ISIS spoils Putin’s Syria war victory joy

Islam Mohamed

The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has carefully selected the timing of the December 27th attack in the northwestern part of Russia.

The attack, which took place inside a shopping mall in Saint Petersburg, came hard on the heels of an announcement by Russian President, Vladimir Putin, that his country’s army had defeated extremists in Syria.

Although Russian authorities had succeeded in arresting the perpetrator of the attack, the attack caused embarrassment to Putin who gets ready to seek a new term in the presidency on March 18th.

Russian media quoted Russian security officials as saying that they had moved the attacker to their offices for interrogation.

The attack left 18 people injured, including eight who are still receiving treatment at hospitals. Putin described it as a “terrorist” one.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the pro-ISIS news agency Amaq on December 29th.

The terrorist organization had previously vowed to target Russia against the background of its military operations in Syria.

On April 3rd, an attack on the underground in Saint Petersburg, the third largest city in Russia, left 15 people dead and dozens of others injured. A shadowy organization affiliated to al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. It said it carried it out in revenge for Russian interference in the war in Syria.

On December 16th, Russian security agencies announced the arrest of the members of an ISIS ring in Saint. Petersburg too. The arrest of the members of the ring was made at a tip from the US Central Intelligence Agency. The announcement coincided with the pullout of Russian troops from Syria.

In Russia, military operations in Syria are viewed as a victory over international terrorism.

A number of observers say, meanwhile, that a large number of the citizens of the former Soviet republics fought side by side with ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

These citizens, they add, will pose huge national security dangers to Russia once they return to their countries from the battlefields in the two war-torn states.