Analysts doubt involvement of IS* in suicide bombing in Grozny

The statement of the Chechen authorities about the involvement of a female suicide bomber in the "Islamic State"* (IS, a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, – note of the "Caucasian Knot") has no substantial grounds. This opinion was voiced by the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported, referring to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) that on November 17, near the checkpoint in the Staropromyslovsky District of Grozny, a woman committed a suicide bombing. Nobody was hurt among law enforcers or civilians.

The authorities of Chechnya declared the involvement of the female suicide bomber with the IS* to make her neutralization look more effective, believes Mikhail Roschin, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

"The statement claiming that the female suicide bomber acted in the interests of the IS* and was disarmed sounded loud. I do not know in whose particular interests she acted, but, most likely, the Chechen authorities are also not aware about that. And they made such a statement to make the incident impressive," Mikhail Roschin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"There is no specific information about the involvement of the female suicide bomber in the IS*," believes political analyst Alexei Malashenko, the chief researcher at the Dialogue of Civilizations Institute. And he continues: "The Chechen leaders always hold the organization responsible for everything. When no information is available, the IS* can be held responsible for everything, even for delays of electric trains," Alexei Malashenko told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The authorities of Chechnya have too early voiced a statement about the involvement of the female suicide bomber in the IS*, believes Akhmet Yarlykapov, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Caucasian Studies and Regional Security at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (known as MGIMO).

"I have never met any information proving the involvement of the female suicide bomber in the IS*. In general, there is a lot of contradictory information regarding her personality, motives, and so on," Akhmet Yarlykapov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The fact that so far the "Islamic State"* has claimed no responsibility for the terror act speaks of its non-involvement in the incident, the expert believes.

* Islamic State (IS, former ISIL) has been recognized a terrorist organization and banned in Russia by the court ruling

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 20, 2018 at 09:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.