Russia’s southern region of Dagestan yesterday held the first of three days of mourning following a rampage by Islamic militants who killed 19 people, most of them police, and attacked houses of worship in apparently coordinated assaults in two cities.
Sunday’s violence in Dagestan’s regional capital of Makhachkala and nearby Derbent was the latest that officials blamed on Islamic extremists in the predominantly Muslim region in the North Caucasus, as well as the deadliest in Russia since March, when gunmen opened fire at a concert in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.
The affiliate of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan that claimed responsibility for March’s raid quickly praised the attack in Dagestan, saying that it was conducted by “brothers in the Caucasus who showed that they are still strong.”
Photo: EPA-EFE / Telegram Channel of the Head of Dagestan Republic
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said that the Islamic State group’s North Caucasus branch, Vilayat Kavkaz, was likely behind the attack, describing it as “complex and coordinated.”
Dagestan Governor Sergei Melikov blamed members of Islamic “sleeper cells” directed from abroad, but did not give any other details.
He said in a video statement that the assailants were focused on “sowing panic and fear,” and attempted to link the attack to Moscow’s military action in Ukraine — but also provided no evidence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had sought to blame the March attack on Ukraine, again without evidence and despite the claim of responsibility by the Islamic State affiliate. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin has received reports on Sunday’s attacks and efforts to help the victims.
The Investigative Committee, the nation’s top state criminal investigation agency, said all five attackers were killed. Of the 19 people killed, 15 were police.
Among the dead was the Reverend Nikolai Kotelnikov, a 66-year-old Russian Orthodox priest at a church in Derbent.
The attackers slit his throat before setting fire to the church, said Shamil Khadulayev, deputy head of a local public oversight body.
The attack came as the Orthodox faithful celebrated Pentecost, also known as Trinity Sunday.
The Kele-Numaz synagogue in Derbent was also set ablaze.
Shortly after the attacks in Derbent, militants fired at a police post in Makhachkala, and attacked a Russian Orthodox Church and a synagogue there before being hunted down and killed by special forces.
Medical authorities in Dagestan said 16 people, including 13 police, were hospitalized with injuries, and that four officers were in grave condition.
Russian news reports said the attackers included the two sons and a nephew of Magomed Omarov, the head of the ruling party’s United Russia’s regional branch in Dagestan.
Omarov was detained by police for interrogation, and United Russia quickly dismissed him from its ranks.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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