ISIS Gunmen Kill 93 In Moscow Concert Hall Attack

Several camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire at a popular concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday night, killing 93 people, including three children, and wounding more than 150, Russian authorities said.

Russian officials have detained 11 people for the attack, including four who directly participated in shooting the victims. I Photo: Пресс-служба Губернатора Московской области

This makes it the deadliest attack in the capital region in more than a decade, Valerie Hopkins and Ivan Nechepurenko reported for the New York Times.

Hours after the mayhem began, the Russian national guard said its officers were still looking for the attackers. State media agencies reported that there had been up to five perpetrators.

Meanwhile, the US revealed that it had intelligence about the ISIS plot to attack Russian targets, in effect confirming the claim of the fundamentalist Islamic group that it staged the bloody assault, Aric Toler and Anton Troianovski also reported for the New York Times.

US officials said the information was relayed to Russian officials. In 2015, ISIS bombed a jet ferrying 224 Russian tourists, killing all of them.

As gunshots boomed through the building containing the concert hall, one of the largest and most popular music venues in the Moscow area, fire erupted in the upper floors of the structure, and the blaze intensified after an explosion, causing the roof to collapse.

Many people are said to have been trapped by the roof’s collapse. 

Michael Balsamo reported for the Associated Press (AP) that Russian officials detained 11 people for the attack, including four who directly participated in shooting the victims. Aarmaq news agency, the official media outlet of ISIS, said the attack was directed at Christians.

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