The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation condemned the explosion in Kandahar, but did not mention IS

On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia strongly condemned the explosion in Kandahar (Afghanistan) on March 21, which killed at least 19 people. In the message of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the incident was called a barbaric act of terrorism, and condolences were expressed to the families of the victims. The MFA comment also expresses the hope that “Afghan authorities will be able to find and bring to justice the organizers of the terrorist attack in Kandahar.”

The “Vilayat Khorasan” group, also known as ISIL-K, claimed responsibility for the explosion. This is a local branch of the international terrorist organization “Islamic State” (IS). It was this group that took responsibility for the attack on Crocus City Hall near Moscow on Friday, as a result of which more than 130 people died, according to reports from sources close to IS.

The message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not mention who exactly carried out the explosion in Kandahar and the attack on “Crocus City Hall”. The Russian authorities do not officially comment on the version about the involvement of IS and specifically “Vilayat Khorasan” in the terrorist attack in the Moscow region.

Afghanistan is now ruled by the radical movement “Taliban”, recognized as terrorist in Russia. The de jure government of the Taliban is not recognized by Russia, although Moscow maintains contacts with their representatives. In the message of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is no reservation about who exactly is meant by the authorities of Afghanistan.

A number of Russian officials and prominent commentators hint at Ukraine’s possible involvement in the attack on Crocus City Hall. President Vladimir Putin also stated that the suspects in the terrorist attack fled to Ukraine. Western countries state that they have no data in favor of the version of the alleged involvement of Ukraine and, on the contrary, note that everything indicates that the terrorist attack was organized by IS.

The Dossier Center, citing a source close to the Russian special services, claims that they have recently been closely monitoring the activities of the Vilayat Khorasan group. It is claimed that a few days before the attack on Crocus, members of the Security Council received a warning that citizens of Tajikistan could be used in terrorist acts on the territory of Russia. Allegedly, Dossier found out about this even before the attack.

On March 7, the US Embassy issued a message about the threat of terrorist attacks in Moscow, including at concerts. It stated that terrorist attacks could take place in the next two days. Then they did not happen. On March 19, speaking before the board of the FSB, Vladimir Putin called the US messages “an intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.”
Over the past few months, “Vilayat Khorasan” tried to organize terrorist attacks in Austria, Germany and Kyrgyzstan. On Monday, the president of this country, Emmanuel Macron, also announced the group’s preparation for terrorist attacks in France.

• According to official data, the number of people killed in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow is 137. Telegram channels Astra and Baza, citing their sources, write that it has risen to 144, but this has not been officially confirmed.
• Also, according to “Astra”, 285 people received various injuries during the attack, 182 of them required hospitalization. The Moscow Region Ministry of Health has published the names of the victims as of yesterday evening.
• According to the latest data from officials, 75 people remain in Moscow hospitals, nine more in Moscow hospitals.
• The terrorist attack in “Crocus City Hall” took place on the evening of March 22. In total, 11 people were detained in the case, as reported. Four of them, allegedly the immediate perpetrators of the terrorist attack, were beaten, probably tortured and arrested. Nothing is known about the rest of the detainees.