PRESIDENT Nangolo Mbumba has condemned the deadly terror attack on civilians in a theatre in the Moscow region of Russia, on Friday 22 March 2024.

Following the terrorist attack on the civilians, the Namibian head of state joined the international community in condemning the brutal attack. 

In his message condemning the attacks, Mbumba said: “I am saddened by the callous terrorist attack on innocent civilians near Moscow, leading to the death of more than 140 people and injuring many others. I join the international community in condemnation of this heinous act, which demonstrates complete disregard for human life. On behalf of the people and government of the Republic of Namibia, I extend condolences to President Vladimir Putin, the bereaved families, and the fraternal people of Russia”. 

Mbumba also wrote to President Putin extending sympathies to the families and the people of Russia.

Russia flew flags at half-mast on yesterday for a day of mourning after 133 people, including three children, were killed in the attack, and more than 150 were injured.

The civilians were gunned down with automatic weapons at a rock concert outside Moscow in the deadliest attack inside Russia in two decades.

Putin declared a national day of mourning after pledging to track down and punish all those behind the attack. 

“I express my deep, sincere condolences to all those who lost their loved ones… The whole country and our entire people are grieving with you,” Putin said in an address to the nation on Saturday, his first public comments on the attack. 

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, but Putin has not publicly mentioned the militant group in connection with the attackers, whom he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine.

He asserted that some on “the Ukrainian side” had prepared to spirit them across the border.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied any role in the attack, which Putin also blamed on “international terrorism”.

People laid flowers at Crocus City Hall, the 6 200-seat concert hall outside Moscow where four armed men burst in on Friday just before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was to perform its hit “Afraid of Nothing”.

The men fired their automatic weapons in short bursts at terrified civilians who fell screaming in a hail of bullets.

Putin said 11 people had been detained, including the four gunmen, who fled the concert hall and made their way to the Bryansk region, about 340km southwest of Moscow.

“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” he said.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border.

Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a major European war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was typical of Putin and “other thugs” to seek to divert blame.

In video footage published by Russian media and Telegram channels with close ties to the Kremlin, one of the suspects said he was offered money to carry out the attack.

“I shot people,” said the suspect, his hands tied and his hair held by an interrogator, a black boot beneath his chin, in poor and highly accented Russian.

When asked why, he said: “For money”.

The man said he had been promised half a million roubles (a little over US$5 000). One was shown answering questions through a Tajik translator.

Islamic State, the Islamist group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Amaq agency said on Telegram.

Putin changed the course of the Syrian civil war by intervening in 2015, supporting President Bashar al-Assad against the opposition and Islamic State.

It was unclear why the Islamic State chose this moment to strike at Russia.

The White House said the US government shared information with Russia early this month about a planned attack in Moscow and issued a public advisory to Americans in Russia on 7 March. It said the Islamic State bore sole responsibility for the attack.

“There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

Condemn

The UN Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly terrorist attack.

“The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers, and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice,” said the council.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is on a visit to Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip, “firmly” condemned the attack on the concert hall.

“We consider absolutely intolerable the attack that took place in Moscow, and we encourage all countries to cooperate with each other in order to make sure that ISIS [ISIL] will not have the capacity to strike anywhere else in the world,” he told reporters.

Nato spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said the military alliance “unequivocally” condemns the attack.

“Nothing can justify such heinous crimes. Our deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” she said on X.

China’s Xi Jinping sent his “condolences” to Putin, news agency Xinhua reported.

Xi “stressed that China opposes all forms of terrorism, strongly condemns the terrorist attack and firmly supports the Russian government’s efforts to safeguard its national security and stability”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the deadly attack and said Washington condemns “terrorism in all its forms”.

The European Union also said it was “shocked and appalled” by the attack. - Nampa-AFP