Watch: Russia launches counter-terror operation after deadly attacks in Dagestan

Security forces cordoned off roads with armoured vehicles during a counter-terror operation against gunmen who killed at least 16 people across Russia’s Dagestan region.

The terror threat was officially declared over on Monday after officials said six of the gunmen were killed in shootouts in Makhachkala and Derbent, two major cities in the mainly Muslim region on the Caspian Sea.

The terrorists attacked a synagogue and a church in each of the cities with rifles and Molotov cocktails on Sunday.

Dagestan’s regional governor declared the beginning three days of mourning on Monday following the killings of an Orthodox priest, multiple police officers and several others in the attack.

“Following the neutralisation of the threats to the lives and health of citizens, it was decided to end the anti-terrorist operation in Dagestan from 0515 GMT,” Russia’s National Antiterrorism Committee said.

It was not immediately clear how many were killed in the attacks, but Sergei Melikov, Dagestan’s governor, said on Sunday: “More than 15 police officers fell victim to today’s terrorist attack.”

The gunmen also “brutally murdered” a priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov, according to a spokesman for Russia’s Orthodox Church. He was the only confirmed civilian victim from Sunday’s attack, but Mr Melikov was quoted as saying “several” civilians had also been killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in the volatile region in southern Russia.

In Derbent, the attackers torched a synagogue after shooting and killing the police officers guarding it, the Russian Jewish Congress said.

In nearby Makhachkala, the region’s administrative capital, the attackers opened fire on a traffic police post, as well as the city’s Cathedral of the Assumption and a synagogue.

Footage shared online by Dagestan’s interior ministry showed gunmen moving through the city, opening fire and forcing people from their cars.

The attacks highlighted the mounting ethnic and religious tensions in Russia, especially in the Caucasus region. It came after four gunmen killed 145 people at a Moscow concert hall in March, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State.

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said it was “no coincidence” that the attack on Sunday took place as Orthodox Christians observed Pentecost.

“We see that the enemy is not giving up on attempts to destroy interreligious peace and harmony within our society,” Kirill, who is sanctioned by the UK because of his support for Vladimir Putin, said in a statement.

There was no official confirmation by the Russian authorities of who they believe was behind the attack in Dagestan. “We understand who is behind the organisation of the terrorist attacks and what goal they pursued,” Mr Melikov said.

Several Russian state media outlets reported that two of the gunmen were sons of a regional official, and that they had been detained by investigators.

Dagestan was hit by an Islamist insurgency in the 2000s, spilling over from neighbouring Chechnya, with Russian security forces moving aggressively to combat extremists in the region.

As with the recent attack in Moscow, some Russian officials and politicians blamed the West for the latest violence.