The Moscow attack shows the threat from Isis is as high as ever – the West must beware

At a time of combustible geopolitics, with international focus on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, terrorist groups will seek to take advantage of a frayed security landscape, writes Kim Sengupta

Isis is believed to have been responsible for some of the bloodiest recent terror attacks in Russia (AP)

Strong indications that Islamist extremists were planning to carry out an attack – “a spectacular” one in terms of its lethal ambition – had been around for a while. And there was a certain grim inevitability to the massacre of more than 140 people that took place yesterday in Moscow.

Despite relations between Nato and Russia reaching the lowest point since the coldest of times during the Cold War, channels of communication on matters of terrorism have remained active between the Kremlin and a number of Western states.

It is believed that the US, and then the UK, were receiving information at the start of the year that Isis was planning an attack in Russia in the near future, and warnings were passed on to Moscow by the Americans.