Dagestan’s Interior Ministry said a group of armed men shot at a synagogue and a ******* in the city of Derbent, located on the Caspian Sea. Both the ******* and the synagogue caught *****, according to state media. Almost simultaneously, reports appeared about an ******* on a ******* and a traffic police post in the Dagestan capital, Makhachkala.

Authorities announced a counter-********** operation in the region. The Anti-********** Committee said five gunmen were “eliminated.” The governor said six “bandits” had been “liquidated.” The conflicting numbers couldn’t be immediately reconciled and it wasn’t clear how many militants were involved in the attacks.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. The authorities launched a ********* investigation on the charge of a ********** act.

Russian state news agency Tass cited law enforcement sources as saying that a Dagestani official was detained over his sons’ involvement in the attacks.

Melikov said in the video statement that the situation in the region was under control of the law enforcement and local authorities, and vowed that the investigation of the attacks will continue until “all the sleeping cells” of the militants are uncovered.

He claimed, without providing evidence, that the attacks might have been prepared from abroad, and referenced what the Kremlin calls “the special military operation” in Ukraine in an apparent attempt to link the attacks to it.

In March, 

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 at a concert hall in suburban Moscow, ******** 145 people. An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the *******, but Russian officials also sought to link Ukraine to the ******* without providing any evidence. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.

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#Gunmen #***** #Police #Officers #Civilians #Including #Priest #Russias #Southern #Dagestan #Region

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