Russia says 40 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; ISIS claims responsibility

Gunmen burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, killing 45 people and wounding more than 140, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB).

IS fighters “attacked a large gathering… on the outskirts of the Russian capital Moscow,” the group said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

The IS statement said the attackers had “retreated to their bases safely.”

Russia’s National Guard said it was on the scene and looking for the perpetrators.

Russian news reports said the assailants also used explosives, causing a massive blaze at the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow on Friday.

Russia’s Ministry of Health said some of those injured have already been admitted to medical facilities.

Attackers dressed in camouflage uniforms entered the building, opened fire and threw a grenade or incendiary bomb, according to a journalist for the RIA Novosti news agency at the scene.

Russian authorities said a “terrorist” investigation had been started and President Vladimir Putin was receiving “constant” updates, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called on the international community to condemn the incident, calling it “a monstrous crime”.

The White House said that the images of shooting in the Russian capital were “horrible and just hard to watch.

The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the shooting, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official said Washington had warned Moscow in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.