Gunmen kill police, priest in attacks on places of worship in Russia’s Dagestan

At least 15 police officers and a priest were killed by gunmen on Sunday in what appear to be coordinated attacks on multiple places of worship in Russia’s southernmost Dagestan province, local authorities said.

Sergey Melikov, head of the Dagestan Republic, said at least six “militants” were also killed following the attacks on churches, synagogues and police posts in the cities of Derbent and the regional capital Makhachkala, which are about 120 kilometers (75 miles) apart.

A priest killed during an attack on a church in Derbent was identified by Dagestan Public Monitoring Commission Chairman Shamil Khadulaev as Father Nikolay. “They slit his throat. He was 66 years old and very ill,” Khadulaev said.