The Crocus City Hall in Moscow was the site of a tragic incident where 115 civilians lost their lives at the hands of armed men. This attack, the deadliest in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, involved gunmen using Kalashnikov automatic weapons to gun down people at close range before setting the building ablaze. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for this heinous act.
Here are the latest updates:
- Russia has apprehended 11 individuals directly connected to the attack, with ongoing efforts to identify any additional accomplices. Among those arrested are four suspected gunmen who were intercepted while attempting to flee towards the Ukrainian border. The FSB security service has revealed that these terrorists had established contacts in the neighboring country.
- According to Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein, the attackers attempted to escape in a Renault vehicle, which was later spotted by authorities in the Bryansk region, approximately 340 km southwest of Moscow. Despite police instructions to halt, two suspects were captured following a car chase, while the other two fled into a nearby forest. Subsequent investigations led to the discovery of a pistol, an assault rifle magazine, and Tajikistani passports inside the vehicle.
- US intelligence has confirmed that ISIS-K was behind the attack. Officials disclosed to Reuters that Washington had previously alerted Moscow about potential threats in the region. Notably, the Crocus City Hall assault occurred just two weeks after the US embassy in Russia issued a warning regarding imminent extremist activities.
- Furthermore, the FSB had recently thwarted an ISIS-affiliated plot targeting a Moscow synagogue, underscoring the persistent threat posed by ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) in the region. This extremist group aspires to establish a caliphate spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran.
