The death toll from a series of attacks on churches and synagogues in Russia's mainly Muslim region of Dagestan has risen to 19, including 15 police officers.
Dagestan's health minister Tatyana Belyayeva said another 46 people had been injured.
Gunmen with automatic weapons burst into an Orthodox church and a synagogue in the ancient city of Derbent yesterday evening, setting fire to an icon at the church and killing 66-year-old Orthodox priest Nikolai Kotelnikov.
In the Caspian city of Makhachkala, About 125km north, attackers shot at a traffic police post and attacked a church.
Gun battles erupted around the Assumption Cathedral in Makhachkala and heavy automatic gunfire rang out late into the night.
Footage showed residents running through the city to seek cover as plumes of smoke rose above Makhachkala.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Russia's investigative committee said 15 policemen and four civilians were killed. At least five attackers were also killed.
In Israel, the foreign ministry said the synagogue in Derbent had been burned to the ground and shots had been fired at a second synagogue in Makhachkala. The statement said it was believed there were no worshippers in the synagogue at the time.
Derbent, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, is home to an ancient Jewish community and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The simultaneous attacks came three months after 145 people were killed in an attack claimed by the so- called Islamic State on a concert hall near Moscow, Russia's worst terrorist attack in years.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks in Dagestan.
Days of mourning have been declared in Dagestan from today until Wednesday, with flags lowered to half-mast and all entertainment events cancelled.
In the 2000s, the region was hit by an Islamist insurgency spilling over from neighbouring Chechnya, with Russian security forces moving aggressively to combat extremists in the region.
In recent years, attacks had become rarer, with Russia's Federal Security Service saying in 2017 that it had defeated the insurgency in the region.
Russian media cited the head of the country's federation of Jewish communities as calling for people to avoid reacting to "provocations".
Russian authorities have pointed to militant Muslim elements in previous incidents in the region.
In October, after the war in Gaza broke out, rioters waving Palestinian flags broke down glass doors and rampaged through Makhachkala airport to look for Jewish passengers on a flight arriving from Tel Aviv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the west and Ukraine of stirring up unrest inside Russia in connection with the incident.
