Priest and six police officers killed in attacks on synagogue and church in Russian Dagestan

June 23 (UPI) – A priest and six police officers died in an attack on two Orthodox churches and a synagogue in Russia’s predominantly Muslim republic of Dagestan, the Russian anti-terror agency and police said on Sunday.

The attacks took place in the city of Derbent. A police traffic control station in Makhachkala, Dagestan, was also attacked. The region is located at the southernmost tip of Russia, about 3,000 kilometers south of Moscow, on the Caspian Sea.

The attackers fired automatic weapons from three places of worship at around 6 p.m. local time and then drove away in a white VW Polo, officials reported. The synagogue then caught fire.

Father Nikolai, a 66-year-old Orthodox priest, died in a knife attack, said Shamil Khadulaev, chairman of the Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission.

Priests locked themselves in the church and waited for help.

A security guard at the Orthodox Church in Makhachkala was also killed, Khadulaev said.

A total of twelve other people were injured in the attacks on Derbent and Makhachkala, Dagestani Interior Ministry spokeswoman Gayana Gariyeva told the state news agency RIA Novosti.

Elsewhere, a group of unknown assailants attacked a traffic police post in the regional capital Makhachkala.

Residents of Makhachkala were asked to stay in their homes.

According to the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Dagestan, a terrorist investigation has been initiated under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

“All circumstances of the incident and the persons involved in the terrorist attacks are being investigated and their actions are being subjected to legal evaluation,” the Investigation Directorate said in a statement.

More than 3.1 million people live in the ethnically diverse republic.