Russian authorities have been working to capture those behind the attack, with at least 11 arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani extended his condolences to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Saturday after a terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow killed 133 people.
The Gulf state also condemned the shooting incident on Friday, reiterating its “firm position on rejecting violence and terrorism, regardless of the motives and reasons.”
The attack on Friday was carried out by assailants carrying assault rifles who broke into a large concert at the hall in Moscow, opening fire on the large crowd before setting the venue ablaze.
ISIL’s Afghan branch, also known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest to occur in Russia in years.
On Sunday, Russian authorities confirmed that the total of those killed in the attack increased to 133, including three children. At least 152 people, including eight children, have also been injured.
President Putin declared March 24 a day of nationwide mourning in a televised address on Saturday.
Russian authorities have been working to capture those behind the attack, with at least 11 arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB).
“The activities of intelligence and law enforcement agencies have resulted in the detention of 11 people, including four terrorists, who directly participated in the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall,” Russian authorities said in a statement cited by state news agency, Tass.
The FSB noted “that the terrorist attack was carefully planned.”
“The weapons that the terrorists used had been placed in a cache in advance,” the FSB said.
Russian rescuers have removed more than 90 cubic metres of debris in the Crocus City Hall, the Russian Ministry of Emergencies said on its Telegram channel.
On Saturday, the United States described the attack as “a tragedy” while rejecting Putin’s claims that Ukraine was involved in the attack.
“Let me start by saying what has happened in an act of terrorism and the number of people who’ve been killed is obviously a tragedy and we should all send our condolences to those families,” U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview with ABC television.
Earlier this month, the U.S. embassy in Russia urged its citizens to avoid crowded places in light of “reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings.”
On Friday, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said that the U.S. government had information about “a planned terrorist attack in Moscow” earlier this month.
“Earlier this month, the U.S. Government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow – potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts – which prompted the State Department to issue a public advisory to Americans in Russia,” Watson said on X.
Russia previously witnessed similar terrorist attacks, including the 2015 plane crash incident. At the time, IS planted a bomb in a Russian passenger plane, Metrojet Airbus A321, that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, killing 224 people.
On March 7, Russian authorities thwarted an attack on a synagogue in Moscow by an Islamic State group.
Emerged in 2014, ISIS-K is among ISIL’s most active branches, carrying out deadly attacks in the region. It is the same group that carried out the August 2021 attacks outside the Kabul airport where thousands desperately trying to flee Afghanistan were gathered. The attack killed 175 civilians including 13 American soldiers.
The group also bombed the Russian embassy in Kabul in September 2022.
“Russia’s engagement in the global fight against ISIS and its affiliates, especially through its military operations in Syria and its efforts to establish connections with the Afghan Taliban – ISIS-K’s rival – marks Russia as a key adversary for ISIS/ISIS-K,” Amira Jadoon, assistant professor at Clemson University in South Carolina, told Al Jazeera on Saturday.
