An Unofficial Islamic State Claim for a Suicide Bombing in Moscow

It has been clear for some time that while the Islamic State has a clearly defined official media apparatus, the group also places value on the efforts of ‘munasirin’ (‘supporters’) to engage in unofficial media propaganda on behalf of the group. The efforts of ‘munasirin’ vary widely in scope, from simply making posts and comments on Facebook and other social media platforms to producing videos and imitations of the Islamic State’s weekly al-Naba’ newsletter.

Recently, Russian officials reported that an explosion outside a train station in Moscow, which killed a traffic police officer, was a suicide bombing. The Islamic State has not issued an official claim of responsibility for the attack, but a ‘munasirin’ outlet- Nabd al-Salaf al-Quqaze (‘The Pulse of the Caucasus Predecessors’- suggesting it is a Caucasus-focused outlet)- has claimed that the attack was a ‘martyrdom operation’ in a special report in its own al-Naba’-style newsletter entitled ‘The White One From Grozny’. The same outlet, it should be noted, also worked on transcribing and translating the new speech by Islamic State spokesman Abu Hudhayfa al-Ansari.

That the Islamic State has not issued an official claim does not mean that the incident was not the work of an Islamic State supporter. After all, the group has made clear previously that it does not necessarily issue an official claim for every attack carried out by an Islamic State supporter, but may limit itself to commendation or even deliberate silence.

Below is the report from the ‘munasirin’ outlet on the Moscow incident together with my translation.