Taking responsibility for one of the worst terror attacks in Russia, the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) said that the mass shooting at the Moscow concert hall falls within the "context of a raging war between Islamic State and countries fighting Islam.” The mass shooting by ISIS terrorists left 133 people dead and nearly 100 people injured.
The terror organisation emerged in late 2014 and quickly gained a reputation for extreme brutality. The organisation has been named after an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Four years since its inception, the terror group reached its peak. For the last two-three years, ISIS-K has seen its membership decline after suffering heavy losses from the Taliban and the US forces.
In its statement, ISIS K said that the Russia shooting comes within the context of a raging war between the Islamic State and countries fighting against Islam. The group has opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years, according to experts.
"ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing Putin in its propaganda," Reuters quoted Colin Clarke of Soufan Center, a New York-based research group.
Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center said that ISIS-K “sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims.”
ISIS-K has a history of attacks, including against mosques, inside and outside Afghanistan. In the beginning of 2024, the terror group carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people, confirmed U.S. intercepted communications, reported Reuters. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022.
In another attack in 2021, the group attacked Kabul's international airport killing 13 US troops and civilians during US evacuation from the country.
In March, the top US general in the Middle East had warned about further attacks by ISIS-K within six months with little to no warnings. According to the US general, these attacks can be carried out against the US and Western interests outside of Afghanistan.
Putin declared March 24 as the day of mourning for the victims of a terror attack. Casting the attackers as “international terrorists”, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said that he was ready to work with any state which wanted to defeat it.
While addressing the nation, Vladimir Putin said that the four men who attacked the concert were heading towards Ukraine and they had been detained. "They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," Putin said.
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