UAE condemns shooting incident inside school in Tatarstan

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The UAE has condemned the shooting incident in a school in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, which resulted in the death and injury of several people, all of whom were underage students and educational staff.

Mourners gathered on Wednesday for the funerals of students and staff killed by a teenage gunman at a Russian school, a tragedy that spurred calls for tighter controls on guns and the internet.

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After Tuesday's attack left seven students and two staff dead at the school in the central city of Kazan, President Vladimir Putin called on lawmakers to toughen gun control laws and other senior officials demanded stricter regulation of the internet.

A man lays flowers outside the office of the Republic of Tatarstan to commemorate victims of Kazan school. AFP

Flags were flying at half-mast throughout Kazan, the capital of the majority Muslim Russian republic of Tatarstan.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation emphasised the UAE’s stance rejecting violence and extremism in all forms.

The Ministry offered its sincere condolences to the Tatarstan and Russian governments and to the families of the victims of this terrorist act, which contradicts all human values and principles. It also wished a speedy recovery for all the injured.

Family members wearing black and students of Elvira Ignatieva — a 25-year-old English teacher who reportedly died while shielding pupils from the gunman — laid flowers and read the Koran at her grave during a funeral ceremony.

People lay flowers at a makeshift memorial of the deadly shooting in Kazan School in Moscow, Russia. Reuters

"My niece was like a shining star: she took off, lit up and faded away," her 62-year-old aunt Anna Ignatieva told AFP, crying and wearing a black scarf.

The 19-year-old gunman opened fire on Tuesday at School No. 175 in Kazan, armed with a shotgun and at least one improvised explosive device.

He was identified as Ilnaz Galyaviev, a former student at the school.

Panic spread throughout the building, with some students jumping from windows to escape, and the gunman was detained within about an hour.

Galyaviev, who was recently dismissed from a local technical college for poor grades, was shown in interrogation footage leaked online claiming he was God and that he had "a monster" inside him.

He was due to make a first court appearance on Wednesday.