World: Deadly attack at church in Russian region of Dagestan

A man carrying a knife and a hunting rifle opened fire on worshippers Sunday at an Orthodox church in Kizlyar, in the Dagestan region of Russia, killing at least five people and wounding several others, according to a Russian state news agency.

The gunman shouted “Allahu akbar” and began firing, a priest told the local media. Churchgoers said they had prevented more casualties by closing the door to the church and stopping the attacker from getting inside.

The man was later shot and killed by security forces on duty at the time, reports said. The assailant was identified only as a 22-year-old man from the region, the Russian news agency Tass said, citing the investigative committee.

Some media outlets said there had been more than one attacker, whom they identified as a husband-and-wife team. The woman ran away just before the shooting started and has been arrested, reports said. The local Interior Ministry, however, said the gunman had acted on his own, according to the Interfax news agency.

The attack took place in Kizlyar, a town of about 50,000 people on the Terek River delta on the border with Chechnya, Tass said.

Four women died at the scene, and a fifth died of her injuries at a hospital, a Health Ministry spokeswoman, Zalina Mourtazalieva, told Tass. Two Russian police officers were among five people injured in the attack.

Sunday is the last day before Orthodox Christian Lent and is celebrated as a holiday akin to Mardi Gras.

The Russian RBK daily quoted an Orthodox priest as saying the attacker had opened fire on churchgoers after an afternoon service. The priest, identified as Father Pavel, said: “We had finished the mass and were beginning to leave the church. A bearded man ran towards the church shouting ‘Allahu akbar.'”

Tass said the man was later shot and killed. Photos circulating on media sites online show the body of a man dressed in camouflage pants lying on the ground, with blood around his head and empty cartridges scattered nearby. Other images showed what appeared to be a weapon.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

ANDREW E. KRAMER and OLEG MATSNEV © 2018 The New York Times

A man carrying a knife and a hunting rifle opened fire on worshippers Sunday at an Orthodox church in Kizlyar, in the Dagestan region of Russia, killing at least five people and wounding several others, according to a Russian state news agency. Read Full Story