ISIS’s Afghanistan-based affiliate has claimed credit for the Russia concert attack.
Moscow: A group of unidentified assailants attacked a concert hall in Moscow, resulting in the death of 133 people and serious injuries to more than 100 others. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that Russian authorities had captured four suspects trying to flee Ukraine.
ISIS’s Afghanistan branch has taken credit for the assault on Crocus City Hall.
This is the information we have collected regarding the individuals responsible for the Moscow terrorist attack.
1.There was no mention of ISIS in Putin’s speech in Russia. Ukraine, considered an enemy of Russia, has denied any involvement in the attack.
2. Vladimir Putin announced that authorities had arrested a total of 11 individuals.
3. According to reports from Russian news outlets, the individuals who carried out the attack were identified as citizens of Tajikistan, a country in Central Asia that was once part of the Soviet Union. Tajikistan is a Muslim-majority nation that borders Afghanistan.
4. US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Ukraine was not involved in the attack, although ISIS claimed responsibility.
5. Putin dismissed the notion of implementing strict measures against Tajik migrants, asserting that no entity can instigate division, fear, or disharmony within our diverse society.
6. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Russia abuses its citizens and is falsely blaming Ukraine.
7. Our people are being tortured and raped by them, yet they have the audacity to blame us. They have sent countless terrorists into our soil to wage war against us in Ukraine, but they have no concern for unrest within their own borders.
8. A survivor of the attack said the shooters were aiming their guns directly at the crowd in the front row.
9. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a group of four men armed with automatic rifles, pistols, knives and firebombs. According to his statement, the attackers opened fire on the crowd and also used knives to cause fatal harm to some concert attendees.
10. Russian media broadcast footage of security services interrogating the four injured men, all speaking in Russian accents.
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11. Investigators said the attackers used inflammable materials to set fire to the concert hall complex.
12. The assailants donned camouflage attire during the attack. Following the incident, they made their escape in a Renault automobile, which was later sighted by the authorities in the Bryansk vicinity. The police promptly pursued the vehicle and successfully apprehended it.
13. TV editor Simonyan broadcast a video in which a man informed roadside authorities that he had arrived from Turkey on March 4 and that unknown persons, via Telegram, had instructed him to attack him in exchange for payment.
Sounds of gunfire and screams filled the air
A large number of people in Moscow queued up on Saturday to donate blood, as health officials reported that over 120 individuals had been injured.
In response to the incident, Russia implemented heightened security measures at airports, transportation hubs, and throughout the capital, leading to the cancellation of major public events across the country.
The Islamic State, previously aiming to gain control over parts of Iraq and Syria, asserted responsibility for the attack through its Amaq agency on Telegram. According to the group, its fighters launched an assault on the outskirts of Moscow, inflicting casualties, causing significant destruction, and subsequently retreating to their secure bases.
Also Read: At least 60 people killed in Moscow concert hall attack, ISIS-K claims responsibility
However, no further details were provided in the statement. Additionally, the Islamic State released a photograph of what it claimed to be the four attackers, along with footage purportedly showing the attack.
The video, lasting approximately 90 seconds, depicted one of the gunmen opening fire on multiple victims upon entering what appeared to be a concert hall. A U.S. official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that the United States possessed intelligence supporting the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the shooting.
The official also mentioned that Washington had appropriately alerted Moscow in recent weeks about the potential for an attack. This incident occurred on Friday, approximately 20 km (12 miles) away from the Kremlin, just two weeks after the U.S. embassy in Russia issued a warning regarding imminent plans for an attack in Moscow by “extremists.” Prior to the embassy’s alert, the FSB had announced the prevention of an attack on a Moscow synagogue by the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan, known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, which seeks to establish a caliphate spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran.
By intervening in 2015 and supporting President Bashar al-Assad against both the opposition and the Islamic State, Putin altered the course of the Syrian civil war. Colin Clarke from the Soufan Center, a research group based in New York, stated that ISIS-K had been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing Putin in its propaganda. The broader Islamic State organization has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks worldwide.
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