By Abimbola Ogunnaike
SITE Intelligence Group has said that a video apparently shot by gunmen who carried out the deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall has been posted on social media accounts typically used by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS)
The video, which lasts a minute and a half, shows several individuals with blurred faces and garbled voices, armed with assault rifles and knives.
They appear to be at the lobby of the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, northwest of the Russian capital.
The attackers fire several bursts of gunfire, numerous inert bodies are strewn about and a fire can be seen starting in the background.
The video appeared on a Telegram account considered, according to the SITE monitoring group, to belong to Amaq, the news arm of IS.
The attack, for which IS claimed responsibility on the evening of 22 March, 2024, killed at least 133 people.
It was the deadliest attack claimed by the jihadist group on European soil.
According to the Kremlin, 11 people have been arrested. Among them are the four presumed perpetrators of the attack, who, according to Moscow, were heading for Ukraine.
Neither President Vladimir Putin nor the security services (FSB) have accused the jihadist group. Kiev has firmly denied any involvement.
The head of the state-run RT media outlet, Margarita Simonyan, posted two videos of interrogations of two handcuffed suspects. They both admitted to the attack but did not say who had organised it.
AFP however said it was unable to confirm the veracity of the videos.
Source: AFP
