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At Least 133 Killed in Moscow Shooting, Islamic State Claims Responsibility
Members of the Russian Emergencies Ministry clear rubble at the Crocus City Hall concert venue after a deadly attack, outside Moscow, Russia, March 23, 2024. Photo: Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Moscow Friday evening saw the nation’s largest terrorist attack in over 10 years, with at least 133 confirmed killed, including three children, and over 140 wounded.
Islamic State claimed responsibility after a squad of gunmen in combat gear opened fire and reportedly set off explosives at Crocus City Hall, a concert hall just outside of the capital. Over 600 people are said to have donated blood for the victims of the attack.
This is what “Crocus City Hall” in Moscow looks now
Rosgvardiya completed the search of parking lots, no explosives and devices were found.
A new group of special forces entered Crocus City Hall. pic.twitter.com/sM0xCeW7WV
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 22, 2024
The attack was followed by evacuation of malls nationwide and security enforcement at the airports and train stations. The weekend’s mass events have been canceled in Moscow and other regions of the country.
At around 11:00 a.m. local time Russian police are said to have captured two suspects. Security forces chased a car with suspects that then overturned, allowing the rest of the alleged squad to escape in the forest, Rosgvardia spokesperson and the Russian Duma depute Alexander Khinshtein said. During the operation, fire exchange was reported.
Later Russian internal intelligence FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov reported to Putin that 11 people have been detained, including 4 suspected terrorists, said the Kremlin statement.
FSB claimed that the suspects planned to cross the Russia-Ukraine border and had “relevant contacts” in Ukraine.
According to the FSB, the terrorists involved in the attack at Crocus City Hall attempted to flee toward the Russian-Ukrainian border
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) March 23, 2024
According to a Russian oppositional media outlet Meduza citing its sources in the government, the Kremlin has distributed instructions to the state-controlled media to highlight presence of the “possible Ukrainian trace” in the incident reporting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin broke the silence 20 hours after the tragedy, vowing to provide help to all those who suffered in the attack. He echoed the claim that the gunmen were moving towards Ukraine.
“Our common duty now is to be together in one ranks. No one will be able to sow panic and discord in our society,” stated Putin.
Крупнейший теракт в Москве. Теракт, о котором предупреждали. Но ФСБ были слишком заняты борьбой с политиками, активистами и журналистами. На террористов времени не хватило.
pic.twitter.com/YQGKrzc0Xz
— Maria Pevchikh (@pevchikh) March 22, 2024
If it is established that the terrorist attack was carried out by “terrorists of the Kyiv regime,” it is impossible to deal with them and “their ideological inspirers” differently, added Medvedev.
Security officers are storming the Crocus City Hall building where several attackers have barricaded themselves.
: Beware, News pic.twitter.com/ypNuf1Z6D2
— Novaya Gazeta Europe (@novayagazeta_en) March 22, 2024
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak promptly reacted to the allegations: “Let’s be straight about this: Ukraine had absolutely nothing to do with these events.”
“We have a full-scale, all-out war with the Russian regular army and with the Russian Federation as a country. And regardless of everything, everything will be decided on the battlefield,” he added.
A representative of a pro-Ukraine Russian armed group Freedom of Russia Legion told Novaya Gazeta Europe: “It obviously wasn’t us.”
Photos from the scene of the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall building pic.twitter.com/9afx4RFSzj
— S p r i n t e r F a c t o r y (@Sprinterfactory) March 23, 2024
Some also drew attention the fact that on March 8, the United States warned about the possibility of a terrorist attacks in Russia within 48 hours. Putin then labeled it as “blackmail.”
After the incident, Washington denied having intelligence on any specific terrorist plans. “The images are just horrible and just hard to watch, and our thoughts obviously are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack,” said the White House spokesperson John Kirby.
According to reports citing a U.S. official, American intelligence could confirm the Islamic State was behind the attack.
U.S. Republican Senator Mitt Romney also said: “The intentional targeting and murder of civilians is vile and evil regardless of the perpetrators – Putin against Ukrainians and terrorists against the Russians. Today’s massacre in Moscow is tragic.”
Germany, France, Italy, Japan, India, Georgia Venezuela, Cuba and other countries as well as Afghanistan’s Taliban all condemned the attack and expressed their condolences to the victims.
The death toll in the Moscow Crocus City Hall terror attack has reportedly risen to 62, Russian forces are working to recover bodies from the unburnt portions of the building.
Multiple people reportedly died from smoke inhalation after being trapped by the fire. pic.twitter.com/pUK4pIy0XZ
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 22, 2024
Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said: “All those involved in this crime must be found and brought to justice.”
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned “in the strongest possible terms today’s terrorist attack at a concert hall outside Moscow, in which at least 40 people were reportedly killed and over 100 others injured,” his spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement. Guterres “conveys his deep condolences to the bereaved families and the people and the Government of the Russian Federation,” added Haq.
Another video from today’s shooting at the “Crocus City Hall” in #Moscow pic.twitter.com/g0xD7b6PFO
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 22, 2024
The post At Least 133 Killed in Moscow Shooting, Islamic State Claims Responsibility first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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