A 24-year-old policeman who died in Makhachkala during an anti-terrorist operation refused an offer from a local resident before his death to hide in his house so as not to incur the wrath of the militants on the resident of the city, the head of the press service of said the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Guyana Garieva told RIA Novosti.
The deceased is police sergeant, traffic police inspector Habib Aliyev, he is 24 years old.
“The employee Habib Aliyev did not enter through the door opened by the man and did not accept the offer to hide in the house, fearing not to incur the wrath of the militants on the peaceful citizen,” Garieva said.
According to her, Aliyev's last words were: “They will kill me anyway, but you enter the house, shut up and hide!
On Sunday in Derbent and Makhachkala armed fighters attacked two Orthodox churches, two synagogues and a police station. After the attacks, criminal cases were opened for terrorist attacks. According to the latest data, the victims of the attacks were 20, and the wounded rose to 46. In the region, June 24, 25 and 26 were declared days of mourning. Security forces have killed five militants involved in these terrorist attacks, their identities have been established.
The attacks in the regional capital Makhachkala and in the coastal city of Derbent are the most recent acts of violence for which the authorities hold Islamic extremists responsible in Dagestan, which is populated mainly by Muslims, BTA reported. It was also the deadliest attack in Russia since March, when gunmen opened fire at a concert in a Moscow suburb, killing 145 people.
The Afghan branch of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" claimed responsibility for the attack in March and was quick to praise the attack in Dagestan, saying it was carried out by "the brothers in the Caucasus who showed they are still strong.
The American Institute for the Study of War in Washington said that the branch of the "Islamic State" in the North Caucasus, which bears the name "Vilayat Kavkaz".
The head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, said members of Islamist "sleeper cells" directed from abroad were responsible for the attack, but gave no other details.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed of yesterday's attack and of efforts to provide aid to those affected by the attacks.
The Russian Investigative Committee said all five attackers were killed. Of the 20 killed, at least 15 people were police officers.
Health authorities in Dagestan reported that at least 46 people were injured. Of them, at least 13 are police officers, with four hospitalized in serious condition.
Among those killed by the attackers was 66-year-old Nikolai Kotelnikov, an Orthodox priest in a church in the city of Derbent. According to a representative of the local authorities, the attackers cut the priest's throat before setting fire to the church. The attack was carried out on the day when Orthodox Christians celebrate the feast of Pentecost.
The head of Dagestan said 18 Muslims were among those killed. The "Kele-Numaz" synagogue in the city of Derbent was also set on fire.
Shortly after the Derbent attacks, militants fired on a police post and the city of Makhachkala, and attacked a Russian Orthodox church and synagogue in the regional capital before being killed by special forces.