MAKHACHKALA, July 1. /TASS/. The militants who attacked churches and synagogues in Dagestan also planned to attack a Shiite mosque, Dagestani Interior Minister Abdurashid Magomedov said.

"It has been verified by now that these people who desecrated the synagogue and church in Derbent, they <…> also planned to do the same in a Shiite mosque. They did not do this only due to certain circumstances I’d prefer not to dwell on now," he said at a meeting with public activists.

He stressed that those who commit such crimes "have no God, no faith."

On June 23, a group of terrorists attacked two Orthodox churches and two synagogues in Derbent and Makhachkala. Several people, both law enforcement agencies and civilians, were killed and wounded. According to the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, five attackers were neutralized. A criminal case was initiated on charges of a terror attack, illegal purchase, possession, trafficking and theft of firearms.