Night of blood and horror in Paris

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A string of coordinated attacks in and around the French capital of Paris has left 127 people dead and some 200 others injured, as a state of emergency is declared in the European country shaken by the horrific attacks.

Assailants struck at least six different venues, ranging from the national sports stadium to a pizzeria, late on Friday.

French President Francois Hollande said later on Saturday that the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group was behind the attacks. He termed the attacks “an act of war.”

Shortly after the remarks by Hollande, Daesh in a statement claimed responsibility for the assaults.

Hollande said 127 people had been killed in the incidents.

Emergency personnel arrive at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, suburban Paris, November 13, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

 

According to reports, out of the roughly 200 people injured in the attacks, 80 individuals are reported to have been seriously injured.

A total of eight assailants were also killed in the attacks, most of them by detonating their explosive belts.

An extra 1,500 soldiers have been mobilized to reinforce police in Paris, Hollande’s office said. Mayor Anne Hidalgo has also urged residents to stay at their homes.

The coordinated assaults came as France, a founding member of the US-led coalition conducting airstrikes against purported Daesh positions in Syria and Iraq, was already on high alert for terrorist attacks ahead of a global climate conference due to open later this month

Police cordon off a street following several attacks in and around the French capital, Paris, November 13, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

 

Hollande, meanwhile, cancelled his visit to the summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) international forum in Turkey and will be represented there by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Finance Minister Michel Sapin.

Emergency declared, borders closed

Soon after the attacks, the French president declared a state of emergency in a bid to contain the security situation in the country.

“As I speak, terrorist attacks of unprecedented proportions are underway in the Paris area. There are dozens killed, there are many injured. It is a horror.”

He also said France’s borders have been ordered shut following the attacks.

“We must ensure that no one comes in to commit any act whatsoever, and at the same time make sure that those who have committed these crimes should be arrested if they try to leave the country,” the French president said in a brief televised statement.

French President Francois Hollande (C), surrounded by bodyguards, arrives at the scene of an attack in Paris, November 13, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

 

Meanwhile, condemnations and expressions of sympathy are pouring in for the French government and people.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has sent a message to his French counterpart, condemning the attacks.

“In the name of the Iranian nation, itself a victim of the evil scourge of terrorism, I strongly condemn these inhumane crimes and condole with the bereaved French nation and government,” President Rouhani said in his message.

Other countries, including the United States, Russia, Britain, Germany, Spain, India, Australia, and Turkey, as well as the European Union (EU) have voiced their condemnation of the attacks.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has also condemned the attacks in the French capital.

The United Nations (UN)’s Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also condemned the attacks. So has the Vatican.

A number of countries, including China, have also said they are ready to work with France to combat terrorism.

Saudi Arabia, whose preachers officially preach Wahhabism, an extremely intolerant and violent ideology, has also said the Paris attacks show it is necessary to eradicate “threats to global security” through joint international efforts.

In the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, 15 assailants out of the total 19 were Saudi nationals.

Paris in the crosshairs

The French capital had been targeted in another series of terrorist attacks as recently as January 7, when gunmen attacked the Paris offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people and wounding 11 others.

The incident was followed by a series of sieges and shootings across Paris, resulting in the killing of more people and an extensive sense of insecurity in the country.

In a posthumous video released a few days later, Amedy Coulibaly, a gunman who killed four hostages in another terror attack at a Paris supermarket before he was slain by police, claimed he was acting on behalf of the Daesh Takfiri group in coordination with the two brothers who attacked Charlie Hebdooffices. He said the two brothers, Said and Cherif Kouachi, were affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorist group.

Assad compares Paris terror to plight of Syria

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has condemned the string of coordinated terrorist attacks that killed at least 127 people in and around the French capital of Paris.

“What France suffered from – savage terror – is what the Syrian people have been enduring for over five years,” he said on Saturday, hours after the attacks in France.

The attacks in France were carried out late on Friday, when assailants struck at least six different venues in and around the French capital.

President Assad added in a meeting with a delegation of French lawmakers in the Syrian capital of Damascus that “mistaken policies” adopted by Paris have contributed to the “spread of terrorism” that led to the latest terror attacks in the European country.

Foreign-backed militants in Syria (File photo)

 

The Syrian leader further said that Paris terrorist attacks cannot be separated from the bombings that took place in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Thursday and from what Syria has been enduring for the past five years.

On Thursday, a twin blasts claimed by Daesh Takfiri terrorists took 44 lives in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Syrian president said that he had warned “what would happen in Europe for the past three years” if its leaders continued with their policies but his warnings were not heeded.

“We said, don’t take what is happening in Syria lightly. Unfortunately, European officials did not listen.”

He also urged French President Francois Hollande to change his policy. “The question that is being asked throughout France today is, was France’s policy over the past five years the right one? The answer is no.”

Rescuers evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris, early on November 14, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

 

Since March 2011, Syria has been beset by foreign-backed militancy, which has so far claimed the lives of over 250,000 people and displaced millions of others.

The militancy in the Arab country has intensified due to the activities of militants groups, including Daesh which has overrun about a third of Syria, where it is tyrannizing the civilian population.

France is among the Western countries that have been supporting the militants fighting against the Syrian government. As part of a US-led coalition, the country has also been conducting air raids against what it alleges to be Daesh positions in the violence-scarred Arab country.

President Assad complained back in May that the so-called coalition against Daesh does not aim to “do away” with the terror group, adding, “They want to use this terrorist structure for threatening and blackmailing other countries.”

Also on Saturday, Daesh released an undated video, threatening to attack France as long as the aerial campaign continued.

“As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You will even fear traveling to the market,” said a Daesh member in the footage.

4,700 died in Hajj Stampede; 3,000 bodies still inside 21 trucks

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1848038The head of Iran’s Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, expressed his belief that the number of victims in the Mina stampede incident in Saudi Arabia, which took place on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, reached at least 4,700.

In an interview on Iranian TV yesterday, Ohadi said that 228 Iranian pilgrims died in Mina, adding that “the number of missing Iranians, with no information about their whereabouts, has reached 248, and we are afraid that the death toll could rise even more.”

Ohadi said that at least 3,000 bodies are still inside 21 trucks, and they are waiting to be diagnosed and evacuated.

The Saudi Health Minister Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih had announced on Saturday that the number of deaths which resulted from the Mina stampede has increased to 769 pilgrims, while the number of those injured rose to 934.

Saudi Must Accept Their Responsibility and Apologize for Deadly Hajj Stampede

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226901_469Addressing a group of clerics on Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The Muslim world has many questions in this regard and Saudi rulers, instead of shunning (their responsibility) must accept their responsibility in this grave incident by apologizing to the Muslim Ummah and bereft families.”

Referring to the bitter incident in Mina, which turned Eid al-Adha into a mourning occasion for the Muslim Ummah, the Leader added, “One cannot consider himself free from this sorrow (even) for a single moment and this sorrow has been weighing on the hearts of us and all Muslims during these past few days.”

The Leader described Saudi rulers’ effort to dodge their responsibility in this catastrophe as incorrect and an ineffective measure, saying, “The Muslim world has many questions and the death of more than 1,000 people in this incident is no small matter. Therefore, the world of Islam should find a solution for this problem.”

Emphasizing that this incident will not be forgotten and will be seriously followed by Muslim nations, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Instead of projection and incriminating this or that, Saudis must accept their responsibility and apologize to the Muslim Ummah and bereft families.”

On September 24, a fatal human crush broke out in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, as a large crowd of pilgrims were on their way to participate in the symbolic stoning of Satan, a Hajj ritual.

Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry has put the death toll from the incident at nearly 770. However, Head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization Saeed Ohadi has said the disaster killed around 2,000 pilgrims, citing Saudi sources.

At least 144 Iranian pilgrims have so far been confirmed dead in the crush. Ohadi said Saturday that 102 Iranians have also been wounded, while hundreds are still missing.

British man sells his property to fight ISIS in Iraq

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Jim-Atherton-481x480A British newspaper revealed on Monday, that a Britain left his family and sold his property to finance his trip to Iraq to fight ISIS, while he affirmed his readiness to die for the sake of the fight against extremists.

The British newspaper “Daily Mail” said in a report that “Jim Atherton, aged 53 years old, left his hometown in Britain, after leaving his wife and three children. He sold his car, motorbike and a boat to finance his trip to Iraq to fight ISIS,” pointing out that he “confirmed his readiness to die for the sake of the fight against extremists.”

The newspaper added that “Atherton joined other fighters from Australia, the United States and Europe, who are fighting ISIS.”

For his part, the son of Atherton said that “My father felt compelled to come out and to fight ISIS, despite the death of his brother with the British forces in Iraq in 2006.

FBI using planes to spy on US Muslims

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41e529a82372dba5a18a80d53e5b6b4dPublicly available flight data has shown that areas with higher Muslim densities in Detroit and other American cities are constantly being spied on by planes linked to an FBI surveillance program which is allegedly used to track down spies, terrorists and criminals.

According to data available at FlightRadar24.com, since Friday, FBI has conducted seven flights over Metro Detroit, with prolonged surveillance over Dearborn, a city that is populated by Muslim and Middle Eastern residents.

The flights over Dearborn matched patterns from similar flights over other cities, including Baltimore where the FBI flew planes to monitor the riots following the death Freddie Gray, a black man who died in police custody in May.

They were all done in slow-speed and counter-clockwise orbits, covering a several miles wide area from an altitude of about one mile. An average of 19 identical loops was made in each flight, which was usually conducted in nights.

The plane, identified as a 2010 single-engine Cessna Skylane, is equipped with cutting-edge technologies such as high-resolution cameras and cell phone surveillance systems.

The Cessna is owned by a company called OTV Leasing of Bristow, Va. Earlier reports revealed that OTV Leasing is one of at least 13 fake companies that the FBI uses as a front to cover its secret missions.

An earlier Associated Press report showed that Robert Lindley, who is listed as the chief executive of the company, is also the CEO of several other fake companies and has at least three distinct signatures in aircraft records.

The report also noted that in a 30-day period, the FBI conducted more 100 flights over 30 cities in eleven states.

The US Attorney’s Office in Detroit and the FBI declined to comment on the recent flights.

The vast surveillance has angered Muslim activists in the United States and some of them are planning to hit back with lawsuits.

In 2010, the FBI told Congress that it is equipped with at least 115 operational airplanes.

FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano admitted to existence of such programs only a few months ago. He claimed that these activities are not classified and are only used to follow criminals and terrorists.

Source : Agencies

Canadian Muslim Scholars Stand Up to ISIL Recruiters

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8e6b6a68e2a6ea545e22996f4f69032d [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n a religious edict (fatwa) issued in March against ISIL, 37 imams and religious scholars from across Canada denounced its threats against Canada and its online recruitment.

The fatwa further urged Muslim youth to shun the sway of ISIL, for having violated Islamic tenets “in the most horrific and inhumane way.”

“Some Muslims, having the fatwa against them, will have second thoughts before seeking to join an extremist group”, said Khalil Khan, president of Calgary’s Al Madinah Islamic Assembly.

“(They) will wonder if this is right or wrong,” commented one of the fatwa’s 37 signatories.

Also addressing the issue, Zaheera Tariq, one of the Assembly’s directors, said that recruits are being lured by misrepresentations of Islam.

“It’s a lack of education, a lack of knowledge,” she said, adding that young people are “being influenced by those people who are misrepresenting Islam, who are misquoting the Prophet.”

She added, “They need to find proper imams.”

Calgary’s religious leaders weighing in on the disturbing trend, including Dr. Tariq Khan and other leaders say more resources are needed to address a growing religious education gap facing Muslims whose numbers are soaring in Calgary.

The city’s Muslim population has increased fourfold in the past two decades to 120,000, and in 2010, Naheed Nenshi became the first Muslim to be elected as mayor of a major Canadian city.

American girl reveals why she joined the ISIS in Syria

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bfa87282f2d20069385b0dca33fb3f2f [dropcap]I[/dropcap]t was a trend no one wanted to see catch on, young educated foreigners from primarily well to do backgrounds, fleeing their countries to be part of one of the most dangerous organisations in the world – [the so-called] Islamic State (IS). They come from all walks of life and their numbers are increasing every day.

Hoda, a 20-year-old girl from Alabama in the United States of America, is the latest to run away from home to join the fight with IS. Hoda left home in November 2014.

In a recent interview from Syria, Hoda agreed to give Buzzfeed an insight into why she wanted to leave the US and join IS. Her father Mohammed shared the family’s pain and an unnamed classmate of the girl revealed the warning signs that led up to Hoda’s departure to Syria. Mohammed said he wanted to share his story so no other family lost their child to the IS.

He never imagined his child would make such a choice, he said, as he had fled Yemen with his wife more than 20 years ago and all of his five children were born in the US.

The family resides a little outside Hoover, Birmingham, Alabama which was ranked as one of the top cities to live in the US. Hoover has a large Muslim community and three mosques owing to a high number of international students from the Middle East attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Hoda was a student studying business at UAB before she left for Syria.

Mohammed states that his family is like any other Muslim family in the community, and the women dressed modestly, wearing the hijab when they left home. Hoda described her parents as strict, a fact that her father did not dispute, but added that it was not extreme and believes that IS brainwashed his daughter.

He also believes that gifting her a smartphone after graduating high school resulted in her affiliation with IS. As a concerned parent, Mohammed said he regularly checked her phone, which she hated. But she only had Islamic apps like the hadiths, Quran, sura, nothing out of the ordinary.

Around 2012, Hoda turned to her religion, as she was struggling to find her purpose in life. Through her access to the internet, Hoda revealed that she got more in touch with her faith as she found scholars and readings of Islam, a year-and-a-half before fleeing to Syria. Scholar lectures about Islam on YouTube made an impact on her more than the ones in her hometown, she said.

Hoda said her dedication to her faith pleased her parents, who saw her dress more modestly and behave well. Mohammed was especially proud of her ability to retain the most important chapter of the Qur’an, Surat Al-Kahf, which talks about the backlash by the society against the first adopters of Islam who were forced to abandon their home and live in a cave.

In 2013, Hoda secretly set up a Twitter account where she gained thousands of followers and support for her opinions. Her anonymity on social media allowed her to speak freely on controversial and religious issues.

A former classmate who followed her on Twitter described Hoda as an activist who supported radical interpretations of Islam online. She said it was strange to see her persona on Twitter and the quiet girl she was in person. It almost seemed like Twitter was her alter ego. It didn’t surprise the classmate that Hoda joined the IS.

Hoda’s classmates and her father both described her as a loner who didn’t hang out with friends. Hoda explained it was something she chose as she did not want to associate with people who did not share her views. She said she wants every Muslim to move to the IS-controlled territory.

After secretly renewing her passport and paying for a plane ticket with her tuition money, Hoda was ready to make her move while her father was away in Washington. Hoda told her family she had a field trip to attend and that her grades depended on it. In the evening, she called her sister and lied again, saying that she’d got on the wrong bus and would return the next day. Not pleased, but unable to do anything, Hoda’s family waited till the morning for her to return.

By then, Hoda had already landed in Turkey and texted her family to say that she had left to join the IS. The family was hysterical and immediately called the FBI. But by the time her father arrived from his trip the next day, she was already in Syria.

Mohammed told Buzzfeed that all attempts to urge his child back to the US failed and so he ordered the rest of his family to terminate all contact with her. After a month, Hoda informed her family of getting married to a 23-year-old fighter called Suhan Rahman, an Australian also known as Abu Jihad al-Australi on December 20. However the marriage was short-lived (just 87) days and Hoda posted on Twitter that he had died in battle.

Mohammed fears that the Muslim community and his neighbours in Hoover blame him and his wife for their daughter’s choice. He fears for the rest of his children – for their future jobs and marriages.

Hoda is one of the thousands who have run away to be part of the Islamic State terrorists – 200,000 foreigners from 90 countries have fled, according to CNN. They come from all walks of life and seemingly normal backgrounds.

Like Hoda, Aqsa Mahmood from Scotland also left to join the militant group in November 2013, when she was just a 19-year-old. CNN reported that her father said she was a normal child, who listened to Coldplay and read Harry Potter books. It was only when the civil war broke out in Syria that she grew concerned and started praying a lot. Then like Hoda, she ran away to become a recruiter for the Islamic State. To encourage more women to join, she started a blog to talk about her life in the Islamic State.

However, there is no one more prominent than Jihadi John, originally named Mohammed Emwazi who is now infamous for beheading seven journalists, including James Foley. Emwazi born in Kuwait, was just six-years old when he came to the UK with his family. He attended Mohammed Kynaston Community Academy, north London and later graduated in computing from the University of Westminster in 2009. According to BBC, one of Emwazi’s school teachers said he didn’t have a troubled background.

Another fighter for IS was former model and well known DJ Sharky Jama (25) from Melbourne, Australia, who was described as a likeable person who also had a promising future ahead of him. He is believed to have been shot dead fighting alongside fellow militants in Syria.