Don’t blame Muslims – the Moscow Attack was likely NOT mere Jihadi Terrorism

Terrorism has once again reared its ugly head once in Moscow. For some, the attack on the Moscow concert hall, killing well over one hundred and injuring many more, recalls the Chechen terror attacks of the early 2000s. The Chechens back then, perhaps like last night’s alleged Tajik perpetrators, were manipulated by forces outside of their native homeland. Once this was revealed, the Chechens became fiercely loyal to Russia and are now among the most feared Russian soldiers operating inside Ukraine.

It is fitting that, according to the head of Chechnya today, Chechen forces played a key role in the capture of last night’s attackers – who were caught fleeing to safety in Ukraine.

Within hours of the attack, the US was quick to put all blame on ISIS, claiming the US and its partners in Ukraine had nothing to do with the attack. Reports as they come in, however, do not seem to back up the idea that the attack was carried out by jihadists. If so, we can understand the rage felt by many Chechens and their pious Islamic brethren who so often get blamed for the terrorist attacks conduced by Salafist Muslims – the minority branch of Islam responsible for virtually all modern Islamic terrorism.

But why doesn’t last night’s attack reflect what we’ve seen from virtually every other 21st century jihadi attack?

First off, the terrorists survived. While there were initial reports that they had barricaded themselves inside the concert hall, it was later revealed that they threw off all their gear and dispersed into the fleeing crowd. This is strikingly different from how modern jihadis operate. In virtually every case since 9/11, we’ve seen jihadis fight to the death, or commit suicide as part of the attack. The men last night clearly intended to kill Russians and get away. This is terrorism to be sure, but not the kind of terrorism we see from al Qaeda or ISIS operatives.

It now appears that all four attackers and their immediate accomplices were captured by Russian security forces. It has since been alleged that one of the attackers admitted he was paid five hundred thousand rubles to kill Russians. This sounds much more like an attack by hired guns, not jihadi terrorists.

The fact that these men attempted to flee to Ukraine casts a great deal of suspicion on the Ukrainian government. President Putin’s own statement this morning appeared to indicate that the attackers had help waiting for across the Ukraine border. And despite Ukraine’s denials, Ukraine has openly admitted to conducting terrorist attacks within Russia since 2022. On October 8, 2022, Ukraine hid a bomb on board a truck that resulted in doing significant damage to the civilian segment of the Kerch Strait Bridge. The blast killed five innocent civilians, including the unsuspecting driver who had no idea that Ukraine put a bomb abord his truck. What’s more, Ukraine is accused of conducting a terrorist car bombing on August 20, 2022 and terrorist café bombing on April 2, 2023, which killed civilian analysts Darya Dugina and Vladlen Tatarsky. Darya was the daughter of Alexander Dugin, a popular Russian philosopher who many believe was the intended target of the bombing. To this day, Ukrainian nationalists maintain what many deem a “kill list” of people who are considered enemies of Ukraine. Such instances of terrorism and ethnic extremism are certainly not helpful as Ukraine professes its innocence of this latest terrorist atrocity.

We can be sure that the captured perpetrators will reveal what led up to the attack and who recruited and paid them. Russia is sure to report if they were Tajik mercenaries hired through the Ukrainian embassy in Tajikistan. Such a revelation could lead to a full declaration of war on Ukraine and the unleashing of Russia’s armed forces no longer bound to follow the strict rules governing a mere special military operation. What’s more, if the United States and its allies push false evidence in an attempt to connect the attack to ISIS, things might disastrously escalate between Russia and its NATO adversary.

While we can’t change what is taking place half a world away, we can keep ourselves from blaming a religion that very likely had nothing to do with the terror attack in Moscow last night. Pious Muslim soldiers, many of whom are from Chechnya, now fight in the ranks of Russia’s armed forces. They see Russia as a Christian ally in a war against the godless atheism of the post-Christian West. If anything, Russia is the best example of a Christian nation that has successfully integrated an Islamic minority into its national bonds of affection. We should not expect an anti-Islamic response from Russia, and we should reject any notion that would blame Islam itself for this recent attack. Even if it is shown that these men had some sort of connection with ISIS, we should follow the lead of Russia as it mourns its dead and not blame an entire religion for the crimes of few of its adherents.