Five attackers responsible for the violence in Derbent and Makhachkala have been identified, TASS reported, citing law enforcement sources on Monday….reports Asian Lite News
The United Nations Security Council condemned the deadly attack that targeted churches and synagogues on Sunday in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan in Russia, according to a statement on Wednesday.
“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist,” the statement said.
Russia’s southern region of Dagestan ended three days of mourning Wednesday following an attack by militants who authorities say killed 21 people, mostly police, and attacked Christian and Jewish houses of worship in assaults in two cities.
Sunday’s violence in Dagestan’s regional capital of Makhachkala and nearby Derbent was the latest that officials blamed on extremists in the predominantly Muslim region in the North Caucasus. It was also the deadliest in Russia since March, when gunmen opened fire at a concert in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.
Authorities in Russia’s Dagestan region have identified individuals with notable backgrounds, including a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and relatives of a regional official, among the assailants involved in Sunday’s attacks on places of worship which claimed at least 20 lives, Russian State news agency reported.
Five attackers responsible for the violence in Derbent and Makhachkala have been identified, TASS reported, citing law enforcement sources on Monday.
The gunmen targeted multiple places of worship and engaged in a confrontation at a police traffic stop in these cities within the Muslim-majority republic. The attacks resulted in the deaths of at least 15 police officers and four civilians, including an Orthodox priest.
Some of the attackers hailed from the Sergokalinsky district, situated between Derbent and Makhachkala, and were linked to the district’s head. Former MMA fighter Gadzhimurad Kagirov, identified as a cousin of district head Magomed Omarov, was among those involved in the violence in Derbent, TASS reported.
Additionally, relatives of Omarov, including his son and nephew, were reported to have participated in the attacks, as detailed by TASS.
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