The statement from so-called Islamic State (IS) saying they were behind the attack came out on one of the group’s official accounts.
That is not absolute confirmation – sometimes IS has issued false claims – however, a US official has told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that it has intelligence confirming the IS claim that it carried out the attack.
The nature of the assault –
marauding gunmen killing as many civilians as possible – is typical of the way
they operate. There are similarities, for instance, to the Bataclan attacks at a concert
in Paris back in 2015 linked to the group.
The question of who was behind today’s attack is highly charged because of the
international context. Ukrainian officials – and their allies – are clearly worried
Kyiv might be blamed by Moscow.
There is also the question of the
US warning on 7 March about “extremists” attacking concerts. That
public warning – based almost certainly on intelligence – appears to have been
dismissed by Russian officials.
And so while there are always questions about
who was behind an attack and if it could have been prevented, this time the
pressure on Moscow may be more intense to see what they say and how they
respond.