ISIS says Russia subway blast was 'a Metro to Hell for the Worshipers of the Cross'

Jardine Malado Wednesday, April 05, 2017

Russian president Vladimir Putin puts flowers down outside Tekhnologicheskiy Institut metro station in St. Petersburg, Russia. | Reuters/Grigory Duko

The Islamic State terror group celebrated the St. Petersburg subway bombing on Monday that killed at least 14 people and injured more than 40.

Supporters of the terror group said that Monday's blast made "a metro to hell for the worshipers of the Cross," Vocativ reported. They also claimed that it was carried out in retaliation to Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against ISIS and other rebel groups in Syria's civil war.

"We ask Allah to bless the operation by the lions of the Caliphate, we ask Allah to kill the Crusaders," an ISIS supporter wrote on the terror group's al-Minbar online forum.

The attack is still under investigation, but Russian authorities have identified the bombing suspect as a Kyrgyzstan-born Russian citizen. It was reported that the bombing created a "huge hole in the side of a carriage and blew off the door, with metal wreckage strewn across the platform."

A second device was found minutes later at a separate station, but it was dealt with before it could explode. The authorities shut down all the metro stations in the city following the blast.

Days before the bombing, ISIS reportedly released propaganda material with the message, "We Will Burn Russia."

One image featured an ISIS militant in front of the Kremlin with the caption "kill them where you find them," according to Express. Another propaganda material encouraged the group's supporters to carry out attacks on Moscow.

The terror group also reportedly released a poster depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin with bullet holes in his head.

Putin, who is currently visiting St. Petersburg, expressed his condolences and said that the authorities are considering the incident as a terror attack "first of all."

"The causes of this event have not been determined yet, so it's too early to talk about possible causes," he stated.

Russian law enforcement agents identified the main suspect who carried out the suicide bombing as Akbarzhon Jalilov, who was born in 1995 in the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's Foreign Minister, said that the blast "once again shows the importance of stepping up joint efforts to combat this evil." U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders have offered their "full support" to Putin who hails from St. Petersburg.