IS-K: Who are the Islamic State jihadists blamed for Moscow attack? - BBC News

The assault on Crocus City Hall is not the first atrocity believed to be carried out by the Islamic State-Khorasan group.

15 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, EPABy Frank GardnerBBC security correspondentDespite attempts by President Vladimir Putin and Russia's state-controlled media to pin the blame for Friday's deadly Moscow theatre attack on Ukraine, more details are emerging about the jihadist group IS-K, believed to have been behind it.

IS-K is an abbreviation of Islamic State-Khorasan - a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group, which has been proscribed as a terror organisation by governments across the world.

It is focused on Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan and into Central Asia.

The group has given itself the name Khorasan as that was part of an historic Islamic caliphate spanning that region.

IS-K has been around for nine years but in recent months it has emerged as the most dangerous branch of the Islamic State group, with a long reach and a reputation for extreme brutality and cruelty.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68660050

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