Group Claims Responsibility for St. Pete Attack, Says Acted on al-Qaeda Orders

Imam Shamil Battalion group has claimed responsibility for St. Petersburg terrorist attack, revealing that it allegedly acted on orders from al-Qaeda, the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) institute announced Tuesday. The statement comes more than three weeks after the attack.

The group's statement was originally published by a Mauritanian news agency and translated by SITE. In the statement, the group claimed that the bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov, had acted on instructions from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

On April 3, a suicide explosion hit a subway car on a stretch between two subway stations in the center of St. Petersburg, claiming 16 lives, including the perpetrator of the attack, and leaving about 50 people wounded. Russia's Investigative Committee said that a Russian citizen of Kyrgyz descent Akbarzhon Dzhalilov was the prime suspect, but did not rule out the possibility of the perpetrator having accomplices.

Last week, Russia's FSB detained two suspects, Abror Azimov, accused of training Jalilov, and his elder brother Akram, who has been accused of helping transfer money for the preparation of the terrorist attack and assisting in establishing communication channels with the emissaries of international terrorist organizations.

Russian investigators later said that Jalilov had received money from an "international terrorist group" in Turkey. Judge on the case ruled that the suspect received money from a terrorist group participant in Turkey for the preparation of the terrorist act.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!