By Steve Holland
(Reuters) – The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for a deadly shooting at a concert near Moscow, a U.S. official said on Friday.
The official said the United States had warned Russia in recent weeks about the possibility of an attack.
“We did warn the Russians appropriately,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, without providing any additional details.
At least 40 people were killed and 145 wounded on Friday when camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on concertgoers near Moscow in one of the deadliest attacks on Russia in decades.
Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Amaq agency said on Telegram.
The death toll made it one of the worst attacks on Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people hostage, including hundreds of children.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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