Court orders arrest in absentia of alleged organizer of 2017 St. Petersburg Metro attack

The Basmanny court in Moscow on Thursday ordered the arrest in absentia of the alleged organizer of the terrorist attack in the St. Petersburg Metro in 2017. Kyrgyz native Sirozhiddin Mukhtarov, who is on the federal and international wanted list, is a member of Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, investigators say. They have found the group was behind the terrorist attack on St. Petersburg’s Metro on April 3, 2017. An unknown device exploded in a train between the stations Technological Institute and Sennaya Ploshchad, and 16 people died in the blast including the suicide bomber, while over 50 were wounded, officials said. Two explosives were manufactured by the suicide bomber Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, according to investigators.