Russian region of Dagestan holds a day of mourning after attacks kill 19 people
Russia’s southern region of Dagestan is holding the first of three days of mourning following a rampage by Islamic militants that killed 19 people, most of them police, and attacked houses of worship in apparently coordinated assaults in two cities
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s southern region of Dagestan held the first of three days of mourning Monday 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 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 March attack was claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group. but no one has stepped forward to take responsibility for Sunday's attacks in Dagestan's regional capital of Makhachkala and nearby Derbent, both adjacent to the Caspian Sea.
Dagestan Gov. Sergei Melikov blamed members of Islamic “sleeper cells” directed from abroad, but didn't give any other details. He said in a video statement that the assailants aimed at “sowing panic and fear,” and attempted to link the attack to Moscow’s military action in Ukraine — but also provided no evidence.
