Islamic State posts video of Moscow concert hall attack

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks on the phone in Moscow on March 23, 2024, the day after a gun attack on the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk. – Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the four gunmen who killed more than 100 at a Moscow concert hall had been arrested, and vowed harsh retribution for everybody involved in plotting the attack. “All four perpetrators of the terrorist act who shot and killed people have been detained. They were travelling towards Ukraine … We will identify and punish everybody who stood behind the terrorists, who prepared the attack.” The US embassy had said two weeks before the attack that there was a risk of “extremists” targeting mass gatherings in Moscow, including concerts. The Ukrainian foreign ministry said accusations against the country were “a planned provocation by the Kremlin to further fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria in Russian society”. (Photo by Mikhail METZEL / POOL / AFP)

PARIS, March 24, 2024 (AFP) – 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), according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

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 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 Friday evening, 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 was unable to confirm the veracity of the videos.