Russia
More arrests after terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall
View of the Crocus City Hall concert hall that was damaged in a terrorist attack. Last Friday’s attack left more than 140 people dead and hundreds injured when gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall concert hall. photo
© Bai Xueqi/XinHua/dpa
The Russian domestic secret service FSB continues to report new arrests after the terrorist attack on an event hall near Moscow. Another confession is also presented.
More than a week after the terrorist attack on the event center At Crocus City Hall in the north-west of Moscow, the Russian domestic secret service FSB has arrested other people suspected of being involved in the crime. The FSB in Moscow said four foreign citizens who were directly involved in financing and equipping terrorists were arrested in the Russian republic of Dagestan in the North Caucasus. The terrorist militia Islamic State claimed responsibility for the crime.
State media also showed a video released by the FSB in which an unidentified man says he handed over the weapons for the shooting at Crocus City Hall to the perpetrators from the Dagestani capital Makhachkala. The authenticity of the video could not be verified. After the attack on the center on March 22nd, the number of dead was at least 144 and the number of injured was more than 550. There were still missing people, it was said.
Those arrested are said to have been tortured
The four suspected shooters and others involved were arrested after the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall. Media reported that the men were tortured before their confessions. Numerous suspected backers were also arrested in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan.
According to the FSB, the four suspects now arrested in Dagestan are said to have planned an attack in the city of Kaspiysk on the Caspian Sea, which is popular with tourists. To do this, they prepared an explosive device and also obtained weapons. They then wanted to go abroad. The FSB did not provide any details in its statement.
Putin continues to see Ukrainian trail
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the Islamists had carried out the attack on Crocus City Hall. But he sees a Ukrainian trace. Russian investigators recently announced that financial transaction data had been seized from the arrested suspects. Accordingly, Ukrainian nationalists are said to have paid for the attack. Kiev denies involvement in the terrorist attack.
On Saturday, diplomats from more than 130 countries remembered the victims at Crocus City Hall and laid flowers at the center. The Russian Foreign Ministry said there were more than 250 participants in the memorial event.