Morning News on March 23:
ارتفاع عدد قتلى هجوم قرب موسكو إلى 93 شخصا [أهل مصر] ................................ الإمارات تدين هجوم موسكو "الإرهابي" وتعلن تضامنها مع روسيا [الإمارات]
Death toll from attack near Moscow rises to 93 [Ahl Masr - People of Egypt]................................ UAE condemns Moscow's 'terrorist' attack, declares solidarity with Russia [UAE7]
140 dead and 120 wounded (March 24) in Russia's worst terrorist attack
in 20 years, when militants stormed a Moscow concert hall on March 22.
Clad in camouflage uniforms they opened fire on visitors with automatic
weapons and hand grenades.
According to Western media, the Islamic State ISIS assumed responsibility
for that operation as early as March 22.
The United States collected intelligence in March that Islamic State-Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, the branch of the group based in Afghanistan, had been planning an attack on Moscow, according to officials. ISIS members have been active in Russia, one U.S. official said.
.....
“ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years,” frequently criticizing President Vladimir V. Putin in its propaganda, said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York. “ISIS-K accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood in its hands, referencing Moscow’s interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria.”
[New York Times on March 22]
Editor's Note: The language used in ,both, the X post and the quoted article is 'Dari' or 'Afghan Persian'. The text has been counterchecked by me, and the English translation given seems to be reliable. The quoted article is referring to the term of 'Khorasan', the historic term for a Greater Persia comprising Afghanistan and which is allegedly preferred by the Tajiks of Central Asia for nostalgia and nationalism.
Khorasan: We have no reason to continue fighting the Taliban.
The above photo should be showing the Taliban governor of Nangarhar province
together with other Afghan or ISIS leaders in a scene of mutual brotherhood.
It could be the reminder of an earlier reconciliation between different groups.
Inside the Islamic State of Afghanistan, home of ISIS-K under Taliban rule.
