MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman expressed its strong condemnation of the armed terrorist attack that took place in the Crocus City Hall near the Russian capital, Moscow, which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries.
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday expressing its sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and the friendly government and people of the Russian Federation and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday vowed to punish those behind a "barbaric terrorist attack" on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130, saying Russia had arrested four gunmen who were trying to flee to Ukraine.
Kyiv has strongly denied any connection, and Putin made no reference to claims of responsibility by the IS in his first public remarks on the attack.
At least 133 people were killed when camouflaged gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall, in Moscow's northern suburb of Krasnogorsk, and then set fire to the building on Friday evening.
The IS group has claimed the attack, writing on Saturday on a Telegram channel that it was "carried out by four IS fighters armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and firebombs," as part of "the raging war."
It is the deadliest attack in Russia for almost two decades and the deadliest in Europe to have been claimed by IS.
Russian officials expect the death toll to rise further, with more than 100 injured in hospital.
"Terrorists, murderers, non-humans... have only one unenviable fate: retribution and oblivion," Putin said in a televised address to the nation on Saturday.
Calling the attack a "barbaric, terrorist act", he said "all four direct perpetrators... all those who shot and killed people, have been found and detained".
"They tried to escape and were travelling towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," he added.
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