A spokesperson for the Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday praised the group’s attack that killed more than 140 people in a Russian concert hall near Moscow last week and also urged Muslims to fight Israel, Reuters reported.
The spokesperson, Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari, was speaking in a recorded message posted to ISIS’ Telegram channel.
Al-Ansari also reiterated urging the group’s supporters to target “crusaders” everywhere, especially in the United States, Europe and Israel.
“We ask God that you make it to Palestine so you could fight the Jews face to face in an endless religious war,” he said, according to Reuters.
ISIS was quick to claim responsibility for last Friday’s attacks in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Monday that the terrorists who carried out the attack were “radical Islamists,” but once again repeated his accusation that Ukraine could have played a role in the attack.
Kyiv denies any involvement in this attack. On Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Putin of seeking to “shift the blame” onto Kyiv for the Moscow attack.
The US National Security Council said in no uncertain terms on Saturday night that Ukraine had nothing to do with the deadly concert attack.
"ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever," NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement quoted by NBC News.
Watson noted that the United States "shared information with Russia about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow."