What is ISIS-K, the terrorist group tied to Moscow concert hall attack and 2021 Abbey Gate bombing?

The US blames Friday’s terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall on ISIS-K, but who is this group and what interests do they have in Russia?

Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and founding editor of The Long War Journal, said, “Islamic State leverages its network of jihadists across Central Asia to plan and carry out attacks like the one in Moscow.” ” he told FOX News Digital.

“The Islamic State appeals to less patient and more committed jihadists who are not part of al-Qaeda’s more strategic, long-term plans,” Roggio added.

Islamic State Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, took ownership of the deadly attack in Moscow that killed at least 133 people, and 11 suspects were arrested, four of whom were directly involved in the attack. . Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation on television about the “bloody and barbaric act of terrorism” and declared March 24 a day of his remembrance.

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The State Department confirmed to Fox News that U.S. intelligence has received information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow, which may have targeted large gatherings, including concerts, and that The State Department has confirmed that it has issued a public advisory to Americans living in Russia.

The U.S. government also shared this information with Russian authorities, in accordance with its long-standing “duty to warn” policy. It is not clear how much information the United States provided Russian officials beyond the public warning.

ISIS-K is active in Afghanistan. The New York Times reported that in March, U.S. intelligence agencies collected evidence that the group planned attacks on Moscow and was operating in Russia. The group was founded in 2015 by members dissatisfied with the Pakistani Taliban, the paper said.

The group adheres to a more hardline interpretation of Islam than its rivals and has developed hostile power relations with the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and similar groups.

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ISIS-K entered the mainstream discussion after carrying out a bombing of the monastery gate at Kabul airport during the 2021 US military withdrawal, killing 13 US servicemen. The Taliban ultimately claimed to have succeeded in killing the ISIS-K terrorist who led the attack.

An explosion causes smoke to rise outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, August 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Wali Saboun) (Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

As the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and the US military presence withdrew, ISIS-K gained a foothold and continued to grow. The Taliban fought back, managing to limit the group’s recruitment of former Taliban fighters and prevent it from seizing territory. Continued to carry out important operations.

The group is particularly obsessed with Russia, blaming the Kremlin for the deaths of scores of Muslims in operations in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria over the past few decades.

In this handout photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, transfer cases decorated with national flags are lined up inside a C-17 Globemaster II before a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, Aug. 29, 2021. There is. The fallen serviceman died while supporting non-combat operations in Kabul. (Photo by Jason Minto/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images) (Jason Minto/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images)

A senior US official told FOX News Digital at the time that it remains important that the world “continues to seek to discredit ISIS-K and any threat it may pose.” However, ISIS-K continued to attack targets throughout the period. Central Asia for the next two years.

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Gen. Michael Kurilla, leader of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said in March 2023 that ISIS-K “could carry out foreign operations against U.S. or Western interests abroad within six months with little warning.” “I guess so,” he testified. ” However, he stressed that attacking the United States would prove “much more difficult for them.”

The Biden administration warned Iran last year about an impending attack, which ultimately took place in January 2024 at a memorial service for Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. The two bombings killed at least 94 people and injured 284 others, but ISIS-K quickly took credit for the attacks. attack

Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) service members step off a bus near the burning Crocus City Hall building in the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency, via AP)

According to classified information leaked as part of a data dump to Massachusetts Air National Guard Jack Teixeira’s Discord social media server, ISIS-K also attacked embassies, churches, business centers and the FIFA World Soccer Tournament in Qatar. It is said that they were also planning to target.

“In December, Pentagon officials were aware of nine such plots orchestrated by ISIS leaders in Afghanistan, and by February that number had grown to 15, previously disclosed.” “The Washington Post reported on the leak.

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“ISIS has developed a cost-effective model of external operations that relies on resources from outside Afghanistan, operatives in target countries, and an extensive facilitation network,” the assessment continued. “This model will allow ISIS to overcome obstacles such as competent security services, shorten some planning timelines, and minimize opportunities for disruption.”

According to the New York Times, European counterterrorism officials also claimed to have thwarted several ISIS-K plots in recent months.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Anders Hagstrom, Caitlin McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.