In a statement on Sunday, Qassemi offered sympathy to the nation and government of Dagestan Republic and the bereaved families of the victims of the attack, which killed and wounded several people.
“The slaughter of innocent people in sacred religious sites and hostility towards religions are among the defining characteristics of groups who go beyond religious and ethical borders for their scaremongering and hate-mongering,” he noted.
Qassemi added that such groups would commit any type of crime to achieve their evil goals.
Five people have been killed and several others injured in a gun attack on a crowd of churchgoers in Dagestan in southern Russia, local police confirmed. The shooter was killed by security forces.
The shooting happened in the city of Kizlyar, a provincial capital in the Republic of Dagestan. The gunman opened fire with a hunting rifle at a group of people leaving a church ceremony dedicated to the end of the Russian folk festival of Maslenitsa, which marks the start of Lent for Russian Orthodox Christians.
The attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” [God is great] as he opened fire on worshippers, father Pavel, the church’s senior priest, told Russian RBC news portal.
