News / Russia

Daesh claims responsibility for attack on police post near Moscow

Friday, 19 August 2016 7:14 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 19 August 2016 8:27 AM ]

Russian special forces soldiers leave a flat as they raided an apartment building in Saint Petersburg in an operation targeting North Caucasus militants, on August 17, 2016. ©AFP

The Takfiri Daesh group has claimed responsibility for a recent terrorist attack on a traffic police post near Moscow, weeks after threatening acts of terror on the Russian soil.

Amaq, a news outlet affiliated to Daesh, said on Thursday that its militants carried out the assault on the police station in the Balashikha area east of Moscow.

The post came under attack on Wednesday by two men armed with a firearm and two axes. Russia said one of the assailants was shot dead while the other was killed when he tried to put up armed resistance.

At least two police officers were injured in the attack, one seriously. Russian media have said the attackers were both ethnic Chechens, aged 18 and 21.

According to a report by the Russian daily Kommersant, the attackers’ IDs were found in their bags after the deadly incident, along with a receipt for the purchase of two axes some 20 minutes prior to the assault.

In this file photo, Russian special forces wear masks during an anti-terrorist operation in Makhachkala, the regional capital of Dagestan. ©AP

Earlier this month, Daesh called on its members and would-be members to carry out terror attacks in Russia.

The Takfiri group released a video on social media in which a masked Daesh member was seen saying: “Listen [President Vladimir] Putin, we will come to Russia and will kill you at your homes.”

Russia has been bombing Daesh and al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front terrorist groups in Syria at the official request of the Syrian government since September 2015.

Hundreds of militants from the North Caucasus region have joined Daesh ranks in Syria and Iraq in recent years.

Russia has been fighting militants since the mid-1990s in its North Caucasus region, where the republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia have been the scene of sporadic attacks and militant clashes.

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