According to Russian media, the assailants attacked a synagogue, an Orthodox church, and a traffic police station in the regional capital Makhachkala and the southern city of Derbent on Sunday.
At least seven police officers lost their lives in shootouts with the attackers. A dozen officers were also injured, including six in the attack on the police station in Makhachkala, RT reported.
The attacks on the synagogue and the church took place in Derbent, leaving a priest dead.
The ninth person, who lost his life in the attacks, was the police chief of the town of Dagestanskiye Ogni. He succumbed to the injuries he sustained when he and his deputies arrived in Derbent to back up fellow officers, according to Interfax.
RT, citing the regional interior ministry in Dagestan, said that a total of four militants have been “eliminated” by the security forces in Makhachkala. The ministry said that the operation near the city’s Orthodox church has been completed, denying reports about hostages being held there.
Meanwhile TASS cited security sources as saying that the suspects behind the Dagestan attacks had “foreign” weapons in their arsenal.
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a terrorism investigation into the attacks.
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