Russia says Islamic State behind lethal Moscow live performance corridor assault | EUROtoday

Issued on: 24/05/2024 – 10:26

1 min

IS has claimed accountability on a number of events for the March 22 assault which killed over 140 folks, however Moscow has repeatedly tried to hyperlink Ukraine and the West to the assault.

FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti information company that “preparations, the financing, the attack and the retreat of the terrorists were coordinated via the internet by members of Khorasan Province (IS-K),” an IS department lively in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bortnikov didn’t discard the Ukrainian angle in his statements on Friday, saying that “upon completing the attack, the terrorists received clear instructions to move toward the Ukrainian border, where from the other side a ‘window’ had been prepared for them”.

“The investigation continues, but it can already be said with certainty that Ukrainian military intelligence is directly implicated in the attack”, he stated.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied involvement.

Worst terrorist assault in Russia since 2004

Gunmen in camouflage stormed the Crocus City Hall venue on the outskirts of Moscow earlier than setting the constructing on fireplace.

More than a dozen suspects have been arrested together with the 4 assailants, who’re all from the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan, an impoverished former Soviet republic on Afghanistan’s northern border.

The United States has stated it had publicly and privately warned Russia in early March that extremists have been planning an assault on a live performance corridor in Moscow.

Unnamed US intelligence officers informed American media shops after the bloodbath that they’d informed Moscow it was the Crocus City Hall particularly that IS was planning to assault.

Russia dismissed these warnings. Just three days earlier than the assault, President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of “blackmail” and attempting to “intimidate” Russians.

(AFP)