FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted that officials are concerned about the potential for “some kind of coordinated” terrorist attack in the U.S., possibly reminiscent of the March terrorist attack at the Moscow concert hall at the hands of ISIS-K, which claimed well over 100 lives.
In an interview with NBC News, Wray warned that the threat of terrorism following the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7 is as “high as it has been in some time, especially from lone actors or small groups radicalized at home by the war,” according to the outlet. But now, fears have been elevated, particularly following ISIS-K’s March 22 attack at the Crocus City Hall.
“But he said there are also elevated fears about a coordinated terror attack in a public place, a prospect that for the last decade has been seen by intelligence officials as extremely remote,” NBC News reported.
“We are increasingly concerned [about] the potential for some kind of coordinated attack here in the homeland, which may be not that different from what you saw against the concert hall in Russia a few weeks ago from ISIS-K,” Wray told the outlet.
In March, gunmen opened fire in Moscow’s northern suburb of Krasnogorsk and set the complex on fire, leading to the deaths of at least 143 individuals. Gunshot wounds and smoke inhalation were the main causes of death, according to Russian authorities.
Emergency service vehicles are seen outside the burning Crocus City Hall following the shooting incident in Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, on March 22, 2024. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
A statement from the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), delivered by Chargé d’Affaires Katherine Brucker, noted the attack was the “deadliest terrorist attack in Europe since the Beslan school siege in 2004.” Brucker cited U.S. information surmising that “ISIS-K probably attacked Russia to demonstrate its ability to extend its reach beyond South Asia and because of Moscow’s relationship with the Taliban and ongoing military intervention against ISIS in Syria.”
Some say ISIS-K’s attack is particularly embarrassing to the Biden administration, showing that the terrorist group was able to regroup following President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, and others are warning that this could lead to increased chances of attacks in the U.S.
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CBS News Senior National Security Contributor Michael Morell, who served as acting and Deputy Director of the CIA under President Barack Obama, said the group “is now, I think, the strongest ISIS group in the world.”
“They are very capable,” Morell warned. “They conducted an attack in Iran in early January, this attack now, very large, very capable. I think it’s safe to say that ISIS-K is, today, much stronger than it was when we walked out of Afghanistan in [2021].”
MSNBC National Security Analyst Clint Watts said the group has been “expanding regionally with attacks, not just in Russia, but in Iran, they’ve had two attacks, mass casualties, as well.”
“So, they’re definitely increasing in terms of their capability,” Watts continued, adding, “We should worry more regionally, U.S. targets regionally.”
“So, imagine if you’re in South Asia, Central Asia, or potentially into, like, the Eurasian, Central East Asia region, you’re probably at risk,” he continued.
“And I think what you’ll see is they continue to target regionally: that’s Russia and that’s Iran and that’s the United States and Europeans, as well,” he added.
WATCH — MSNBC’s Watts: ISIS-K Is Boosting Capability, U.S. Targets in Area Likely “at Risk”
Russia, which has attempted to pin the attack on Ukraine and the U.S., admitted it ignored a warning from U.S. intelligence on the attack, claiming it was “too general and did not allow us to fully identify those who participated in this terrible crime.” ISIS has also openly taken responsibility.
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