Islamic State releases Moscow attack video as death toll rises to 137

Two days after one of the most serious terrorist attacks in Russian history, the Islamic State extremist militia published a video of Friday's mass shooting at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow in which at least 137 people were killed.

Four unidentified gunmen fired indiscriminately at concert-goers at the Crocus City Hall venue in north-west Moscow shortly ahead of a concert on Friday evening. Eyewitnesses also reported that they heard explosions in the building before a major fire broke out.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deadly attack but the Russian authorities have yet to comment on that claim.

Islamic State's Amaq mouthpiece published an almost 90-second video on Sunday, which is said to show the perpetrators at the scene of the attack. The Arabic subtitles state that the video shows "exclusive scenes" of the "bloody attacks on Christians."

At the beginning of the clip, a heavily armed man with an assault rifle is seen firing into a corridor where many lifeless bodies are already lying on the floor. The camera then pans to one of the suspected terrorists, who stabs a person on the ground with a knife.

Four men then cross a deserted area of the Crocus City Hall event centre. The voices of the suspected perpetrators are distorted.

According to Arabic subtitles, one person says: "Kill them without mercy" and "We have come for the cause of God."

By Sunday, the official death toll from the attack had risen to 137, including the missing employee of the Russian rock band Piknik, which was due to perform at the concert hall on Friday.

Another 182 people were injured, with many of them remaining in critical condition on Sunday, according to the latest figures issued by the health authorities. Children are reportedly also among the dead and injured.

Russia observed a national day of mourning on Sunday and long lines continued to form in front of the site of the attack in Krasnogorsk outside Moscow with people looking to lay flowers and pay tribute to the victims.

There were also scenes of mourning in St Petersburg and other Russian cities. Abroad, Serbia and Nicaragua joined Russia with their own days of mourning.

Eleven suspects, including four said to have been directly involved in the attack, have been arrested, according to Russian intelligence services.

The four main suspects were brought to the Russian capital for questioning on Saturday evening. As TASS reported, the four men were driven in a heavily secured convoy from the Bryansk region in the south of the country, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, where they had been arrested.

On Sunday evening, a court in Moscow issued the first arrest warrants. The Investigative Committee has already informed four suspects that charges will be brought against them for the deadly terrorist attack, TASS reported.

Video recordings are said to show that torture was used during the arrest of the suspects. For example, a video circulated in Russia shows a man's ear being cut off. Dpa could could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at a Ukrainian connection to the assault, without providing any evidence. Putin also claimed that the perpetrators of the attack attempted to flee in the direction of Ukraine.

Ukraine has adamantly denied any responsibility for the attack, pointing out that the border region is heavily mined more than two years into Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbour. Due to the war, the area is also a hotbed for Russian military and secret service officials, making it an unlikely escape route for the attackers, according to Kiev.

Intelligence services from the United States and other Western countries at the beginning of March warned of a potential imminent terror attack in Moscow. However, Putin dismissed the warnings as a Western provocation.

On Saturday, Amaq published a picture of four people whose faces had been blurred.

Armed with assault rifles, pistols and bombs, the fighters had dealt Russia a "heavy blow," the statement said, adding that the attack targeted "thousands of Christians in a music hall."