Daesh posts video, photos of Moscow concert hall attack

Daesh released on Saturday a photo of what it said were the four attackers behind a shooting rampage that killed at least 143 people in a concert hall near Moscow on Friday, the militant group’s Amaq news agency said on Telegram. (X/@visegrad24)
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Updated 24 March 2024
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Daesh posts video, photos of Moscow concert hall attack

  • “The attack comes within the context of a raging war between Daesh and countries fighting Islam,” Amaq added

PARIS: A video apparently shot by gunmen who carried out the deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall has been posted on social media accounts typically used by the jihadist group Daesh, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

The video, which lasts a minute and a half, shows several individuals with blurred faces and garbled voices, armed with assault rifles and knives.
They appear to be the lobby of the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Krasnogorsk, northwest of the Russian capital.
The attackers fire several bursts of gunfire, numerous inert bodies are strewn about and a fire can be seen starting in the background.
The video appeared on a Telegram account considered, according to the SITE monitoring group, to belong to Amaq, the news arm of Daesh.

Amaq earlier said on Telegram that Daesh released a photo of what it said were the four attackers behind a shooting rampage.
“The attack comes within the context of a raging war between Daesh and countries fighting Islam,” Amaq added in a statement citing security sources.
The attack, for which Daesh claimed responsibility on Friday evening, killed at least 143 people.
It was the deadliest attack claimed by the jihadist group on European soil.
According to the Kremlin, 11 people have been arrested. Among them are the four presumed perpetrators of the attack, who, according to Moscow, were heading for Ukraine.
Neither President Vladimir Putin nor the security services (FSB) have accused the jihadist group. Kyiv has firmly denied any involvement.
The head of the state-run RT media outlet, Margarita Simonyan, posted two videos of interrogations of two handcuffed suspects. They both admitted to the attack but did not say who had organized it.
AFP was unable to confirm the veracity of the videos.


US NATO envoy says allies must ‘pull weight’ after Czech defense cut

Updated 13 March 2026
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US NATO envoy says allies must ‘pull weight’ after Czech defense cut

PRAGUE, March 12 : The United States’ ambassador to ‌NATO said on Thursday that all allies must “pull their weight,” after Czech lawmakers approved a 2026 budget that cuts defense outlays.
Czech Prime Minister ​Andrej Babis’ government, in power since December, pushed a revamped budget through the lower house on Wednesday evening which cut the defense ministry’s allocation versus a previous proposal to 154.8 billion crowns ($7.31 billion), or 1.73 percent of gross domestic product.
That is below a NATO target of 2 percent of GDP already expected before alliance members pledged last year in the Hague ‌to raise defense spending ‌to 3.5 percent of GDP plus ​1.5 percent ‌on ⁠other defense-relevant investments ​over ⁠the next decade.
The Czech Finance Ministry says total defense spending in the budget will reach 2.07 percent of GDP, but the country’s budget watchdog has warned that includes money earmarked elsewhere, like for the transport ministry for road projects, that may not be recognized by NATO.
“All Allies must pull their weight and ⁠honor The Hague Defense Commitment,” US Ambassador to ‌NATO Matthew Whitaker said on X ‌on Thursday with a picture of ​a news headline on the Czech ‌budget approval.
“These numbers are not arbitrary. They are about ‌meeting the moment — and the moment requires 5 percent as the standard. No excuses, no opt-outs.”
European NATO countries are under pressure to raise defense spending amid the Ukraine-Russia war ‌and at US President Donald Trump’s urging.
Babis, whose populist ANO party won elections last year, said ⁠in February ⁠the country was “certainly not” on the path to raising core defense spending to the 3.5 percent target, saying there was a different focus, like on health care.
The budget watchdog on Thursday reiterated “strong doubts” that some spending deemed defense in this year’s budget would meet NATO’s definition.
President Petr Pavel, a former NATO official, has also said defense cuts risked a loss of trust from allies — but has signalled he would not veto the budget.
US Ambassador to Prague Nicholas Merrick said last ​week the Czech Republic may ​slip to the bottom of NATO’s defense-spending ranks.