Attacks on synagogues and Orthodox churches in southern Russia killed 20 people, including police officers

The death toll from Sunday’s apparently coordinated terrorist attacks in southern Russia rose to 20, including 15 police officers, Russian authorities said on Monday, as militants with automatic weapons opened fire on synagogues and Orthodox churches in two towns a few kilometers apart in the Dagestan region.

At least 46 people were injured in the two attacks, said Tatyana Belyaeva, Health Minister of the Republic of Dagestan.

“Unfortunately, 20 people died, including police officers and civilians,” the report said, citing Belyaeva.

Belyaeva said seven of the victims injured in the attacks were in serious condition.

The attacks took place on Sunday afternoon in Derbent and Makhachkala, two coastal cities on the Caspian Sea 120 kilometers apart.

At around 6 p.m. local time, several armed men fired a barrage of automatic weapons at a synagogue and a Russian Orthodox church in Derbent, according to Russian officials.

According to Russian authorities, the suspects in the attack in Derbent probably used a Volkswagen Polo and witnesses saw it flee the scene.

A second attack occurred in Makhachkala, the capital of the Republic of Dagestan and the largest city in the region. There, terrorists attacked two more synagogues and two Russian Orthodox churches, Russian officials said.

In the attacks in Makhachkala, a Russian Orthodox priest was killed and one of the Orthodox churches was set on fire, officials in the region said.

Following the attacks on the places of worship, a long firefight broke out between police and suspects in Makhachkala on Sunday evening, officials said.

At least six militants were killed in the fighting, Russian authorities said.

In Makhachkala, armed men also opened fire on traffic police officers in one street and a police car was set on fire in another street, the state news agency TASS reported.

Sergei Melikov, a Russian leader of the Dagestan region, said in a statement that an operational headquarters had been set up in the wake of the attacks.

“This evening, unknown persons tried to destabilize the social situation in Derbent and Makhachkala. Dagestani police officers stood in their way. According to preliminary information, there are victims among them,” Melikov said in his statement.

A period of mourning was declared in the Dagestan region for Monday and Tuesday.

The attacks follow a shooting spree in April at a concert in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall, in which more than 140 people, including children, were killed. ISIS terrorists claimed responsibility for the attack.