Shamsidin Feriduni, one of the perpetrators of the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow, was linked to Tajik extremist organisations in Turkey, the Tajikistan service of Russian state broadcaster Sputnik reported.
According to the agency’s source, Feriduni trained in Istanbul to carry out the attack, which killed more than a hundred people.
The source said that Feriduni travelled to Istanbul earlier this year and then “began to show signs of extremism in conversations with family and friends”.
According to the source, during this trip he was trained by “mentors” who had fought for ISIS in Afghanistan and Syria.
On the other hand, the source noted that recent operations against ISIS suspects in Turkey were organised thanks to information provided by Feriduni during interrogations.
The Turkish Interior Ministry reported on 31 March that 51 suspects had been detained in operations carried out over four days in 21 provinces.
According to the source, Shamsidin Feriduni was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl when he was 16.
After his release in 2020, Feriduni travelled to Moscow, worked as a porter and construction worker, and returned to Tajikistan two years ago.
