MOSCOW: A senior Turkish security official confirmed on Tuesday that two of the assailants involved in the Moscow attack had spent a “short amount of time” in Turkey before travelling together to Russia on March 2. One of the attackers entered Turkey on February 20, checked into a hotel in Istanbul’s Fatih district the next day and checked out on February 27, the official said. The other checked into a hotel in the same district on January 5, checking out on January 21. The official said Turkish authorities believe the two suspects in the Moscow attack “became radicalised in Russia” because they were not in Turkey for long. There was no warrant for their arrest so they were allowed to travel freely between Russia and Turkey, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to make public statements.
Twenty two victims of the Russia concert hall attack that killed over 130 people remain in serious condition in hospital, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has said, according to state news agency Tass. Two of them are children, it said. Russia is still reeling from the attack on Friday in which gunmen killed 139 people in a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the shooters “radical Islamists” but despite all evidence pointing to the involvement of Islamic State, Putin repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role. Kyiv has strongly denied any link to the attack.
Four men accused of carrying out the Moscow attack appeared before a court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing. The men are citizens of Tajikistan, authorities said, and were named by investigators as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. They were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offence carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
Russian officials said they detained 11 people over the attack. Another of those detained appeared in court on Monday. Alisher Kasimov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, was charged over renting an apartment to the men accused of carrying out the attack. The attack at the Crocus City Hall music venue on Moscow’s western outskirts on Friday was one of the deadliest in Russia in years and left more than 180 people injured.
Two days after the Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack at the music venue, Putin acknowledged during a meeting with government officials that the killings were carried out by extremists “whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries.”
Putin, who declared over the weekend the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, said investigators haven’t determined who ordered the attack but said it was necessary to find out “why the terrorists after committing their crime tried to flee to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there”.
The IS affiliate claimed it carried out the attack and US intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the attack.
With inputs from AP
