Terror in Russia after gunmen open hearth at six synagogues

Two synagogues and an Orthodox church across southern Russia have today been attacked by militant gunmen, who killed six 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, a largely Muslim region of Russia that borders Georgia and Azerbaijan. Authorities have said that at least 12 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 Derbent, which 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

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. 

But Russia’s Investigative Committee has already said it is probing the attacks as ‘acts of terror.’ 

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.