Group claims Russia metro bombing, says bomber acted on al Qaeda orders - monitor

FILE PHOTO: People lay flowers during a memorial to pay tribute to the victims of the St. Petersburg metro blast that took place on April 3, in central Moscow, Russia April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - A group called the Imam Shamil Battalion has claimed responsibility for a metro bombing in the Russian city of St. Petersburg that killed 16 people and said the bomber was acting on orders from al Qaeda, according to the SITE monitoring group.

The claim by the little-known group was originally published by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which is often used by West and North African jihadist groups to release statements.