Gunmen fire on targets in Russia's North Caucasus region, three killed, regional government says

Moscow (Reuters): Gunmen opened fire at a synagogue, an Orthodox church and a police post in Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan on Sunday and at least three people, including two police officers were killed, the region's interior ministry said.

Thirteen people were wounded in the attacks, the interior ministry was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

The reports said one officer and a priest were killed when shots were fired at a synagogue and a church in Derbent, home to an ancient Jewish community in the South Caucasus and a UNESCO world heritage site.

"Unidentified people fired at a synagogue and a church with automatic weapons," the interior ministry said. "One police officer was killed and one injured."

The synagogue was on fire after the attack, Russian news agencies said.

The attackers then fled in a car.

Another police officer was killed in an exchange of shots at a police post in Makhachkala, about 125 km (75 miles) to the north along the Caspian Sea coast and the main city in Dagestan, a mainly Muslim region in southern Russia.