Chinese state propaganda Global Times The newspaper blames President Joe Biden’s disastrous extension of the 20-year war in Afghanistan and the subsequent conquest of Kabul by the Taliban for creating the conditions that allowed the disastrous terrorist attack in Moscow, for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility on Friday. did.
On Friday night, gunmen opened fire on a crowd inside the Crocus City Concert Hall on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, where the rock band Piknik was scheduled to perform. Footage from the scene showed terrorists firing indiscriminately into the concert hall, attempting to kill people who fled into the hallways. One of the terrorists also used some kind of incendiary device to start a large fire, which is believed to be responsible for the large number of casualties in the attack.
As of Monday, Russian news agency TASS reported. documented 137 people were killed and 182 injured. Many of the injured are in critical condition, and authorities say the death toll could continue to rise in the coming days as rescuers continue to search for bodies in some of the large complexes most destroyed by the fire. I’m warning you.
The Islamic State, a Sunni jihadist terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attack using the Telegram messaging application’s Amaq News Agency account.Islamic country account published A photo of the suspect and a video believed to have been taken by one of the attackers as evidence of his involvement.
The Islamic State/Amaq News Agency released an image of an alleged Sri Lankan jihadist on April 23, 2019 (Islamic State/Amaq News Agency).
The US government specifically blamed the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), the Afghan wing of the international terrorist organization, for organizing the attack.outside of confirm The Kremlin revealed that one of those arrested for participating in the planning and execution of the attack was a Tajik national. Rejected to comment Regarding reports that ISIS-K was involved.
If ISIS-K was indeed responsible for the attack, China Global Times saidBiden bears some of the blame for creating the anarchy in Afghanistan that created a vacuum in which ISIS-K could thrive.
“The so-called IS-K, which claimed responsibility for the recent terrorist attack on a Russian concert hall, is one of the most active international extremist organizations,” the propaganda paper said. “The rise of this organization is also related to the geopolitical strategy of the United States and Western countries, which after the Biden administration took office in his 2021 year have placed a new strategic emphasis on great power competition.”
“The hasty withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan has allowed IS-K to quickly take advantage of the changing regional security situation, reoccupy its areas of operation, and establish key “This poses a security threat.”
“Extremist organizations represented by the so-called Islamic State (IS) are the product of Western countries’ failed intervention in the Middle East,” Chinese media concluded.
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Afghanistan, the US government, led by former President George W. began an invasion. The war was scheduled to end in May 2021 under former President Donald Trump, but Biden signed an agreement with the Taliban and then-Afghan government to extend U.S. troops in the country beyond that deadline. annulled, prompting the Taliban to start a war. This conquest ended with the collapse of the Afghan government on August 15, 2021, forcing the U.S. military to abruptly withdraw from the country.
US President Joe Biden (C) digs into the remains of a fallen soldier, one of 13 US soldiers killed in Afghanistan last week, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on August 29, 2021. Attend a transport. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images).
According to a 2023 report by the U.S. Oversight Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), Biden’s Afghanistan strategy has led to U.S. forces abandoning at least $7.2 billion worth of weapons and other military equipment in the country, much of which It turned out that it was eventually abandoned in Afghanistan. It is in the hands of the Taliban, and in the hands of affiliated foreign groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, stretching from Kabul to as far away as the Gaza Strip.
ISIS-K has greatly improved its capabilities since the fall of Kabul, and just days after the Taliban took over, ISIS-K made a major jockeying for power and was responsible for a large-scale suicide bombing at Kabul International Airport. killed More than 150 people participated, including 13 U.S. military personnel. A Pentagon report allegedly leaked in 2023 was dismissed by the Taliban as a “falsehood”, but after the collapse of the “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria under the Trump administration, the Taliban’s Afghanistan is dominated by Islamic State. He argued that this provided fertile ground for expanding the country.
Taliban soldiers arrive at Kabul Airport in Kabul on August 31, 2021, after the US pulled all its troops out of the country to end a brutal 20-year war started and ended by Islamic hardliners. Members of Badri 313 military unit (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images).
“ISIS has developed a cost-effective model for external operations that relies on resources from outside Afghanistan, operatives in target countries, and an extensive facilitation network,” the report said. . “This model will allow ISIS to overcome obstacles such as competent security services, shorten some planning timelines, and minimize opportunities for disruption.”
The Taliban, which has maintained friendly relations with Russia since returning to power, condemned the Crocus City attack in a statement through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan condemns in the strongest terms the recent terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia, claimed by Daesh.” [ISIS]” said a Taliban spokesman. Said“And we consider that to be a blatant violation of all human standards.”
“Daesh, which has targeted civilians in Afghanistan and other parts of the world, is now a group that has fallen into the hands of intelligence agencies with the aim of defaming Islam and posing a threat to the entire region. “We have once again made that clear.” the Taliban claimed. “Regional countries must take a coordinated, clear and resolute stand against such incidents that aim to destabilize the region.”
Elsewhere in the coverage of the Crocus City attack, Global Times He said he observed unspecified online speculation “about Washington’s connection to this event,” suggesting the Biden administration may have been involved.
“We must remember that the United States has a history of using terrorist organizations to fight strategic enemies.” warnedcites no evidence.
