Day of Memory and Mourning in Dagestan

Russia's North Caucasian republic of Dagestan marks the Day of Memory and Mourning for victims of terrorist acts. On September 4th, 1998, an explosion in Parkhomenko Street in Makhachkala killed and wounded dozens of people. Exactly 12 months later, the republic was shocked by yet another terrorist act as an explosion wrecked a five-story building in the town of Buinaksk, killing 64 people and wounding more than 100.

Buinaksk is planning a mourning rally on Wednesday, to be attended by the town's residents and guests. The ralliers will march to a memorial on the site of the explosion and pay homage to the victims.

The masterminds behind both terrorist acts did not go unpunished: Isa Zainutdinov and Alisultan Salikhov, who engineered the Buinaksk terrorist act, were sentenced to life in prison; the same goes for the masterminds behind the Makhachkala attack. Their accomplices, too, were sentenced to a number of years in prison.