Participant in Dagestan Terrorism Linked to Khabib's Father's Sports School: Sports Groups to be Checked

On the evening of June 23, militants attacked Orthodox churches, synagogues, and police in Makhachkala and Derbent. The Investigative Committee reported the liquidation of five militants. Telegram channels Mash and Shot, as well as RT, have reported that one of them may be Gadzhimurad Kagirov, an athlete from Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s (Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father) combat sports school. His name has not yet been officially released by law enforcement agencies. This information is provided by armsport.am.

"We want to state that the participant in yesterday's events was only conducting training for an upcoming professional fight, and at the request of his teammates, he was allowed to participate in the training sessions held at our school," the school stated in a message.

It should be noted that the Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov Sports School was opened in December 2019, with the founder being the coach himself and his son, former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The Dagestan Ministry of Health has reported that 20 people died as a result of the attacks, with an additional 46 wounded. Earlier, the Investigative Committee reported 15 deceased police officers and 4 civilians.

Sports groups where MMA fighters have trained in Dagestan are set to be checked. According to media reports, operational staff will soon conduct inspections in sports halls throughout Dagestan where mixed martial arts take place. The goal is to ascertain whether there are any radicals among the athletes as well as members of so-called 'sleeper cells'.