Americans in Moscow have been told to avoid concerts and crowded areas amid warnings of an imminent terror attack.Credit:AP
“The embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow,to include concerts,and US citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours,” the embassy said on its website.
It issued its warning several hours after Russia’s Federal Security Service (FBS),the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB,said it had foiled an attack on a synagogue in Moscow by a cell of the militant Sunni Muslim group Islamic State.
It was unclear if the two statements were linked.
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The war in Ukraine has triggered the deepest crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The Kremlin accuses the US of fighting against Russia by supporting Ukraine with money,weapons and intelligence.
The FSB said an Islamic State cell was operating in Russia’s Kaluga region as part of the Afghan arm of the group,which is known as ISIS-Khorasan and seeks a caliphate across Afghanistan,Pakistan,Turkmenistan,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan and Iran.
The group first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and established a reputation for extreme brutality.