All 4 Gunmen Among 11 Arrested
Moscoqw: Russia said it arrested 11 people Saturday along with the four gunmen for shooting at concert goers at a Moscow concert hall as the death toll rose to around 150.
The attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow’s northern suburb of Krasnogorsk on Friday was claimed by Islamic State affiliate Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) but Russian security service has claimed that the attackers had links to Ukraine and were leaving for the neighbouring country with which Russia has been in a conflict for the past two years.
Russia’s FSB security service said some of the perpetrators had fled towards the Russia-Ukraine border, adding that the assailants had “appropriate contacts” in the country, according to a statement cited by state-run news agencies.
Meanwhile, the US said that the claim by ISIS-K is credible and believes that Ukraine was not responsible for the attacks. The US embassy had said two weeks before the attack that there was a risk of “extremists” targeting mass gatherings in Moscow, including concerts.
Russian Telegram channels, including Baza which is close to the security services, and a lawmaker said some of the suspects were from the central Asian nation of Tajikistan.
In a statement, Tajikistan’s foreign affairs ministry said it had not received any information from Moscow about the involvement of its citizens.
The terrorists were wearing camouflaged clothing when they entered the packed concert hall where they were looking forward to attending a concert by Soviet-era rock band Piknik but concert goers became witness to the deadliest attack in Russia for at least a decade.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the arrests. Authorities have warned that the number of fatalities was set to keep rising and over 100 are still hospitalised.
The Kremlin said the head of the FSB security service had informed President Vladimir Putin about the arrests, while authorities warned the number of fatalities was set to keep rising, with more than 100 still hospitalised