HT Digital,
Moscow, March 29: Russian security services had prior knowledge of a potential ISIS attack on a concert hall near Moscow, as per CNN, which cited Russian intelligence documents obtained by a UK-based investigative organization.
These documents were mentioned by the London-based Dossier Centre, suggesting that the assailants could have been ethnic Tajiks radicalised by ISIS-K, the Central Asian branch of ISIS.
A dreadful attack at the Crocus City Hall in Russia resulted in a minimum of 143 fatalities and hundreds of injuries when attackers infiltrated the hall and began shooting just before a concert was due to start. ISIS took responsibility for the attack, backing their claim with statements, photos, and a propaganda video shot by the attackers.
The Dossier Centre, funded by exiled former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who criticises the Kremlin, has previously uncovered information about Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government.
The group’s latest report stated that the Security Council was warned a few days before the attack that Tajik citizens might be involved in terrorist attacks on Russian soil. Four individuals from Tajikistan, working in Russia on either temporary or expired visas, were arrested and charged with terrorism, showing evident physical injuries. Russian media reports that three of them have confessed their guilt.
