UN Security Council condemns attack in Russia’s Dagestan

MOSCOW (Reuters): The United Nations Security Council condemned the deadly attack that targeted churches and synagogues on Sunday in the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan in Russia, according to a statement on Wednesday.

“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist,” the statement said.

Russia’s southern region of Dagestan ended three days of mourning Wednesday following an attack by militants who authorities say killed 21 people, mostly police, and attacked Christian and Jewish houses of worship in assaults in two cities.

Sunday’s violence in Dagestan’s regional capital of Makhachkala and nearby Derbent was the latest that officials blamed on extremists in the predominantly Muslim region in the North Caucasus. It was also the deadliest in Russia since March, when gunmen opened fire at a concert in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.