Al-Qaeda affiliate claims responsibility for Russia metro bombing
The Imam Shamil Battalion, a terror group with links to al-Qaeda said it carried out the St Petersburg metro bombing on the orders of al-Qaeda chief Ayama al-Zawahiri. They made the statement on the Mauritanian Nouakchott News Agency saying it was "price" of Russia's anti-terror campaigns in West Asia. The details were given by SITE intelligence, a global security analysis company.
The St Petersburg metro bombing
On 3 April 2017, an explosive went off on the St Petersburg Metro between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations, killing 15 people and leaving 45 others injured. Russia faces a complex domestic terror scenario from various groups, hence it was difficult to identify the perpetrator-group immediately. Russian President Putin was visiting St Petersburg on the day of the blast.
Second bomb defused, ISIS or Chechens suspected
A second bomb was found a diffused at another station. Russia's FSB intelligence service suspected either an IS-inspired group enraged by recent Russian airstrikes in Syria or Chechen nationalists carried out the attacks. However, there was no credible evidence to suggest either.
Group threatens more bombings
In a statement, the Imam Shamil group threatened of more attacks, saying "what is to come will make you forget it (St Petersburg attack)...security reinforcements will not deter us...from reaching to your homes." Imam Shamil was a 19th century anti-Russian resistance leader in the Caucasus.
