Moscow: ISIS has claimed its first terror attack on Russian soil after two supporters attempted to murder police officers near Moscow.
Both men were killed during the assault at a traffic post on a motorway in Balashika on Wednesday, when they were armed with a gun and two axes.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said the suspects were Uthman Mardalov and Salim Israilov and ISIS hailed them as “soldiers of the Islamic State”, the Daily Mail reported.
The ISIS news agency Amaq released a short video featuring the two terrorists. The pair declared allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during the one-and-a-half minute clip. The pair were wearing hoodies and spoke both Russian and Arabic, according to the Independent.
During the video, the pair claimed they wanted to take revenge for Russians killing Muslims in the Middle East.
Russia has been bombing militants in Syria since September last year, part of a military campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad. ISIS called on its members to carry out jihad in Russia in a video last month.
