Russia arrests suspected gunmen as concert toll soars to 143

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Saturday that it had arrested 11 people — including four suspected gunmen — in connection with a shooting rampage that killed at least 143 people in a concert hall near Moscow.

Reuters reported that militant group Daesh claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, the deadliest in Russia for 20 years. But there were indications that Russia was pursuing a Ukrainian link, despite a statement from Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak that Kyiv had nothing to do with it.

A statement issued by Kremlin, on Saturday, stated that President Vladimir Putin was apprised by FSB Security Service Chief Alexander Bortnikov that the suspects, among the detained, included “four terrorists”.

It further mentioned that the service was working to identify their accomplices.

In a televised address, Putin condemned the massacre -- the deadliest in Russia for nearly 20 years -- as a “barbaric terrorist act” and repeated earlier suggestions by Russian security services that the attackers had tried to escape to Ukraine. Kyiv dismissed the claim that it was some way involved in the attack as “absurd”.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said the death toll had leapt to 143 from the attack on Crocus City Hall, located in the outskirts of the Russian capital, in which camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at concertgoers near the capital on Friday.

Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said the attackers had fled in a Renault vehicle that was spotted by police in Bryansk region, about 340-km southwest of Moscow on Friday night and disobeyed instructions to stop.

He said two were arrested after a car chase and two others fled into a forest. From the Kremlin account, it appeared they too were later detained.

Khinshtein said a pistol, a magazine for an assault rifle, and passports from Tajikistan were found in the car. Tajikistan is a mainly Muslim Central Asian state that used to be part of the Soviet Union.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004. The shooting took place at Crocus City Hall, where a Soviet-era rock band was due to perform.

Verified video showed people taking their seats in the hall, then rushing for the exits as repeated gunfire echoed above screams. Other video showed men shooting at groups of people. Some victims lay motionless in pools of blood.

“Suddenly there were bangs behind us -- shots. A burst of firing -- I do not know what,” one witness, who asked not to be identified by name, told Reuters.

“A stampede began. Everyone ran to the escalator,” the witness said. “Everyone was screaming; everyone was running.”

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Saturday condemned the “heinous” attack that left Moscow terrorised.

President Zardari extended his heartfelt condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin, bereaved families and the people of Russia. He said Pakistan fully shared the grief of the families who lost their dear ones in the heinous attack.

Separately, a condemnation statement posted by PM Shehbaz Sharif on X, formerly Twitter, stated: “I strongly condemn the heinous attack in Moscow last night that has resulted in the loss of many precious lives.” He also conveyed his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the victims. The Foreign Office also “strongly condemned” the attack with Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, on behalf of the government, expressing Pakistan’s deepest sympathy to the families of the victims.

“We strongly condemn the attack on a concert hall in Moscow,” the statement read. The spokesperson said Pakistan stands with Russian people and government in this difficult time.