Washington (Union)
Yesterday, the White House described ISIS as a “common terrorist enemy,” reiterating its condemnation of the attack on a concert hall in Moscow, which left more than 130 people dead.
US Presidential spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said, “The United States strongly condemns the heinous terrorist attack in Moscow,” adding that ISIS is “a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere.”
Security analysts confirm that ISIS's claim of responsibility for the criminal attack in a Russian concert hall near Moscow appears to be credible, and that it is consistent with a pattern of previous attacks carried out by terrorists.
But a prominent expert said that it was surprising and unusual for the attackers to develop an escape plan and implement it instead of continuing the attack until they were eliminated.
ISIS issued statements claiming responsibility for yesterday's attack, which Russian investigators said killed 133 people. The organization published a photo of what it said were the gunmen who carried out the attack. Russia did not reveal who it believed was behind the massive attack. She said the gunmen fled in a car and were arrested hours later near the Ukrainian border.
Adam Dolnik, a Czech security expert who studies previous attacks by terrorist groups in India, Kenya, Russia and others, said that ISIS’s claim of responsibility seems credible.
Dolnick stated that militant attacks are the usual modus operandi in the past few years for ISIS and Al-Qaeda. He pointed out that ISIS has a record of previous attacks on Russia, including the bombing of a flight in 2015, and the attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022. Earlier this month, the Russian Federal Security Service said it had thwarted an attack on a temple in Moscow was planned by the terrorist organization.
“If we put all of these things together, I think it is quite convincing that the attack was carried out by ISIS,” Dolnick said.
He added that the only unusual factor was that the perpetrators fled, unlike usual terrorist attacks, where perpetrators carry out attacks prepared to die and expect security forces to eventually shoot them.
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