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Tajikistan detains 9 over Moscow concert hall attack
Tajikistan arrested nine people in connection with last week's attack on the Crocus City Hall music venue on the outskirts of Moscow, in which at least 143 people were killed.
The state security committee detained them on Monday in the city of Vakhdat, a source told Reuters news agency.
The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing an unnamed source, reported that Russian security forces were also involved in the operation to detain the suspects.
The suspects were being detained in the capital, Dushanbe, and were suspected of having been in communication with the attackers.
Tajikistan, Russia cooperate after concert hall attack
Russian authorities arrested 11 people in the first 24 hours after the attack, and eight, including the four suspected gunmen, have been placed in pretrial detention. All but one of them are believed to be Tajik citizens.
On Thursday, Russian investigators said they had evidence linking "Ukrainian nationalists" to last week's attack on the concert hall.
Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack, and the United States dismissed the Russian claims as "nonsense propaganda."
Last Friday's attack has been claimed by the ISIS-K terror group, an offshoot of the self-styled "Islamic State" based in Afghanistan.
The predominantly Muslim nation of Tajikistan borders Afghanistan and is a member of a Russian-led security bloc and hosts a Russian military base, reports DW.
Reuters reported authorities there have rounded up the families of the suspected gunmen so that Russian investigators can question them in Dushanbe.