French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Monday that the assailants responsible for the deaths of 137 individuals in a concert venue near Moscow were affiliated with an Islamic organization implicated in thwarted assaults on France in recent months. Macron’s remarks elucidate the decision by the French government to elevate the security alert to its maximum level on Sunday, March 24.
In constrast, Russia, disputing assertions made by the United States regarding the Islamic State’s orchestrated of Friday’s attack, insinuated on Monday, March 25, that Ukraine bore responsibility for the assaults. Macron condemned this assertion for as ‘cynical and counterproductive.'”This attack was claimed by Islamic State,” Macron said “and the information available to us, to our (intelligence) service as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State which instigated this attack.
“This group has attempted several times to hit France.” the Islamic state’s affiliation in Afghanistan, commonly known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack in Moscow. France has experienced a series of Islamist attacks over the past decade. The deadlist occurred in 2015, targeting the Bataclan concert hall, as well as cafes and bars in Paris.