From Reuters:
“Gunmen kill more than 60 in
concert attack near Moscow, Islamic State claims responsibility”
Camouflage-clad gunmen opened
fire at concertgoers with automatic weapons on Friday, killing at least 60
people and injuring 145 more in an attack claimed by Islamic State militants. In
the deadliest attack in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, gunmen
sprayed civilians with bullets just before Soviet-era rock group
"Picnic" was to perform to a full house at the 6,200-seat the Crocus
City Hall just west of Moscow. Verified video showed people taking their seats
in the hall, then rushing for the exits as repeated gunfire echoed above
screams. Other video showed men shooting at groups of people. Some victims lay
motionless in pools of blood. "Suddenly there were bangs behind us -
shots. A burst of firing - I do not know what," one witness, who asked not
to be identified by name, told Reuters. "A stampede began. Everyone ran to
the escalator," the witness said. "Everyone was screaming; everyone
was running."
Russian investigators said the
death toll was more than 60. Health officials said about 145 people were
wounded, of which about 60 were in critical condition. In the 2004 Beslan
school siege, Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people, including
hundreds of children, hostage. Russian President Vladimir Putin was being
updated by security chiefs about the situation, including from Alexander
Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Kremlin said. Russian
investigators published pictures of a Kalashnikov automatic weapon, vests with
multiple spare magazines and bags of spent bullet casings.
ISLAMIC STATE
Islamic State, the militant group
that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility
for the attack, the group's Amaq agency said on Telegram. A grainy
picture was published by some Russian media of two of the alleged attackers in
a white car. The fate of the attackers was unclear as firefighters
battled a massive blaze and emergency services evacuated hundreds of people
while parts of the venue's roof collapsed. Islamic State said its
fighters attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, "killing and wounding
hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to
their bases safely." The statement gave no further detail. The
United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State's claim of
responsibility for the shooting, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official
said Washington had warned Moscow in recent weeks of the possibility of an
attack. "We did warn the Russians appropriately," said the
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, without providing any additional
details. Russia has yet to say who it thinks is responsible.
The attack on Crocus City Hall,
about 20 km (12 miles) from the Kremlin, comes just two weeks after the U.S.
embassy in Russia warned that "extremists" had imminent plans for an
attack in Moscow. Hours before the embassy warning, the FSB said it had foiled
an attack on a Moscow synagogue by Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan,
known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, and seeks a caliphate across Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran. Putin changed the
course of the Syrian civil war by intervening in 2015, supporting President
Bashar al-Assad against the opposition and Islamic State. "ISIS-K has been
fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing Putin in its
propaganda," said Colin Clarke of the Soufan Center. The broader Islamic
State group has claimed deadly attacks across the Middle East, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Iran, Europe, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was a "bloody terrorist attack"
that the entire world should condemn. The United States, European and Arab
powers and many former Soviet republics expressed shock and sent their
condolences. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied any
Ukrainian involvement. The United Nations Security Council condemned what it
called a "heinous and cowardly terrorist attack."
SECURITY TIGHTENED
Russia tightened security at airports,
transport hubs and across the capital - a vast urban area of over 21 million
people. All large-scale public events were cancelled across the country. Putin,
who was on Sunday re-elected for a new six-year term, sent thousands of troops
into Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly warned that various powers - including
countries in the West - are seeking to sow chaos inside Russia. Putin was
informed in the first minutes of the attack and is regularly being updated, the
Kremlin said. "The president constantly receives information about what is
happening and about the measures being taken through all relevant services. The
head of state gave all the necessary instructions," Kremlin spokesperson
Dmitry Peskov said. At Crocus City Hall, flames leapt into the sky, and plumes
of black smoke rose above the venue as hundreds of blue lights from emergency
vehicles flashed in the night. Helicopters sought to douse flames that engulfed
the large building. The roof of the venue was collapsing, state news agency RIA
said. A terrible tragedy occurred in the shopping centre Crocus City
today," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. "I am sorry for the loved
ones of the victims."
^ Even though Russia is committing
War Crimes in Ukraine it is still awful to see an ISIS Terrorist Attack in
Moscow. ^
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