The attacks in Russia’s predominantly Muslim republic of Dagestan are the latest moves linked to the Islamic State in that country. One security analyst told Newsweek that the Kremlin’s focus on Ukraine rather than terrorist risk means more such incidents are guaranteed.
The Russian government announced a counterterrorism operation after gunmen opened fire at Russian Orthodox churches and a synagogue in the coastal city of Derbent around 6 p. m. At the same time, the organization opened fire at a traffic police station in Makhachkala, the capital of the republic. , about 130 kilometers to the north.
“Putin is wasting control of the country,” War is Translated, a pro-Ukrainian X user who writes about the Russian president’s invasion, posted along with a video of the aftermath of the attacks. Newsweek has reached out to Russia’s investigative committee for comment.
Dagestan’s governor, Sergei Melikov, claimed that more than 15 police officers, several civilians and an Orthodox priest had been killed, while six “bandits” had been “liquidated”.
The Russian affiliate of IS-K (Islamic State of Khorasan province) media outlet Al-Azaim praised the attack, which it claimed was carried out through “its brothers in the Caucasus” without claiming responsibility.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that the wording of the social media post warned that Wilayat Kavkaz, the Islamic State’s branch in the North Caucasus, was “probably” responsible, this has not been proven by Russian authorities.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an organization of Eurasian countries led through China and Russia, has said in the past that Wilayat Kavkaz was more active since the March 22 ISIS attacks on Moscow’s Crocus hotel, which killed 145 people.
Last week, police in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don killed several men, including some linked to IS, who had taken members hostage at a pre-trial detention center.
Harold Chambers, a security analyst in the North Caucasus, told Newsweek that last week’s escape attempt and Sunday’s attacks in Dagestan showed just how flanked Russian security is by militants, especially ISIS.
“The demands of the invasion of Ukraine have distracted all the country’s security agencies, while spaces closer to the front line are more subject to wartime manpower demands,” he said. Cámaras said.
He added that Sunday’s attacks, which included the first attack on a church in Dagestan in years, “showed a return to comfortable targets. “
“This is because, unlike the synagogue attack, which can be understood with the same violent emotion as the attack on Uytash international airport last year, it turns out to mark a return to attacks based on foreign terrorist targets “Chambers said. Anti-Israel protesters stormed Makhachkala airport last October and searched for a plane full of passengers arriving from Tel Aviv.
In an email to Newsweek, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s exiled leading rabbi, said the attacks on the Russian Jewish and Orthodox communities were deeply troubling.
“Reports that ISIS is guilty of this heinous attack are once again evidence that Russian law enforcement authorities, rather than using their resources to combat ISIS and terrorism, have abused their resources to suppress and killing non-violent citizens who supported the war,” Goldschmidt said. added statement, which was also shared on social media.
Chambers said the profiles of Sunday’s attackers were more middle or upper class than “more oppressed Americans who would possibly be prone to jihadist violence. ” Greater monetary means were evident in the attack, in which higher quality traffic firearms were used.
“Others, such as IEDs (improvised explosive devices), which have been installed in all other ISIS cells in the region in recent months, were absent in this attack,” said Chambers, a doctoral student in the attack at Indiana University.
The link between Sunday’s attacks and Wilayat Kavkaz remains unknown, with ISIS-affiliated media in Khorasan province (IS-K) claiming that the attack had some semblance of duty.
ISIS has taken aim at Russia, even as Moscow’s main intelligence agency, the FSB, has shifted its attention to the war in Ukraine that began through Vladimir Putin. Kremlin propagandists have attempted to link the March Crocus attacks to Kyiv, claims widely rejected by the foreign community.
Some Russian officials are already claiming, without any evidence, that Ukraine and NATO are concerned about Sunday’s attack. The ISW said it showed that Moscow’s counterterrorism technique was more likely to continue “rhetorical stances opposed to Ukraine and the West” than to neutralize ISIS threats. In Russia.
To increase tensions in the region, a fatal shooting took place in the Georgian separatist territory of Abkhazia, near its border with Russia. At least one user died and 3 others were injured in the shooting in the republic, so far there is no connection. between the incident and what happened in Dagestan.
“Torn between a war that has started and a valid security threat, the Kremlin is continuing with the former,” Chambers said, adding that even before Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion, the Russian government had not developed a sufficient counterterrorism strategy. .
“These facts indicate that the risk will persist,” Chambers added, stating that the chances of additional attacks are “almost guaranteed. “
Brendan Cole is a senior Newsweek journalist based in London, United Kingdom. It focuses on Russia and Ukraine, i. e. the war through Moscow. It also covers other areas of geopolitics, adding China.
Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from International Business Times and, in addition to English, studies Russian and French.
You can contact Brendan by emailing b. cole@newsweek. com or following him on his X account @brendanmarkcole.
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