News / Russia

Daesh claims responsibility for Dagestan attack

Thursday, 31 December 2015 11:51 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 31 December 2015 11:54 AM ]

A file picture shows people walking in front of the Naryn-Kala Fortress, a UNESCO heritage site in Derbent, Russia.

The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a recent attack on tourists in the restive North Caucasus region of Russia.

The SITE Intelligence Group, a US-based organization that tracks terrorists’ online activities, quoted the Takfiri group as saying that it was behind the Tuesday attack.

The attack took place in Derbent in the Dagestan Republic during which an unidentified assailant opened fire on tourists visiting a historic citadel.

The attack killed one person and wounded 11 others, all of whom identified as Dagestani residents who came under fire from a nearby forest.

Since the mid-1990s, Russia has been fighting militants in its North Caucasus region.

Dagestan as well as the republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia have been the scene of sporadic attacks and militant clashes.

Armed conflict claimed 118 lives in Dagestan from the beginning of the current year until November.

Violence first broke out in Chechnya in 1994, when 250,000 people were forced to flee to neighboring territories because of a war between Chechen separatists and the Russian army.

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