ISIS ????has claimed responsibility for an attack at a popular concert hall ccomplex near Moscow on Friday after assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices, killing atleast 60 people and injuring 145.
The terror group took responsibility for the attack in a short statement published by lSIS-affiliated news agency Amaq on Telegram on Friday.
It did not provide evidence to support the claim that took the Russian security agencies off the radar to kick start investigations.
Video footage from Crocus City Hall shows the vast complex, which is home to both the music hall and shopping center, on fire with smoke billowing into the air.
State-run RIA Novosti reported the armed individuals opened fire with automatic weapons and threw a grenade or incendiary bomb, which started a fire.
The attacks then allegedly fled in a white Renault car, the newa agency reported.
State media Russia 24 also came out to report that the roof of the venue had also partially collapsed.
The fire however had been brought largely under control more than six hours later, the Moscow governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram.
The deadliest attack on Moscow in decades, Friday's assault came less than a week after President Vladimir Putin won the country's state managed election by an overwhelming majority to secure another term in office, tightening his grip on the country he has ruled since the turn of the century.
With attention focused on the neighbouring Ukraine, Putin had trumpeted a meaasge of national security before Russians went to the polls last Friday through the weekend to Sunday.
The carnage broke out before a concert by the band Picnic according to Russian state media ?Russia 24.
The Prosecutor General's office said undentified people in camouflage broke into Crocus City Hall and started shooting before the start of the concert, TASS cited.
Video fooatge showed panic as the attack unfolded, with crowds of people screaming and huddling behind cushioned seats as gunshots started echoing in the vast hall.
One group sheltering next to a large wall of windows were forced to break them to escape the gunfire.
A SWAT team was called to the area and more than 70 ambulances teams and doctors assisted the victims.
Earlier this month, the U.S Embassy in Russia said it was monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow including concerts.
The Embassy had warned the U.S citizens to avoid large gatherings and following the attack on Crocus City Hall yesterday advised Americans not to travel to Ruusia.
Starting in November, therr has been a steady stream of intelligence that the ISIS-K was determined to attack Russia according to sources familiar with the information.
ISIS-K which stands for lSIS-Khorasan, the terror organization's affiliate that is active in Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
