Achi news desk-
Casting doubt on the US claim of the possible hand of the Islamic State-Khorasan behind the terrorist attack at Crocus Hall in Moscow that killed nearly 140 people and injured 182, Russia has questioned Washington DC’s claim amid two of the suspects pleading guilty, on Monday, to take part. in the worst atrocity for more than two decades.
Earlier on Friday, four men – including a Tajik national – stormed the concert hall with Kalashnikovs and fired their automatic weapons point-blank in short bursts at spectators during a concert by the Soviet-era rock group Picnic.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group claimed on Telegram that the attack was “carried out by four of its members with machine guns, pistols, knives and firebombs” as part of the “raging war” with “countries fighting Islam”.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in an article for Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, accused the United States of summoning the “bogeyman” of the Islamic State to cover its “wards” in Kyiv, and reminded readers that Washington had supported’ r “mujahideen” fighters who fought Soviet Forces in the 1980s.
“Comment – question for the White House: Are you sure it’s ISIS? Could you think again about that?” Reuters quoted Zakharova as saying in the article.
Contrary to popular claims of the role of ISIS-K, Russian President Vladimir Putin also pointed out on Saturday the possible involvement of Ukraine in the massacre without offering evidence, a claim that the Kyiv government has flatly rejected.
“They tried to hide and move towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” said the Russian leader.
Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a major European war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other. .
Meanwhile, two of the accused pleaded guilty on Monday to taking part in the worst atrocity in the capital in more than two decades, the Moscow courts service said on its Telegram channel. The four are being held until May 22. He did not give any information about the whereabouts of the other two.
Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron joined the United States today in saying that intelligence indicated that the Islamic State was responsible for the attack on the concert hall outside Moscow.
“The information available to us … as well as to our main partners, shows indeed that this attack was instigated by an Islamic State entity,” Reuters quoted Macron as saying, referring to the connection of Islamic State in Afghanistan, which is known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K.
“This group also tried to carry out several steps on our own soil,” he said during a visit to French Guiana.
France raised its terror alert to its highest level on Sunday following the shooting in Moscow.
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Published: 25 Mar 2024, 06:27 PM IST
