The concert attack in Moscow

FSB claims: Agents from the West involved in the crime

Western intelligence services helped the perpetrators carry out the attack against the concert venue in Moscow at the end of last week, claims the head of the Russian intelligence service FSB Alexander Bortnikov during a press conference, according to AFP.

- We believe that the act was carried out both by the radical Islamists themselves and was facilitated by Western intelligence services.

Bortnikov did not provide any evidence and also repeated the claim that the perpetrators were on their way to Ukraine when they were arrested.

- I'll tell you a little secret: they would be received as heroes on the other side, he says.

Currently, eleven people have been arrested after the crime in which at least 139 were killed. According to Bortnikov, that number is likely to rise.

IS has claimed responsibility for the crime. According to the US intelligence service, there is no reason to suspect that anyone else is involved. Ukraine has firmly rejected all claims that it had anything to do with the attack.

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Gathered relatives - to be questioned by Russian investigators

On Tuesday, Russian investigators are in Tajikistan to question relatives of the men who are suspected of the terrorist act in Moscow. This is stated by Tajik security sources to Reuters.

Tajik security services are said to have gathered relatives of the detained men from various parts of Tajikistan and brought them to the capital Dushanbe for interrogation.

The Central Asian country has been plagued by jihadism after the civil war in the 90s, writes AFP. Many Tajiks joined IS during the civil war in Syria, and on the long border with Afghanistan, fighting sometimes takes place. As recently as January, Tajiks were involved when IS Khorasan carried out a terrorist attack in Iran that left 90 dead.

Several million Tajiks work in Russia, where xenophobic rhetoric is on the rise. In addition, there are reports that Central Asians are being recruited by Russia for the war in Ukraine.