The recent deadly terrorist attack in Moscow has brought renewed attention to the terrorist organization ISIS-K, not only in the United States and other European countries, but also among the extremists it monitors.
Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and founding editor-in-chief of The Long War Journal, said, “It’s good for recruitment to the Islamic State to show that it can launch an attack and show that it has reach.” That’s a very good thing.” ” he told FOX News Digital. “People who want to be jihadists could be motivated by attacks like this.”
“This is the type of attack that is effective. We are talking about it,” he added.
Four men from Tajikistan were charged in a Russian court on Sunday after an armed group attacked a concert hall, killing more than 130 people and injuring 180 others.
Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) soldiers secure the area after a large fire broke out above Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, on Friday, March 22, 2024. (AP photo)
Who is ISIS-K, the terrorist group linked to the Moscow concert hall attack and monastery gate bombing in 2021?
Reports indicate that Russian authorities are sending a message to other militants after the men appeared in court showing signs of extreme physical abuse, with at least two of the men appearing in court. A video of a person being tortured was published on Telegram.
But Roggio argued that the measures were unlikely to actually succeed in deterring terrorist attacks.
“The video will not only be used by ISIS for future recruitment, but also to strengthen current members against Russia,” the security expert said. “The Islamic State (IS) will use these videos as evidence of atrocities against Muslims by states like Russia.”
In this photo taken from a video released by the Russian Investigative Committee on Sunday, March 24, 2024, the suspect in Friday’s Crocus City Hall shooting is escorted to the Russian Investigative Committee’s headquarters in Moscow, Russia. There is. (Russia Investigative Committee, Associated Press)
ISIS-K first came to international attention in the United States after the 2021 Taliban bombing of a monastery gate during the occupation of Afghanistan.
However, the group earlier this year took credit for two bombings during a memorial service in January for Iranian general Qassem Soleimani that killed 95 people and injured more than 280. Until recently, it had hardly been featured in major headlines.
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“These groups sometimes operate in the shadows, just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re gone,” Roggio said. “It just means they become more visible.
“This shows that the Islamic State has a much larger reach than some people initially thought,” he added. “They’re not just limited to Afghanistan.”
A masked Islamic State soldier poses with an ISIS flag in 2015. (History/Universal Images Group, via Getty Images)
Roggio said Islamic extremists have grown in Russia over the past three decades, following Moscow’s military operations in the Middle East, South Asia, and even regions with large Muslim populations, such as Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. He pointed out that they had launched numerous attacks. .
“They are trying to punish Russia for its presence in countries that the Islamic State considers to be Islamic countries, and therefore countries that should be under their jurisdiction.” , emphasized that “we are all enemies” of the Islamic State. . ”
“The United States, Britain, France, Russia, China – to them we are the occupiers. We are all, in some way, the great satin to them,” he said. “But I will say this more importantly: Russians are always a target and the jihadists will seize the opportunity to attack them whenever they feel they can.”
Russian firefighters search through rubble after Moscow terror attack (Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations/Handout/Anadolu, via Getty Images)
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National Security Advisor John Kirby said the United States remains “vigilant” regarding the threat ISIS poses to the United States, adding that the U.S. government had warned weeks ago of the possibility of such an attack from Russia. He pointed out that he had warned the government.
“It was because of the aggressive methods we were monitoring.” [ISIS-K] “We were able to alert the Russians. We are monitoring very closely and we do not see any credible threat from ISIS to the U.S. mainland,” he told reporters on Monday. Ta.
“But again, we are not taking anything for granted,” he added.
