Moscow attack: Why has ISIS struck Russia? How country's role in fighting ... trends now
Terror group ISIS twice claimed responsibility for the deadly Moscow concert attack that left nearly 140 people dead on Friday night.
The attack, which saw four heavily armed terrorists walk into the Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow at around 8pm local time on Friday night and slaughter scores of festivalgoers, was the deadliest carried out by ISIS against Russia in years.
The terror group said in a statement on Saturday that the concert attack was part of the 'raging war between the Islamic State and countries fighting Islam.'
Russia has been in ISIS' crosshairs for several years, having not forgiven Putin for propping up Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad, who made a concerted effort to boot the terror group from the region, for more than a decade.
The terror group's propagandists have for years claimed that Moscow is part of a broad Christian coalition that is engaged in a millennia-long battle against Islam.
The attack saw four heavily armed terrorists walk into the Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow at around 8pm local time on Friday night
Muhammadsobir Fayzov (pictured, left) is a suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday
Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda (pictured) is a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue
Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev (pictured) sits inside behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants at the Basmanny district court in Moscow
Shamsidin Fariduni (pictured) was arrested for his role in the attack
During the 1970s and 1980s, mujahedeen fighters in Afghanistan, who would later form Al-Quaeda, which itself would lead to the creation of ISIS, fought a bloody war against Soviet forces that had control over the nation.
Russia has also been developing its relationship with the Taliban, currently in control of Afghanistan. The Taliban has long been in open conflict with ISIS in Afghanistan, with each side receiving support from smaller regional powers.
As a result, the ultra-violent sect of ISIS that is believed to have carried out the attack, Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, in particular has focused on recruiting central Asian militants, most of whom speak Russian, to carry out attacks.
ISIS-K, known for its extreme brutality, has for the past 18 months been on a major recruitment drive that has targeted experienced members of existing terror cells, according to a report submitted to the UN security council in January.
Many recruits are also Russian nationals, meaning they can easily go to cities across Russia, creating new opportunities for attacks the nation.
ISIS-K has targeted Russia in the past, having claimed responsibility for the deadly 2022 suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, that killed two embassy staff and four others.
Earlier this month, Russia’s FSB said it foiled an ISIS-K attack on a Moscow synagogue, the country’s Tass news agency reported.
The attack was the deadliest carried out by ISIS against Russia in years
