Mostly police officers killed in attacks in Russian region of Dagestan – National

[Pelican Press 0]

Mostly police officers ******* in attacks in Russian region of Dagestan – National

Russia’s southern region of Dagestan held the first of three days of mourning Monday following a rampage by Islamic militants who ******* 19 people, most of them police, and attacked houses of worship in apparently coordinated assaults in two cities.

Sunday’s ********* in Dagestan’s regional capital of Makhachkala and nearby Derbent was the latest that officials blamed on Islamic extremists in the predominantly ******* region in the North Caucasus, as well as the deadliest in Russia since March, when gunmen opened ***** at a concert in suburban Moscow, ******** 145 people.

The affiliate of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan that claimed responsibility for March’s raid quickly praised the ******* in Dagestan, saying it was conducted by “brothers in the Caucasus who showed that they are still strong.”

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War argued that the Islamic State group’s North Caucasus branch, Vilayat Kavkaz, likely was behind the *******, describing it as “complex and coordinated.”

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Dagestan Gov. Sergei Melikov blamed members of Islamic “sleeper cells” directed from abroad, but didn’t give any other details. He said in a video statement that the assailants aimed at “sowing panic and *****,” and attempted to link the ******* to Moscow’s military action in Ukraine — but also provided no evidence.

President Vladimir ****** had sought to blame the March ******* on Ukraine, again without evidence and despite the claim of responsibility by the Islamic State affiliate. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.

In this photo taken from video released by The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia on Monday, June 24, 2024, the head of Dagestan Republic Sergei Melikov, center, visits the damaged the Kele-Numaz synagogue in Derbent after a counter-********** operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia.

The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia via AP

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said ****** has received reports on Sunday’s attacks and efforts to help the victims.

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The Investigative Committee, the country’s top state ********* investigation agency, said all five attackers were *******. Of the 19 people *******, 15 were police.

Among the ***** was the Rev. Nikolai Kotelnikov, a 66-year-old Russian Orthodox priest at a ******* in Derbent. The attackers slit his throat before setting ***** to the *******, according to Shamil Khadulayev, deputy head of a local public oversight body. The ******* came as the Orthodox faithful celebrated Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday.

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The Kele-Numaz synagogue in Derbent also was set ablaze.

Shortly after the attacks in Derbent, militants fired at a police post in Makhachkala and attacked a Russian Orthodox ******* and a synagogue there before being hunted down and ******* by special forces.

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In this photo taken from video released by The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia on Monday, June 24, 2024, an internal view of the damaged the Kele-Numaz synagogue in Derbent is seen after a counter-********** operation in republic of Dagestan, Russia.

The Telegram Channel of the head of Dagestan Republic of Russia via AP

Medical authorities in Dagestan said 16 people, including 13 police, were hospitalized with injuries, and with four officers in grave condition.

Russian news reports said the attackers included the two sons and a nephew of Magomed Omarov, the head of the main Kremlin’s party ******* Russia’s regional branch in Dagestan. Omarov was detained by police for interrogation, and ******* Russia quickly dismissed him from its ranks.

In the early 2000s, Dagestan saw near-daily attacks on police and other authorities that was blamed on militant extremists. After the emergence of the Islamic State group, many residents of the region joined it in Syria and Iraq.

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The ********* in Dagestan has abated in recent years, but in a sign that extremist sentiments still run high in the region, mobs rioted at an airport there in October, targeting a flight from *******. More than 20 people were hurt — none of them Israelis — when hundreds of men, some carrying banners with antisemitic slogans, rushed onto the tarmac, chased passengers and threw stones at police.

The airport rampage challenged the Kremlin’s narrative that ******* and religious groups coexist in harmony in Russia.

After March’s Moscow concert hall *******, Russia’s top security agency reported that it had broken up what it called a “********** cell” in southern Russia and arrested four of its members who had provided weapons and cash to suspected attackers in Moscow.

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