Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said ABC News on Sunday that the terrorist incident that occurred last Friday at the Crocus City Hall music venue south of Moscow demonstrated that Islamic State militants had been able to re-establish their activities in Afghanistan after the messy US exit in 2021.
Prior to the rock band Picnic's performance at the venue last week, four gunmen broke in. With a 7,500 capacity predicted, the arena was almost packed. The terrorists sparked a fire that swiftly spread throughout the structure after killing the unarmed guards and starting to shoot at the guests. According to authorities, there were over 180 injuries and at least 137 fatalities.
Speaking to ABC's "This Week," Rubio said that the fact that the Islamic State's branch in Afghanistan, known as ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), has taken credit for the crime indicates that the organization has recovered momentum and may be preparing further strikes.
The senator said that one of the primary complaints of US President Joe Biden's hasty pullout from Afghanistan was that it would allow terrorists "operating space to reorganize themselves," adding that ISIS-K "reconstituted itself as we warned would happen when we had this disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan."
"They may now operate freely after we withdraw from Afghanistan and are no longer able to carry out frequent attacks there. The Taliban cannot defeat them, no matter how much they want to. Rubio said that the Islamic State has now "found a place to operate from" and is probably searching for additional "real estate" where they can plan and coordinate assaults. "They do not have the capability to do it," he added.
Rubio said that Islamic State fanatics have recently carried out a number of strikes in Afghanistan and Iran and issued a warning that, given the recent slaughter on Russian territory, they may soon try to carry out a similar operation in the US.
The senator said that Islamic State "would love to do what they did in Moscow here inside the United States" and that "their aspirations go beyond Russia and Iran."
He emphasized that the US should be "extremely concerned" about this danger and hinted that terrorists from the Islamic State would utilize trafficking networks to cross the US-Mexico border and infiltrate the nation.
"We need to exercise extreme caution when it comes to a border where nine million people have crossed in the last three years," Rubio said.
Prior to the rock band Picnic's performance at the venue last week, four gunmen broke in. With a 7,500 capacity predicted, the arena was almost packed. The terrorists sparked a fire that swiftly spread throughout the structure after killing the unarmed guards and starting to shoot at the guests. According to authorities, there were over 180 injuries and at least 137 fatalities.
Speaking to ABC's "This Week," Rubio said that the fact that the Islamic State's branch in Afghanistan, known as ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), has taken credit for the crime indicates that the organization has recovered momentum and may be preparing further strikes.
The senator said that one of the primary complaints of US President Joe Biden's hasty pullout from Afghanistan was that it would allow terrorists "operating space to reorganize themselves," adding that ISIS-K "reconstituted itself as we warned would happen when we had this disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan."
"They may now operate freely after we withdraw from Afghanistan and are no longer able to carry out frequent attacks there. The Taliban cannot defeat them, no matter how much they want to. Rubio said that the Islamic State has now "found a place to operate from" and is probably searching for additional "real estate" where they can plan and coordinate assaults. "They do not have the capability to do it," he added.
Rubio said that Islamic State fanatics have recently carried out a number of strikes in Afghanistan and Iran and issued a warning that, given the recent slaughter on Russian territory, they may soon try to carry out a similar operation in the US.
The senator said that Islamic State "would love to do what they did in Moscow here inside the United States" and that "their aspirations go beyond Russia and Iran."
He emphasized that the US should be "extremely concerned" about this danger and hinted that terrorists from the Islamic State would utilize trafficking networks to cross the US-Mexico border and infiltrate the nation.
"We need to exercise extreme caution when it comes to a border where nine million people have crossed in the last three years," Rubio said.
