The president of Tajikistan on Sunday condemned the Moscow concert hall attack in a call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, amid allegations the gunmen were Tajik citizens.
Russian media, including Telegram channels with links to the security services, and a lawmaker have alleged that the four suspected assailants were Tajiks.
Russian authorities have said only that four suspects arrested after Friday's attack were foreign nationals and Tajikistan has rejected the initial claims its citizens were involved.
"Terrorists have no nationality, no homeland and no religion," President Emomali Rahmon told Putin in a phone call, the Tajikistan president's office said in a statement on Sunday.
The language echoed similar previous remarks made by Rahmon regarding extremism.
The statement contained no direct reference to reports of the alleged shooters' citizenship.
The Islamic State (IS) group, which has claimed responsibility for the attack, is active in Tajikistan, a Central Asian nation which shares a border with Afghanistan.
The Kremlin said on Sunday the two leaders had agreed to "intensify" their joint counter-terrorism efforts.
On Saturday, Tajikistan's foreign ministry said reports that its citizens were involved were "fake".
The interior ministry also said two of those initially named in Russian media were in Tajikistan at the time of the attack.
Putin said on Saturday that 11 people had been arrested over the attack, including the four suspected gunmen, who it said were trying to flee to Ukraine.
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IS has said it was behind the attack on multiple occasions since Friday, though Russian officials have not publicly addressed the claims of responsibility.
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Comments (3)
From the article: "Terrorists have no nationality, no homeland and no religion," President Emomali Rahmon told Putin in a phone call, the Tajikistan president's office said in a statement on Sunday.
So much for Putin's claim this terrorist act is 'Ukrainian'. With rhetorical support like Rahmon's, who needs critics?
Tajikistan is overflowing with the worst human right abuses. Its a shithole country.
@Jack Griifen, you mean Turkmenistan?
Putin wants desperately to frame this as an Ukraine sponsored attack, but the world knows that of the two warring parties, only russia attack's civilian gatherings. For example the Mariupol theatre he bombed while sheltering +300 civilians (....and Ukraines hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure).
This was an ISIS attack. Were they enabled by the Kremlin to be there? Good question.....
---- Why when the whole world was publicly warned a week earlier by US intelligence of an imminent terrorist attack on a large civilian gathering in Moscow, did putin do nothing? He even publicly denied this benevolent US intelligence and that any attacks would happen.
---- Why was there no security a this venue. Was it all assigned instead to protect just one man. ISIS was able to walk right into the stands with no return fire form the lobby. It even took 30 minutes for putin's / Moscow's security forces to arrive at the slaughter scene. Did they walk leisurely?
---- Given the above, why did he knowingly allow a terrorist attack at a venue that attracted the one demographic least inclined to support his war against Ukraine (primarily a youth attended rock concert).
A thug is a thug is a thug. Expect nothing more from putin. The weight of this slaughter rest on both the perpetrator and Putin's shoulders