More than 15 police officers, an Orthodox priest and several civilians have been shot dead by terrorists in Russia.
The gunmen opened fire at two Orthodox churches, a synagogue and a police post in two separate cities on Sunday in the country's southern region of Dagestan.
Footage published on social media from Derbent showed a group of gunmen engaged in heavy fire with police. Officials said the Derbent synagogue was set on fire and a clip from the scene appeared to show flames coming out of the building, which is listed as a Unesco heritage site.
A group opened fire on police in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, located about 75 miles north along the Caspian Sea coast. Dagestan's Interior Ministry said a synagogue and church in Derbent on the Caspian Sea were shot at and caught fire.
At the same time, reports had emerged that an attack had broken out at a church and traffic police post in Dagestan's capital, Makhachkala. A counter-terrorist operation was launched in the region, but it was unclear how many gunmen were involved in the attacks.
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The Anti-Terrorist Committee said five gunmen were "eliminated". The governor said six "bandits" had been "liquidated". It has been reported that 40 people have been taken hostage during the shootout in the Kirovskiy district of Makhachkala. It is unclear how many remain as hostages. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks as the authorities launched a criminal investigation on the charge of a terrorist act.
The attackers fired at the religious sites in Russia (social media/e2w)
Gun battles played out on the street (social media/e2w)Russian state news agency Tass cited law enforcement sources as saying a Dagestani official was detained over his son's involvement in the attacks. Mr Melikov said in the video statement on Monday that the situation in the region was under control of the law enforcement and local authorities. He vowed that the investigation would continue until "all the sleeping cells" of the militants are uncovered.
He claimed, without providing evidence, that the attacks might have been prepared from abroad and referenced what the Kremlin calls "the special military operation" in Ukraine in an apparent attempt to link the attacks.
At least one synagogue has been burnt to ashes, reports say ( (social media/e2w)In March, gunmen opened fire on a crowd at a concert hall in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.
An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Russian officials also sought to link Ukraine to the attack without providing any evidence. Kyiv has vehemently denied any involvement.
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