Version about involvement of IS* in terror act at Crocus City Hall gets more grounds

Statements about the responsibility of the “ISIS-Khorasan”* for the terror act committed at the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region seem to be proved by the FSB report released two weeks before the above-mentioned terror act concerning the prevention of an attack on a Moscow synagogue that was being prepared by militants of the same armed grouping. The attack on visitors to the Crocus City Hall has similarities with the January terror act in the Iranian city of Kerman, for which the “Islamic State” (IS)* also claimed responsibility, notes Mina Al-Lami, a BBC expert on extremist groupings.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the information about the responsibility of the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (IS)* for the terror act at the Crocus City Hall was released on the day of the terror act on the website of the organization that monitors the activity of the “Islamic State” (IS)*. The version of IS* involvement in the terror act was also voiced by Reuters, The New York Times, and Al Arabiya. The New York Times emphasized that in March, US officials gathered intelligence information that the Afghanistan-based “Islamic State-Khorasan”* was planning a terror act in Moscow and that Russia was warned about it.

The “Directorate 4” Telegram channel posted a video allegedly filmed by participants in the attack on the Crocus City Hall. The description claims that the video of the attack, filmed by the attackers, was taken from a resource associated with the “Islamic State” (IS)*.

“Two men in the video wear the same clothes as those detained and shown in the footage from the Bryansk Region, and one of them wears the same sneakers,” reports the “Agency. News” Telegram channel.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin has stated that a “window” had been prepared on the Ukrainian border for the passage of those who committed the terror act. Ukraine, however, declared its non-involvement in the terror act and categorically rejected the accusations voiced by Vladimir Putin.

In January 2024, the “Islamic State” (IS)* claimed responsibility for a terror act in the Iranian city of Kerman, in which 95 people were killed. Mina Al-Lami, a BBC expert on extremist groupings, emphasizes there are “quite a lot in common” between the attacks in Kerman and Krasnogorsk, including a significant number of victims.

“The grouping and its supporters will see these two big attacks this year as a major propaganda coup that the IS* will be hoping to help restore its image as a menacing global threat and boost its recruitment efforts,” the BBC quotes Mina Al-Lami as saying.

*The terrorist organization banned in Russia by court.