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Following the attack in Moscow on Friday March 22, the franceinfo Talk looks at the terrorist threat in the country, in Europe and in France more precisely. Ludo Pauchant receives Nicolas Tenzer, specialist in geostrategic issues, Asiam El Difraoui, specialist in the Arab world and jihadism and Driss Aït Youssef, specialist in security and intelligence issues.
In the evening of Friday March 22, a concert hall in the suburbs of Moscow was the scene of a bloody terrorist attack. Claimed by the Islamic State, the attack at Crocus City Hall resulted in the deaths of 139 people, 182 were injured.
On Telegram, the terrorist organization claimed in a statement that its fighters were responsible for the attack, a few hours after the attack. The Russian Interior Ministry said that four suspects arrested are “foreign citizens”with Russian media and an MP claiming that some of them are from Tajikistan.
Russia targeted by Islamic State
The country had already been the target of the terrorist organization in the past. In 2017, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack that injured 13 people in a St. Petersburg supermarket. This time, this is the Afghan branch of ISIS which claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack, a group active in the country, which “has been fixated on Russia for two years, frequently criticizing President Vladimir Putin in his propaganda”, said terrorism analyst Colin P. Clarke.
On Monday March 25, the Russian president affirmed that the terrorist attack had been committed by “radical Islamists”. Vladimir Putin said they tried to escape to Ukraine. The Kremlin refuses to comment on the IS claim, saying that “the investigation is ongoing and the presidential administration would be wrong to comment on the progress of the investigation”. The Russian president and the security services have nevertheless discussed a link between the arrested suspects and Ukrainewithout providing any evidence.
Reinforced surveillance in France in the face of the terrorist threat
Sunday March 24, French government has raised the level of the Vigipirate plan to “emergency attack”. This follows the attack in Moscow last Friday. A decision taken following a Defense Council at the Élyséejustified by “the responsibility for the attack by the Islamic State and the threats weighing on our country”, according to Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
The country finds itself again on maximum alert in the face of the threat of attacksEmmanuel Macron having announced that “several attempts had been foiled”, notably by the branch of the terrorist organization which claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack.