25/03/24
Isis warns of another massacre if Putin doesn’t stop torturing terrorists
Isis appear to have issued a direct threat to Vladimir Putin over the torture of the four suspects behind the deadliest attack on Russian soil in years.
Electrocuted by their genitals, stamped on and slashed – this is how Russian forces are dealing with the men accused of killing 137 people and injuring another 180 at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Friday evening.
Iranian media, citing Al Azaim, an IS-Khorasan propaganda network in Tajikistan, is now circulating a poster, warning of another massacre in the country.
It made a direct threat to Putin, after footage began circulating on Telegram of his police torturing the suspects.
The information has not been independently verified.
Four suspects have been charged with committing an act of terrorism; with three of them – Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30, and Shamsidin Fariduni, 25 – pleading guilty to them.
All were led blindfolded into the courtroom with visible signs of torture on their bodies.
One man was seen with the right side of his head all bandaged after his ear sliced off, while another appeared in a wheelchair and a hospital gown.
Telegram channels close to the Kremlin also published a photo showing Fariduni on the ground, with his trousers and pants pulled down, as officers electrocuted his genitals during interrogation.
Footage circulating on social media shows the moment three men were allegedly arrested on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.
The Kremlin says they were the gunmen behind the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, in the northwest of the Russian capital.
In the clips, one of the suspects is seen kneeling on the ground, shaking profusely as he is interrogated by Russian soldiers.
Another is seen being led from the woods in a headlock, blood covering his face after his captors are alleged to have cut off part of his ear and then attempted to feed it to him.
A third is pictured sitting with his back to a wooden panel, answering questions from officials with what appears to be a broken nose.
Over the weekend, events to pay tribute to the victims were held across Moscow.
A steady stream of people took flowers to a makeshift memorial near the Crocus City Hall music venue.
The Russian government claims the attack was coordinated with the assistance of Ukrainian forces – a claim dismissed by both Ukraine and the White House.
Addressing the public, the president vowed to punish those responsible. His allies went as far as calling for the introduction of the death penalty for terrorist acts, but his spokesperson said today that this is not being discussed as an option.
The terrorist act has since been claimed by IS-K, an Afghanistan-based affiliate of ISIS.
US intelligence services said it is ‘highly likely’ the group was indeed responsible.
Early reports suggest that the US in fact warned the Kremlin of an imminent attack as early as March 8, even advising their own embassy staff to steer clear of public venues – something that was in turn dismissed by the Kremlin as ‘blackmail’.
What would appear to have been a massive intelligence failure on part of Putin’s administration, as well as unsubstantiated claims the gunmen were assisted by Ukraine, has opened the way for speculation Russian officials ignored warnings in order to drum up further support for the ongoing war effort.
Russia on Monday challenged assertions by the US that the militant group carried out the gun attack on the concert hall, accusing Washington of covering for Ukraine.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, said in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that the US was evoking the ‘bogeyman’ of Islamic State to cover its ‘wards’ in Kyiv.
She reminded readers that Washington had supported the ‘mujahideen’ fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s.
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