Coordinated Assault in Dagestan Leaves Multiple Dead

Gunmen carried out a coordinated attack in Dagestan, killing several police officers and a priest in the cities of Makhachkala and Derbent. Armed with rifles and Molotov cocktails, the attackers targeted synagogues and churches. Six assailants were killed in subsequent shootouts. Dagestan Governor Sergei Melikov confirmed that more than 15 police officers were victims of the attack, though the exact number of fatalities remains unclear. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a terrorism investigation.

Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim republic with a Jewish minority, has faced persistent violence for decades. Governor Melikov condemned the attack as an assault on the region's multiethnic unity. This incident underscores the ongoing ethnic and religious tensions in Russia, reminiscent of the March attack in Moscow that left 145 people dead.