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5 months ago
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Two synagogues and an Orthodox church across southern Russia have today been attacked by militant gunmen, who killed two police officers and slit the throat of a priest.
The attackers fired at the religious sites, as well as a police station, across the tinderbox region of Dagestan, which borders Chechnya. Authorities have said that 13 people were injured during the attacks.
A synagogue in regional capital Makhachkala was set alight, with smoke seen pouring from the building, while another was set on fire in Derbent, the southernmost city in Russia which lies roughly 80 miles south of Makhachkala.
The attackers, who have still not been identified, attacked the Kele-Numaz synagogue, the only Jewish place of worship in the city.
Derbent was also where militants attacked a priest and a guard who both worked at an Orthodox church in the city.
The priest, named locally as 66-year-old Father Nikolai, reportedly had this throat slit by the gunmen.
The attackers fired at the religious sites, as well as a police station, across the tinderbox region of Dagestan, which borders Chechnya
Two synagogues and an Orthodox church across southern Russia have today been attacked by militant gunmen
So far, two of the attackers involved in the deadly shootings have been killed
It is not currently know how many people were involved in the shootings, nor is it known who is behind them
Two police officers were killed in the attack, it was reported
Russian authorities said that one police officer was killed during a shootout at the synagogue in Derbent, while another was killed at a shootout at a police post in Makhachkala.
So far, two of the attackers involved in the deadly shootings have been killed, Russia's interior ministry said.
Many of them managed to flee, with local media reporting that the attackers in Derbent escaped in a White Volkswagen Polo.
It is not currently know how many people were involved in the shootings, nor is it known who is behind them.
The attacks on the religious sites across Dagestan come just months after a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow took the lives of nearly 145 people.
Islamic State Khorasan Provice (ISIS-K), a particularly brutal sect of ISIS, slaughtered innocent concertgoers who went to see the Russian band Picnic at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in March this year.
After shooting up the venue and setting it alight, 145 people died while 551 people were injured by gunfire or burns.
More to follow.
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