Complex attack in Moscow concert hall claims 93 lives, IS claims responsibility

Russian security forces said they have detained eleven people after gunmen stormed a concert hall in Moscow on Friday night and immediately went on a rampage that killed at least 93 people and wounded dozens others. Three children are also among the casualties.

The Head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov has informed President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that they have arrested eleven people in connection with the attack, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

Bortnikov told Putin that all four gunmen have been arrested near the country’s western border with Ukraine and seven others have also been detained and that the search for the other accomplices is ongoing, according to the report.

The death toll has risen to 93 people and feared it will be increased, Moscow Department of Health said, adding that another 88 people have been admitted to Moscow hospitals. Four children are among the wounded individuals. Of those, 80 still remain in hospitals, 38 of them are in serious condition.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said that its preliminary data shows that the majority of the deaths were due to gunshot wounds and poisoning by smoke products. It furthered that the terrorists used automatic weapons and said they have discovered and seized their weapons and ammunition.

The deadly Friday attack came just days after Putin re-elected as the president and it is the deadliest attack in Russia in years aimed at Moscow’s war in Ukraine dragged into a third year.

Putin wished a rapid recovery to the wounded victims, according to Russia’s deputy prime minister Tatyana Golikova who quoted him as saying. However, Putin did not comment publicly on the attack so far. Meanwhile, hundreds of people in Moscow on Saturday morning gathered in front of hospitals to donate blood to the wounded people.

US had information that IS planning attack Moscow

The United States had information about a “planned terrorist attack in Moscow” that would likely target large gatherings, including concerts, New York Times reported. This information prompted the US State Department to issue a general advisory for US citizens stationed in Russian earlier this month, according to the newspaper.

People lay flowers and lit candles in memory of the Moscow concert gun attack victims in the center of Simferopol, Crimea, on March 22, 2024. (AFP)

The paper also said that the Biden administration had shared this information with the Russian authorities in accordance with the “duty of warn” policy.  The Russian authorities did not comment on the news so far.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement posted by its Amaq news agency, the IS’s affiliate in Afghanistan, said its fighters attacked a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk.

World leaders denounced Moscow deadly attack

World leaders denounced the deadly attack in Moscow and expressed their solidarity with the people of Russia. The UN Security Council has strongly condemned “the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack” and underlined the need for the perpetrators to be held accountable. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the Moscow attack in the strongest possible terms.

Ukraine presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said that his country has “nothing to do with this attack, but the main intelligence directorate of Ukrainian defense ministry said “the terrorist attack in Moscow was a deliberate provocation” by the Russian special services on Putin’s orders in order to further escalate and expand war with Ukraine.

While condemning the Moscow attack, the National Security Council Spokesman said that it was a terrible shooting and the images are just “horrible and just hard to watch.”

Chinese president Xi Jinping also strongly condemned the attack and stressed that Beijing opposes all forms of terrorism and said that China is ready to support Russia in its efforts to safeguard its national security and stability.

The EU, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain had expressed shock at the Moscow attack and expressed their solidarity with the victims, their “loved ones and all the Russian people”.

“We strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Russian Federation in this hour of grief,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Afghanistan calls for clear, and resolute position against Daesh

The Afghan government has condemned the Moscow concert shooting, labeling it as a terrorist attack and considered it as a blatant violation of all human standards.

Daesh, which has targeted civilians in Afghanistan and other regions of the world as well, again clearly demonstrated through this incident that it is a group in the hands of intelligence agencies aimed at defaming Islam and posing a threat to the entire region,” Taliban foreign ministry said in a statement.

The regional countries must take a coordinated, clear and resolute position against such incidents directed at regional destabilization, the statement read.

Afghan leaders, including former President Hamid Karzai and former head of peace council Abdullah Abdullah strongly condemned the Moscow attack.

“I unequivocally denounce the heinous terrorist attack that transpired in Moscow, resulting in the tragic loss of lives and injuries sustained by innocent civilians. In this solemn moment, I extend my heartfelt condolences to the government and people of the Russian Federation, as well as to the bereaved families of the victims, as they confront this harrowing ordeal,” Abdullah said.

Taliban’s call for a strong fight against Daesh comes just two days after Daesh claimed responsibility for a bombing in Kandahar province that killed at least 30 people and wounded nearly 50 others.

Daesh has been mainly operating in Syria, and Iraq, but in 2014 it emerged in Afghanistan and carried out several deadly attacks that killed hundreds of people.

It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time Daesh has attacked Russia. In October 2015, a bomb planted by the Daesh downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai and killed all the 224 people on board. Most the passengers were Russian citizens and they were returning back from Egypt.