Pakistan on Saturday condemned a gun attack on a concert hall in Moscow in which at least 60 people were killed and 145 injured, with Daesh militants claiming responsibility.
In the deadliest attack in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, gunmen sprayed civilians with bullets just before Soviet-era rock group “Picnic” was to perform to a full house at the 6,200-seat the Crocus City Hall just west of the capital.
A major fire spread through the theater after the assault, Moscow’s mayor and Russian news agencies reported as authorities said a hunt had been launched for the attackers and a “terrorism” investigation was underway.
“We strongly condemn the horrendous attack carried out at a concert hall in Moscow,” Pakistan’s foreign office said.
“We express our deepest sympathies with the families of the victims. At this difficult hour, we stand in solidarity with the people and Government of the Russian Federation.”
We strongly condemn the horrendous attack carried out at a concert hall in Moscow. We express our deepest sympathies with the families of the victims. At this difficult hour, we stand in solidarity with the people and Government of the Russian Federation.
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) March 22, 2024The United States has intelligence confirming Daesh’s claim of responsibility for the shooting, a US official told Reuters on Friday night. The official said Washington had warned Moscow in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.
“We did warn the Russians appropriately,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, without providing any additional details.
Russia has yet to say who it thinks is responsible.
The attack on Crocus City Hall, about 20 km (12 miles) from the Kremlin, comes just two weeks after the US embassy in Russia warned that “extremists” had imminent plans for an attack in Moscow. Hours before the embassy warning, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation said it had foiled an attack on a Moscow synagogue by Daesh’s affiliate in Afghanistan, known as Daesh-Khorasan or Daesh-K, which seeks a caliphate across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.
Russian President Vladimir Putin changed the course of the Syrian civil war by intervening in 2015, supporting President Bashar Assad against the opposition and Daesh.
In the 2004 Beslan school siege, militants took more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, hostage.
