ISIS Deadly Attack In Moscow, US Embassy Had Alerted Extremist Terror

UNSPLASH/Klaus Wright ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - A deadly attack claimed by ISIS in Moscow, Russia, killed 40 people. The United States Embassy in Moscow had issued a warning of an extremist terror plan.

Reported by Reuters on Saturday, March 23, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack near the City Hall of Crocus before the performance of the rock band, according to amaq news agency report.

Russian media published a photo of two suspected attackers in a white car. The gunmen are reportedly still at large.

ISIS says its fighters attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, "Killing and injuring hundreds of people and causing great damage in the area before they retreat to their base safely," the statement said without providing further details.

The attack on the Crocus City Hall area, about 20 km (12 miles) from the Kremlin, comes just two weeks after the US embassy in Russia warned it had plans to carry out an attack in Moscow.

Hours before the warning was issued by the embassy, the Russian Federal Security Service/FSB said it had thwarted an attack on its defenses in Moscow by the ISIS outlook in Afghanistan, known as ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, and sought to establish caliphates across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.

The United States has intelligence information confirming ISIS claims responsibility for the shooting, a US official said on Friday, March 22, local time.

The official said Washington had warned Moscow in recent weeks about possible attacks.