(Moscow) Russia announced on Monday the end of armed clashes in Dagestan, in the Caucasus, where attacks the day before against Orthodox churches and at least one synagogue left 20 dead and dozens injured.
The “anti-terrorist” operation carried out in this unstable region with a Muslim majority and neighboring Chechnya ended Monday morning and five attackers were “liquidated”, announced the Russian Anti-Terrorism Committee, which ensures that “their identity has been established “.
However, it was not clear whether other attackers had been able to escape and no information on their motivations had filtered out.
This series of attacks described as “terrorist” by the Russian authorities comes three months after the attack claimed by the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS) committed at the Crocus City Hall, a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow, which leaves 145 dead.
However, the Kremlin on Monday swept aside any idea of a possible return of an Islamist insurrection in the Caucasus, as in the 2000s, in the wake of the second Chechen war.
“Russia has changed, society has consolidated and such terrorist manifestations are not supported by society,” assured Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
Dagestan was the scene of repeated armed clashes with jihadists in the 2000s, like much of the Caucasus. This Islamist insurgency was put down by Russian forces after many years of combat, and Russia was no longer used to this type of attacks.
The attacks on Sunday targeted “two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police checkpoint,” according to the Investigative Committee, which has opened an investigation for “terrorist acts.”
According to investigators, at least 15 police officers are among the dead, as well as an Orthodox priest.
The chief rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, denounced a “vile crime”, guided by the desire to “kill as many innocent people as possible”.
On Monday, the leader of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, visited the synagogue and church in Derbent, targeted by the attackers, according to his services.
Jewish officials, including the Russian Jewish Congress, said a second synagogue was also set on fire in the attacks.
“We know who is behind these terrorist attacks,” Mr. Melikov said on Sunday, without elaborating.
“War comes to our homes too. We felt it, but today we face it,” he added, seeming to want to establish a link with Ukraine.
The Russian authorities, without ever providing evidence, have already accused Kyiv of having played a role in the bloody attack, claimed by ISIS, on Crocus City Hall.
Armed individuals also opened fire on Sunday against a vehicle carrying police officers, injuring one of them in Sergokala, a village located between Makhachkala and Derbent, according to the local Interior Ministry.
Authorities have not clarified whether these individuals were the same as those who carried out attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent or not.
Local authorities in Dagestan have declared three days of mourning, from Monday to Wednesday.
In October 2023, riots hostile to Israel broke out at Makhachkala airport.
Russia has been targeted on multiple occasions by jihadist attacks and attacks.
Last weekend, several ISIS members were killed after taking two corrections officers hostage in a prison. The jihadist organization also threatened Moscow because of its support for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.
