Investigators name terrorist group behind St. Petersburg metro attack

Society & Culture July 03, 2018, 20:26

The Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad organization was involved in the terror attack, according to investigators

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia, has been found to be behind the last year’s terror attack on St. Petersburg’s metro, an investigator told a Moscow City Court hearing on this case on Tuesday.

"It has been established that the Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad organization, which is banned in Russia, was involved in the terror attack on St. Petersburg’s metro. Suspects have been charged with participation in a terrorist organization (part 2, Article 205.4 of the Russian Criminal Code)," he said.

Terror attack in St. Petersburg

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a moving metro train in St. Petersburg on April 3, 2017. The blast killed 15 people. As many as 112 received injuries.

The suicide bomber was identified as Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, a Russian citizen of the Kyrgyz origin.

Another explosive device was found in another St. Petersburg metro station on the same day. It was destroyed.

The incident was officially declared a terror attack by the prosecutor general’s office. Within several days after the attack, more than ten people suspected of being involved in it were detained in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Police said they had links with Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia). Ultimately, charges were brought against eleven people.

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