ISIS-K, the group that claimed responsibility and was seen on video attacking a Moscow concert hall on March 22 and killing over 140 people, would like to execute a similar attack on the U.S., according to current and former officials.

“The U.S. remains target No. 1 for ISIS-K,” retired two-star Army general who oversaw intelligence operations for U.S. Central Command Mark Quantock said. “They clearly would like to strike the homeland, but their challenge is penetrating our security, which has proven to be quite resilient in recent years.”

The Muslim group considers Russia and the U.S. anti-Muslim, citing Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad who has targeted Muslims in the civil war there.

The same group was responsible for the killing of 13 American service members during the disastrous Afghanistan pullout in 2021.

More violent than ISIS

Reportedly, even the Taliban is not devout enough for the group. The group is even more violent than ISIS.

The K in the name stands for Khorasan, a region of Afghanistan.

The group has been able to carry out attacks outside that country, but has lacked the reach to target Western Europe and beyond in recent years.

Besides the Moscow attack, ISIS-K suicide bombers killed about 100 worshippers in Iran in January. The last attack in Western Europe was eight years ago and killed 17 people.

The group has made efforts to inspire sympathizers to execute their own attacks in those areas and in the U.S., however.

More attacks possible

Army Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, related that the Taliban has attempted to suppress ISIS-K, but did not do a good enough job to prevent it from regenerating.

Kurilla believes the group could attack U.S. and western interests in other parts of the world within six months “with little to no warning."

The U.S. warned Russia repeatedly about the possibility of an attack, including in writing on March 7 as protocol demands.

Former intelligence official Mark Quantock said that coordination between agencies like Customs and Border Patrol, the FBI, the Pentagon and the intelligence community is at an all-time high.

The government cannot become complacent, however, he said. “ISIS has proven to be a pretty patient foe. And the U.S. attention span is notably short.”