Religious Sites

In southern Russia, a man in the town of Kizlyar, in the republic of Dagestan, opened fire on people exiting a church after an afternoon service on Feb. 18, killing five and injuring five others. The man was killed by police on the scene. Islamist militant group Daesh (ISIL) claimed that the shooter was one of their soldiers, but this was unconfirmed as of press time. 

The US Department of State recommends that people avoid traveling to Dagestan and the rest of Russia’s North Caucasus region due to continued civil and political unrest there.

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A gunman with an explosive device attacked a Coptic-owned shop south of Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 29, killing two people. Before being detained by authorities, he attempted to enter a Coptic church. During the attempt, six civilians and one police officer were killed. 

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Egyptian authorities said the attacker was known to police and was responsible for other deadly terrorist attacks in the past.

A suicide bomber struck a mosque full of worshipers in the town of Aubi, within the state of Adamawa in northeastern Nigeria, on Nov. 21, killing at least 50 people. As of press time, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities believed that the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has been involved in an insurgency in Nigeria for eight years, was responsible. 

In the northern-Sinai town of Bir al-Abed, terrorists posing as Egyptian military attacked a mosque with bombs and guns on Nov. 24, killing more than 300 people and injuring at least 100 others. It was the deadliest single attack in Egypt in decades. The attackers also created roadblocks with burning cars and fired on ambulances making their way to the scene. It is believed that at least 30 attackers were involved in the incident.