Moscow attack: Eighth suspect in custody

The man from Kyrgyzstan is accused of providing shelter to the four suspected attackers from Tajikistan. Two of the accused were in Turkey before the attack, according to Turkish security circles.

• More on the topic: Putin: Terrorist attack near Moscow carried out by radical Islamists

The two Tajiks traveled from Istanbul to Moscow on the same flight on March 2nd; there was no arrest warrant against them, which is why they were able to travel unhindered. The two men were staying in a hotel in Istanbul. One of the two posted photos from Istanbul on online services several times in February. According to information from Turkish security circles, he said that he traveled to Turkey because his visa for Russia had expired.

“We assume that the two became radicalized in Russia since they were only in Turkey for a short time,” said a Turkish official who wished to remain anonymous.

Call to report potential attacks

Meanwhile, the Russian domestic secret service FSB called on the Russian population to help prevent potential attacks. Calls to carry out attacks in Russia should be reported immediately, the state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.

After the devastating attack near Moscow on Friday evening in which almost 140 people were killed, Russian investigators interviewed family members of the four suspected attackers on Tuesday, according to Tajik security circles. The families were brought from different parts of Tajikistan to the capital Dushanbe for questioning, say the three insiders.

• Also read: Attack near Moscow: More than 130 dead, many unanswered questions

Shortly after the attack, the jihadist militia “Islamic State” (IS) claimed responsibility for the crime. Experts suspect the IS offshoot Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISPK) was behind the attack. The ISPK was founded in 2014 and recruits very actively in ex-Soviet states in Central Asia and the Caucasus.