ISIS claims responsibility for first terror attack in Russia after men try to kill police with gun and axes near Moscow

ISIS has claimed its first terror attack on Russian soil after two supporters attempted to murder police officers near Moscow. Both of the 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 one of the men was shot dead while attacking the post and the other was killed when he put up “armed resistance”. Two police officers were injured in the attack, one seriously, but were expected to survive.

Isis’ propaganda agency released a video of the attackers late on Thursday night showing them pledging allegiance to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Naming them as Uthman Mardalov and Salim Israilov, the terrorist group hailed them as “soldiers of the Islamic State”.

The one-and-a-half minute video showed the men, wearing hoodies and speaking in a mixture of Russian and Arabic, announcing their support for Isis and saying they had “taken the path of jihadi on the command of the emir”.

They ended the footage by threatening more attacks on Russia and shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”).

Russian security services announced the arrest of several suspected Isis supporters in Balashikha in July, where they had been distributing propaganda and attempting to recruit militants.

Read more at Independent

Image provided by AP