Unidentified persons set fire to three Christian churches in Karachai-Circassia

Last night some unknown people set fire to three Christian churches in Karachai-Circassia. The Ministry of Interior Affairs of the republic reported that two churches had caught fire in the town of Karachayevsk and the third one in stanitsa of Orjonikidzevskaya.

The criminals set fire to two Orthodox and a Baptist church. The fire was extinguished by the firemen who arrived at the scene, no one got injured, ITAR-TASS reports.

The Orthodox church in the town of Orjonikidzevskaya was practically burned down completely as a result of fire. As for the Orthodox church in Karachayevsk, only one room burned down there and in the Baptist church the hall and the staircase were destroyed there and a part of the second floor got insignificant damages.

Both buildings were safeguarded by watchmen. In the first case the watchman extinguished fire by himself, in the second one the watchman called the firemen, Kazim Baybanov, representative of Press Service of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of KCR reported.

Supposedly, the criminals had thrown the objects which caused fire through the windows of the churches, "Interfax" reports.

One of the versions of the incident is an evil design aimed at fomentation of international and inter-confessional discord, RIA "Novosti" quotes Archbishop of Stavropol and Vladikavkas Pheophan.