ISIS claim shooting in Dagestan citadel

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a gun attack in Dagestan, southern Russia, that left one person dead and 11 injured.

Gunmen opened fire at the Derbent citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage site, on Tuesday evening, before fleeing the scene

State news agency RIA has reported that a Federal Security Service (FSB) member was killed and another injured in the shooting.

A statement posted to ISIS’ main channel on the Telegram messaging app said that the attack had targeted Russian intelligence agency officers.

Moscow is fighting an Islamist insurgency in the mostly Muslim North Caucasus, with attacks frequently occurring in Dagestan.

ISIS established a franchise in the region in June, and in September claimed responsibility for an alleged attack on a Russian army base in southern Dagestan.

The al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda linked group active in the Syrian civil war, has called on jihadists to organise attacks in Russia as retaliation for the country's bombing campaign in support of the Syrian government. 

Russia has been bombing IS and other groups in Syria it considers terrorists, some of which are backed by Western powers. On Wednesday, the Russian military said it had flew 121 sorties over Syria in two days, hitting 424 targets.

Nearly 2,900 Russians have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside militants, according to the FSB.