Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) blamed the policies of the Biden administration for the terrorist attack in Moscow.
In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Cotton said that the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan enabled the Friday ISIS-K terrorist attack on Moscow.
“As you saw what ISIS from Afghanistan was able to do in Moscow a couple days ago, this is the unfortunate echo of President Biden’s chaotic and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — the same group that killed 13 Americans,” he said.
“Just a few days ago, at the Armed Services Committee, I asked our commanding general in the Middle East about ISIS’s capacity to project attacks from Afghanistan,” he continued. “He said that in as little as six months, and it turned out to be closer to six days, ISIS from Afghanistan, with little or no warning, could attack Western interests across Asia and Europe, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen happen.”
The group that claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack was the Afghan branch of ISIS, which has been fighting the Taliban government since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. The Taliban condemned Friday’s attack and offered cooperation in fighting the group.
“It’s deeply regrettable that innocent civilians, women, and children were killed in Moscow, but the next attacks could be against an American embassy in Asia or in Europe, or against, say, students traveling to Europe on a school trip for spring break,” Cotton said. “Again, this is a very dangerous echo of President Biden’s failed withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
The Crocus City Hall attack saw four gunmen enter the popular venue and shoot people at random. ISIS-K-affiliated media posted videos of the attackers shouting Islamic extremist slogans. So far, nearly 140 people have been killed, with the total expected to rise. Four suspects were captured by security forces while on their way to Ukraine, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin has been hesitant to fully blame the attack on ISIS-K, alleging a link with Ukraine, with the only evidence being the apparent effort of the terrorists to travel to the Ukrainian border, which was geolocated by the Russian dissident outlet Meduza.
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Ukraine has vehemently denied any involvement, with the United States backing up their denials.
Russia has long been a target of Islamic terrorism, stemming from the first Chechen War in 1994 and reinvigorated by Russia’s war against ISIS in Syria. Friday’s attack was the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia since the 2004 Beslan School Siege, which resulted in the deaths of over 300 civilians, most of them schoolchildren.