MOSCOW (AFP) — Russian authorities detained 11 people on March 26 in connection with the March 22 attack, which saw camouflaged gunmen storm into Crocus City Hall, open fire on concert-goers and set the building ablaze, killing at least 139 people.
Two of those, Tajik nationals Rachabalizoda Saidakrami and Shamsidin Fariduni, “were able to travel freely between Russia and Turkey since there was no warrant for their arrest”, the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The two had both spent time in Turkey shortly before the attack and entered Russia together on the same flight from Istanbul, the official said.
The Islamic State group has said they were responsible for the Moscow attack, and IS-affiliated media channels have published graphic videos of the gunmen inside the venue.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday acknowledged for the first time that “radical Islamists” were behind last week’s attack at the concert hall, but suggested they were linked to Ukraine.
Turkish authorities, meanwhile, have rounded up scores of suspects with alleged links to IS extremists in nationwide raids, a government minister said Tuesday.
