The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a Friday evening terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall.
President Vladimir Putin has not yet made a public statement about the attack on Crocus City Hall. The U.S. seemed to have knowledge that an attack was coming considering on March 7th, the U.S. warned that “extremists” could target concerts. The concert hall that was attacked happened to be where Trump held the Miss Universe pageant in 2013. More than 40 people are dead and more than 100 are injured.
The Russian Federal Security Service has confirmed at least 40 dead and more than 100 wounded in the attack on the Crocus City Hall complex.
In a Telegram post to its channel, the terrorist organization claimed its personnel had “attacked a large gathering… on the outskirts of the Russian capital Moscow,” according to the Moscow Times.
The Islamic State initially rose to prominence in Iraq and Syria, though it has long since branched out beyond those nations and at least one branch is known to operate in Afghanistan. The motivation behind the Islamic State attack remains unclear and there is no evident connection to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as of press time.
Russia previously struggled with Islamic secessionists in the northern Caucuses throughout the 1990s and terrorist activitypersisted into the 2000s after the Russians reoccupied Chechnya. Current Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, however, is a staunch supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Video footage from Russian media outlet TASS showed the concert hall in flames.
Crocus City Hall in Moscow right now pic.twitter.com/yfydB70Sw5
— What the media hides. (@narrative_hole) March 22, 2024
