Moscow: The ISIL (ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for a brazen attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall where gunmen sprayed bullets, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 145 on Friday night.
The attackers also set fire to the concert hall.
In a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency, the Islamic State said it attacked a large gathering of Christians in the city of Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of the Russian capital of Moscow, killing and wounding hundreds. The authenticity of the statement is not yet verified.
The attack came less than a week after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country after a landslide victory in the elections.
According to reports, five camouflage-clad gunmen with automatic weapons stormed into the packed concert hall in the city’s western suburbs as the audience was gathering to watch the veteran rock band Picnic and started shooting into the crowd.
State-run RIA Novosti reported the armed individuals “opened fire with automatic weapons” and “threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire” before fleeing in a white Renault car.
“A stampede began. Everyone ran to the escalator. Everyone was screaming; everyone was running,” eyewitnesses were quoted as saying by Reuters.
Some news reports suggested that more could have been trapped by the blaze. State media Russia 24 added that the roof on the venue has partially collapsed. “There are still some pockets of fire, but the fire has been mostly eliminated,” Moscow governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condemned the attack. “We strongly condemn the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Russian Federation in this hour of grief,” he posted on X on Saturday morning.
