Marcos condemns Moscow concert hall attack

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the attack at a concert hall in Moscow on Friday that left 115 people dead. 

”I am profoundly saddened by the innocent lives lost in the horrific ISIS attack at the concert hall in Moscow,” Marcos posted on X on Saturday.

”My deepest condolences to the families affected by this senseless act of terrorism. We stand united in condemning terrorism in all its forms.”

Camouflaged gunmen opened fire at the packed Crocus City Hall in Moscow’s northern suburb of Krasnogorsk on Friday evening ahead of a concert by Soviet-era rock band Piknik in the deadliest attack in Russia for at least a decade.

Both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers said there were no Filipino casualties in the attack claimed by the Islamic State.

Russia’s FSB security service said some of the perpetrators had fled towards the Russia-Ukraine border, adding that the assailants had “appropriate contacts” in the country.

It did not provide further details.

Some Russian lawmakers also pointed to Kyiv, without providing evidence.

Ukraine, which has been facing a Russian military offensive for the past two years, had “nothing to do” with the attack, according to a statement by presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak on Telegram.

The Kremlin said the head of the FSB security service had informed Putin about the arrests, while authorities warned the number of fatalities was set to keep rising, with more than 100 still hospitalized and a search of the burnt-out venue ongoing.

“FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov reported to the president the detention of 11 people, including four terrorists involved in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall,” it said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin himself has not made any public remarks or been seen in public in the more than 12 hours since the attack. — with a report from Agence France-Presse/VBL, GMA Integrated News