Terrorists who killed 19 in attacks on church & synagogues in Dagestan neutralised, says Russia

The terrorists who attacked a church and two synagogues in Dagestan province have been killed and the security operation is over, said Russian authorities.

At least 19 people were killed in the attacks and at least six terrorists involved have been neutralised, according to Russian authorities.

The deceased involved 15 police personnel and four civilians, as per authorities. The dead also include a Christian priest.

The Russian news agencies quoted the country’s National Antiterrorism Committee as saying that the security operation was concluded at 5:15 GMT (10"45 am IST). While it was initially understood that only the church and the synagogues were attacked, the committee said that a police checkpoint was also attacked.

What we know of the Dagestan attacks?

Two Jewish synagogues and one Christian church was attacked in two cities in Russia’s Dagestan province.

The Russian state-run RT reported that a church and synagogue were attacked in Derbent and another synagogue was attacked in Makhachkala.

The AFP reported that the attacks took place on the religious holiday of Pentecost Sunday that’s marked by the Russian Orthodox Church. The RT named the church attacked as Russian Orthodox Church Holiday - Holy Trinity.

The TASS news agency quoted Dagestan’s provincial chief Sergei Melikov as saying that at least six terrorists were killed in the operation.

“Six gunmen were killed. Further operative and search and investigative action will continue until detecting all the participants of sleeper cells, which were definitely prepared in particular from abroad,” said Melikov, as per the agency.

The TASS agency had cited a law enforcement source as saying that the attackers behind the attack were “supporters of an international terrorist organisation”. It did not name any organisation.

Dagestan has long had security concerns

Dagestan has been associated with terrorist activities for a long time . The Muslim-majority province lies east to Chechnya, another Russian province that has been a hotbed of insurgency where two brutal wars have been fought in the past (1994-96 and 1999-2000).

Terrorists from Dagestan are known to have travelled to Syria to join the terrorist group ISIS. They have also formed a branch of the group there.

Previously, the Russian FSB security service had said that it had arrested four suspects in Dagestan in relation to the Moscow concert attack in March in which more than 100 people were killed. The ISIS had claimed that attack.

Even though the Chechen insurgents have been broadly defeated, scores of civilians and police personnel have been killed in a string of Islamist attacks as Russian and terrorists remained locked in a simmering conflict, as per AFP.