The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting in a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday that killed over 90 people and injured more than 100. US intelligence officials confirmed the claim by the Islamic State group's branch based in Afghanistan that it was responsible for the Moscow attack, a US official told the AP.
The group, ISIS-K, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia's volatile Caucasus and other regions in the past years. But the attack in Russia was the group’s first attack outside southwest Asia.
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The group is named after an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. It emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and quickly established a reputation for embracing extreme brutality. However, over the years, the group saw its ranks cut roughly in half, to about 1,500 to 2,000 fighters, by 2021 due to both American airstrikes and Afghan commando raids that killed many of its leaders.
Their attacks first surged in 2016-2018 and then ebbed after the group suffered military setbacks in 2019. Since 2020, attacks have again increased, according to Human Rights Watch.
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Here are some attacks the group has claimed responsibility for in the past few years:
Twin bombings in Iran (2024)
Earlier this year, the US intercepted communications confirming the group carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people and wounded over 200 included children, according to AP. Two members from the group had detonated explosive belts in the crowd that had gathered at a memorial in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman, at the memorial of top commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed in Iraq in 2020.
Pakistan embassy in Kabul (December 2022)
The group claimed that its two members armed with “medium weapons and snipers” targeted the Pakistan ambassador and his guards who were present in the courtyard of the embassy in the Afghan capital. While the ambassador escaped unharmed, a guard was critically injured.
Russian embassy in Kabul (September 2022)
ISIS-K militants claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul, that killed at least six people including embassy officials and Afghan civilians and injured ten others.
Shia mosque in Kandahar province (October 2021)
A group of ISIS-K suicide bombers attacked a Shia mosque in Kandahar province during Friday prayers, killing 47 people and injuring nearly 70 others. This attack was the deadliest to strike Afghanistan since the dramatic exit of US troops from the country, which allowed the Taliban to seize control of the Afghan capital. It was also the first major attack by the group in the country’s south, according to AP.
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After this attack, ISIS issued a statement saying it would target Shia in their homes and centers “in every way, from slaughtering their necks to scattering their limbs… and the news of [ISIS’s] attacks…in the temples of the [Shia] and their gatherings is not hidden from anyone, from Baghdad to Khorasan.”
Kabul international airport (August 2021)
The group claimed responsibility for an attack on Kabul's international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US troops and scores of civilians during the chaotic US evacuation from the country. This was also during the US military’s withdrawal from the country.
