Islamic State group claims responsibility for Moscow terror attack

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a brazen attack on a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday that killed at least 115 people and injured more than 100.

The group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media, which couldn’t be independently verified. It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to the attackers after the raid, which Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin described as a “huge tragedy” and state authorities were investigating as terrorism.

The attack, which left the concert hall in flames with a collapsing roof, was the deadliest in Russia in years and came as the country’s war in Ukraine dragged into a third year.

In a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency, the Islamic State group said it attacked a large gathering in Krasnogorsk on Moscow’s outskirts, killing and wounding hundreds. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.

Earlier this month, Russia’s top security agency said it thwarted an attack on a synagogue in Moscow by a cell of the Islamic State group. Russian authorities also said that six alleged IS members were killed in Ingushetia in Russia’s volatile Caucasus region.

It was not clear why the group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, would stage an attack in Russia at this time. Over the years, the extremist group recruited fighters from the former Soviet Union who fought for the group in Syria and Iraq and claimed several attacks in the Caucasus and other Russian regions in the past.

Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who relentlessly surveil and pressure Kremlin critics, failed to identify the threat and prevent the attack.

Russian officials said security has been tightened at Moscow’s airports, railway stations and the capital’s sprawling subway system. Moscow’s mayor canceled all mass gatherings and theaters and museums shut for the weekend. Other Russian regions also tightened security.

The Kremlin didn’t immediately blame anyone for the attack, but some Russian lawmakers were quick to accuse Ukraine of being behind it and called for ramping up strikes.

The attack followed a statement issued earlier this month by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that urged Americans to avoid crowded places in the Russian capital in view of “imminent” plans by extremists to target large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts. The warning, which was issued hours after Russia’s top security agency said it busted a cell of the Islamic State group preparing an attack on a synagogue, was repeated by several other Western embassies.

Asked about the embassy’s March 7 notice, John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, referred the question to the State Department, adding: “I don’t think that was related to this specific attack.”

Responding to a question about whether Washington had any prior information about the assault, Kirby responded: “I’m not aware of any advance knowledge that we had of this terrible attack.”