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Moscow terror attack: Who killed 133 at Russia concert? Details on 4 suspects
Russia concert attack: Terrorist group Islamic State's (ISIS) Afghanistan-based affiliate has claimed responsibility for the assault.
Moscow: Unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets in a Moscow concert hall on Friday, killing 133 people and grievously injuring over 100. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the Russian authorities arrested four suspects when they were fleeing to Ukraine.
Terrorist group Islamic State's (ISIS) Afghanistan-based affiliate has claimed responsibility for the assault on the Crocus City Hall.
Here's what we know about the attackers and the Moscow terror attack.
- Putin, however, didn't mention ISIS in his speech to Russia. Ukraine, Russia's nemesis, has said it had nothing to do with the attack.
- US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said there was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever and ISIS has taken the responsibility for the attack.
- Vladimir Putin said authorities have detained a total of 11 people.
- Russian news reports said the gunmen were citizens of Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia that is predominantly Muslim and borders Afghanistan.
Also read: Moscow concert attack: US warned Russia about ‘planned terrorist' strike
5. Putin has rejected the idea of a crackdown on Tajik migrants, saying “no force will be able to sow the poisonous seeds of discord, panic or disunity in our multi-ethnic society.”
6. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia treats its own people as expendables and that it was shifting the blame to Ukraine.
7. "They torture and rape our people — and they blame them. They drove hundreds of thousands of their terrorists here to fight us on our Ukrainian soil, and they don't care what happens inside their own country," he said.
8. A person who survived the attack said the gunmen were shooting directly into the crowd in the front rows.
9. ISIS, in a statement on Saturday, said the attack was carried out by four men who used automatic rifles, a pistol, knives and firebombs. It said the assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers.
10. Russian media showed security services interrogating four bloodied men who spoke in a Russian accent.
Also read: Moscow concert attack: US warned Russia about ‘planned terrorist' strike
12. According to investigators, the gunmen used a flammable liquid to set fire to the concert hall's premises.
13. The attackers were wearing camouflage uniforms. After the shooting, they fled in a Renault vehicle that was spotted by police in Bryansk region. The car was chased and stopped.
14. TV editor Simonyan showed a video in which one of the men is telling the forces by a roadside that he had flown from Turkey on March 4 and had received instructions from unknown people via Telegram to carry out the attack in exchange for money.
With inputs from Reuters, AP, AFP
