On Sunday, a Muslim mob stormed the airport in the Russian city of Makhachkala in Dagestan province looking for Jews following the arrival of a plane from Israel.
Muslims shouting “Allahu Akbar”, breached security, with a few accessing the runway. The videos of the incident has gone viral on social media.
“There were hundreds at the [Makhachkala] airport. About 50 men approached the airplane and asked passengers if they were Jews. I said no. I’m Russian. They wanted to see my passport. I had a Russian passport. They hung around there and then pulled back at a certain point,” one eyewitness said, according to Times of Israel.
Police were called to the scene to control the situation. Local health officials has reported around 20 injuries, with two individuals in critical condition.
According to Flightradar, a plane from Israel’s Tel Aviv had landed in Makhachkala at 7 pm (1600 GMT). This was a transit flight scheduled to depart for Moscow two hours later, reports said.
Dagestan is a Muslim-majority state in Russia, where federal and local authorities for years have struggled to subdue an Islamist insurgency.
In a statement, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Israel expects the Russian authorities to protect all Israeli citizens and all Jews, and to act decisively against the rioters and against incitement to violence against Jews and Israelis.”
