INTERNACIONAL
ISIS using deadly Moscow attack to recruit new terrorists as US monitoring ‘very closely’
The recent deadly terrorist attack in Moscow has brought renewed attention to the ISIS-K terrorist organization in not only the U.S. and other European nations, but to extremists watching.
«It’s really good for recruiting for the Islamic State to conduct a show that it can launch attacks, to show that it has reach,» Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and founding editor of «The Long War Journal,» told Fox News Digital. «Any want-to-be Jihadist may be motivated by attacks such as these.»
«This is the type of attack that is effective. We’re talking about it,» he added.
Four men from Tajikistan were charged in a Russian court Sunday after a concert hall was attacked by gunmen who killed more than 130 people and injured 180 others.
WHAT IS ISIS-K, THE TERRORIST GROUP TIED TO MOSCOW CONCERT HALL ATTACK AND 2021 ABBEY GATE BOMBING?
Reports have indicated that the Russian authorities are sending a message to other extremists after the men appeared in court showing signs of extreme physical abuse, and videos surfaced on Telegram of at least two of the men being tortured.
But Roggio argued the move is unlikely to be successful in actually deterring terrorist attacks.
«The videos will be used by ISIS for future recruiting as well as to harden current members against Russia,» the security expert said. «The Islamic State (IS) will use these videos as proof of the brutality of states like Russia against Muslims.»
ISIS-K first caught international attention in the U.S. following the 2021 bombing at Abbey Gate during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
But the group largely stayed out of major headlines until earlier this year after it took credit for twin bombings that were carried out during a January memorial ceremony for Iranian General Qasem Soleimani that killed 95 people and injured more than 280 others.
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«Sometimes these groups operate in the shadows just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they left,» Roggio said. «It just means that they become more visible.
«It indicates that the Islamic State has a reach far greater than some people originally thought,» he added. «They’re not just confined to Afghanistan.»
Roggio pointed out that Islamic extremists have launched numerous attacks in Russia over the last thirty years following Moscow’s military operations in the Middle East, South Asia as well as other areas like the Caucuses, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan where there are large Muslim populations.
«They’re trying to punish Russia for its presence in countries that the Islamic State considers to be Muslim countries — considers to be countries that should be under their purview,» he said, emphasizing that to the Islamic State «we’re all enemies.»
«The United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, China — to them we’re occupiers. We’re all in one way or another a great Satin to them,» he said. «But I would just say that, but more importantly, the Russians are always a target, and Jihadists will take the opportunity to attack whenever they feel they can get one off.»
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White House national security adviser John Kirby said the U.S. is remaining «vigilant» when it comes to the threat ISIS poses to the U.S., and pointed out that Washington alerted Moscow to the possibility of such an attack weeks ago.
«It was because of the aggressive way in which we have been monitoring [ISIS-K] that we were able to give the Russians a warning,» he told reporters Monday. «Because we’re watching it very, very closely, we don’t see any sort of credible threat by ISIS to the American homeland.
«But again, not something we’re taking for granted,» he added.
INTERNACIONAL
French elections: Riots erupt after left-wing coalition projected to win plurality of seats
Crowds of protesters and celebrators flooded the streets of Paris as French election results began pouring in on Sunday.
On Sunday, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced his intent to resign after a far-left political coalition was poised to win a plurality of French parliamentary seats. The coalition had unexpectedly assembled before the snap elections began.
Tens of thousands of left-wing demonstrators gathered in Paris’s Place de la République on Sunday night to celebrate the news. Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition is projected to take second place.
The results were a huge upset for conservatives in France, who had hoped that Marine Le Pen’s National Rally would take power.
FRENCH PM TO RESIGN AS LEFTISTS NAB PLURALITY OF PARLIAMENTARY SEATS IN SNAP ELECTION
Social media footage shows massive bonfires in Parisian streets as authorities confronted demonstrators while wearing riot gear.
Tear gas was released as rowdy protesters were arrested. Protesters were also recorded throwing Molotov cocktails in the streets and setting off smoke bombs.
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The left-wing coalition, which is called the Popular Front, is made up of France’s Socialist Party, the French Communist Party, a green political party called the Ecologists and France Unbowed.
The bloc has pledged to institute a number of measures if elected, including scrapping Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform and working towards establishing «a right to retire» at 60 years old.
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The coalition also pledges to increase wages for public sector employees, establish a wealth tax and raise France’s minimum wage.
Reuters and Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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