Gunmen open fire on 2 Synagogues in Russia causing Carnage

[hollydolly]

Two synagogues and an Orthodox church across southern Russia have today been attacked by militant gunmen, who killed six police officers and slit the throat of a priest.

The attackers fired at the religious sites, as well as a police station, across the tinderbox region of Dagestan, a largely Muslim region of Russia that borders Georgia and Azerbaijan. Authorities have said that at least 12 people were injured during the attacks.

A synagogue in regional capital Makhachkala was set alight, with smoke seen pouring from the building, while another was set on fire in Derbent, the southernmost city in Russia which lies roughly 80 miles south of Makhachkala.

The attackers, who have still not been identified, attacked the Kele-Numaz synagogue, the only Jewish place of worship in Derbent, which was also where militants attacked a priest and a guard who both worked at an Orthodox church in the city.

The priest, named locally as 66-year-old Father Nikolai Kotelnikov who served more than 40 years in Derbent, reportedly had this throat slit by the gunmen.

o far, two of the attackers involved in the deadly shootings have been killed

MORE HERE

 

[RadishRose]

What fresh hell is this??!!

 

[Remy]

OMG. I haven't had the TV on today and this is the first I'm hearing. What a terrible event.

 

[Tish]

Will antisemitism ever end?

 

[Brookswood]

They also shot up an Orthodox Church from what I read. And a police station. This is terrible.

Gunmen killed at least nine people in attacks Sunday on a synagogue, police station and two churches in Russia’s restive North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, the latest incidents in a trend of rising violence across Russia in the past year.

 

[RadishRose]

BBC reports it was two Orthodox churches and one synagogue; Fox reports 2 of each.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

I doubt the reason for the attack was antisemitism, since the attack included a police station, a Christian church and the death of a priest. It's kind of an odd assortment of targets. It's hard to figure out why they attacked. What were they protesting for, or against?

 

[Pepper]

We will find out, I think, ISIS type extremists. Just a guess.

 

[WhatInThe]

The rocket attack on Crimea seemed to get all the attention but this morning heard about a 10 second clip on people mourning in Russia after a horrible attack with no mention of rockets or Ukraine.

Are these related to the theater attackers?

All religious sites. There's a message there and not just for Russians.

RIP victims

 

[George1959]

"The priest, named locally as 66-year-old Father Nikolai Kotelnikov who served more than 40 years in Derbent, reportedly had this throat slit by the gunmen."

Islam is not bad per se, but this is typical for Islamistic crimes. There was a similar case with a Catholic priest in France too.