Arun Joshi
The Moscow terror attack Friday killing 60 people and wounding scores of others is not an isolated incident confined to Russia , it has its global ramifications , in particular in South Asia where the perpetrators of the heinous crime are based . The Islamic State -Khorasan , which claimed the responsibility for the atrocities in the Music Concert Hall in Moscow is based in Afghanistan , rivalling the ruling Taliban .
As the initial reports from Moscow have suggested that the men in combat dresses stormed into the hall spraying bullets , killing unsuspecting music lovers of all ages , including children , it becomes clear that the terrorists had all this in their mind when they executed their act of terror. This is a dangerous thing , though it is known that terrorists rarely think of women and children .
There are world-wide ramifications, and the reasons are not far to seek . First because it is the deadliest terror attack in the world in 2024 , which seeks to convey that terrorists have the audacity to strike anywhere with deadly effect . The rest of the world cannot remain unconcerned as such attacks demonstrate the potential of terror groups to mount terror assaults at places of their choices . They have conveyed the message of their immense reach and resources and the people they targeted .
Moscow is the capital city of Russia , and it has its own position in the world map . Russia is regarded as one of the most powerful countries in the world, and it has its own counter-terrorism mechanism that it had built to counter terrorism emanating from a rebel province of Chechnya .
Secondly, the ISIS-K is based in Afghanistan , which lies at the crossroads of South and Central Asia. This group had orchestrated a horrible terror attack at Kabul airport in August 2021. More than 100 were killed in that attack . It is also responsible for a huge terror attack in Iran in which more than 100 people became victims of the assault . that depicts the reach and capacity of this group in Afghanistan and beyond its borders .
The Moscow attack have spurred major concerns for India too. As this group has claimed that it wanted to “ kill Christians,” underlining its ultra- radical ideology of inflicting as many losses on the non-Muslims and also on the moderate Muslims . this ideology, drawn from the Islamic State which created havoc in Syria, Lebanon and other countries in Mid-East. In early 2000s . The ISIS_K is committed to the ideology of violence targeting the non-Muslims, whom it denounces as infidels .
For all the terror groups , whether operating on the ground or behind the curtains of silence , the Moscow terror attack is a morale-booster . It is reflection of a tendency to draw strength ,from the acts of terror . And the fact of the matter is that from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, there are several Islamic radical groups , some of them with arms , looking for consolidating their base. The terror attacks instill fear among the people , and that fear is weaponized by terrorists . This has been experience of Kashmir where for the past 34 years security forces have been battling terrorists and their ideology. While the physical elimination of terrorists poses a challenge, but the bigger challenge is to neutralize their ideology > The security forces achieved in curbing the physical violence and acts of terror , the ideology has not been fully neutralized . These e attacks inspire these ultra-radicals and can cause harm to the national security. That is where government of India should relook at its counter-terrorism strategies.
