Terror group publishes
video showing two men pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Isis has claimed its first terror attack on Russian
soil after two supporters attempted to murder police officers near Moscow.
Both of the men were killed during the assault at a
traffic post on a motorway in Balashika on Wednesday, when they were armed with
a gun and two axes.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said one of the men
was shot dead while attacking the post and the other was killed when he put up
“armed resistance”.
Two police officers were injured in the attack, one
seriously, but were expected to survive.
Isis’ propaganda agency released a video of the
attackers late on Thursday night showing them pledging allegiance to leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Naming them as Uthman Mardalov and Salim Israilov, the
terrorist group hailed them as “soldiers of the Islamic State”.
The one-and-a-half minute video showed the men,
wearing hoodies and speaking in a mixture of Russian and Arabic, announcing
their support for Isis and saying they had “taken the path of jihadi on the
command of the emir”.
They ended the footage by threatening more attacks on
Russia and shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”).
Russian security services announced the arrest of
several suspected Isis supporters in Balashikha in July, where they had been
distributing propaganda and attempting to recruit militants.
It was unclear whether Mardalov and Israilov were
arrested or linked to the suspects.
They were reported to be of Chechen descent.
Separatists and Islamist groups from Chechnya, in the North Caucasus region,
have been fighting wars and an insurgency against Russia for decades.
The conflict has sparked several terror attacks in
Russia and hundreds of Chechen militants are believed to have joined Isis’
ranks.
One of the group’s most senior commanders and
propagandists was Abu Omar al-Shishani – known as “Omar the Chechen” – who was
reportedly killed by an American air strike earlier this year.
There have been repeated calls by Isis leaders to
attack Russia and other countries launching air strikes against its fighters in
Iraq and Syria.
The propaganda messages are believed to be the motive
for a string of “lone wolf” attacks in Europe, including a suicide bombing and
axe attack in Germany and the killing of 84 people by a lorry driver in Nice,
France.
In a video released last week, a masked Isis fighter
threatened Vladimir Putin and claimed militants would “come to Russia and kill
you in your homes”.
The so-called Islamic State previously targeted Russia
last year by downing a passenger plane flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St
Petersburg.
All 224 people on board Metrojet Flight 9268 died –
including 219 Russian passengers and crew – after a bomb was detonated in the
hold as it flew over the Sinai Peninsula.
It came just a month after Russia started its campaign
of air strikes supporting President Bashar al-Assad against Isis and rebel
groups in Syria.
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