Daesh claims responsibility for Manchester bombing that killed at least 22

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Armed police officers stand near the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing, in Manchester, in northern England, Britain on Tuesday. (REUTERS)
Updated 23 May 2017
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Daesh claims responsibility for Manchester bombing that killed at least 22

MANCHESTER, England: Daesh has claimed responsibility for Monday’s deadly bombing of a concert at the Manchester Arena in the UK, in which at least 22 people were killed.
 
British authorities have identified the suspected suicide bomber as Salman Abedi, according to US officials quoted by AP.
 
The attack, which targeted a show by US singer Ariana Grande, involved explosives planted at the arena, according to a statement by the terror group posted on Telegram.
 
Daesh said “a soldier of the caliphate planted bombs in the middle of Crusaders gatherings,” then detonated them. It did not say whether the attacker was killed.
 
British police earlier said they believed that the attack was carried out by a lone suicide bomber who was also killed in the blast.
 
Daesh also claimed that “30 Crusaders were killed and 70 others were wounded,” higher than the totals confirmed by authorities in Manchester.
 
The US’ top intelligence official said however that the US government has not yet verified that Daesh was responsible for the attack.
 
Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, told Congress that the extremist group frequently claims responsibility for terror attacks.
 
Daesh operational involvement ‘not clear’
 
Terrorism expert Lee Marsden, a professor at the University of East Anglia in the UK, said it was not yet clear whether Daesh had any direct involvement in the Manchester bombing.
 
But he said attacks of this nature are likely to become more frequent as the extremist terror group loses ground in the Middle East.
 
Daesh has “claimed responsibility, as has been a consistent pattern with attacks in the West. However, what is less clear is whether the organization had any operational involvement in the attack or whether they inspired the suicide bomber concerned through calling for attacks through any means available,” Marsden told Arab News.
 
“As Daesh is facing defeat in Iraq and Syria and foreign fighters return home then the propensity for such attacks is likely to increase. In Britain, terror attacks have largely been perpetrated by British citizens and the ongoing activity by police in the Manchester area may reflect a local connection. Although it is clearly too early and inappropriate to speculate.”
 
Europe has seen several “low-tech” terror attacks, such as the incident in March in which 52-year-old Briton Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster Bridge.
 
But the use of explosives and suicide bombings on the British mainland, though rare, have “been flagged up as increasingly likely” as British men and women return home after fighting for Daesh in Syria, Marsden said. 
 
“The sophistication of this latest terror incident reveals the difficulties of trying to combat either tight cells of terrorist operatives or lone-wolf attacks. Although police have made one arrest, it is too early to say the extent to which this was an organised and coordinated attack,” he said. “Large gatherings of people without a strong police or security presence affords an easy target for those wishing to advance their cause through inflicting maximum casualties.”
 
‘A callous terrorist attack’
 
The British Prime Minister Theresa May called the bombing a “callous terrorist attack... that targeted some of the youngest people in our society.” The first victims to be named were teenager Georgina Callander and 8-year-old Saffie Roussos, according to Sky News.
 
Speaking on Tuesday morning in London, May said that many of the 59 people injured are being “treated for life-threatening conditions.”
 
Police said the apparent suicide attack is believed to have been carried out by one person with an improvised explosive device, who was also killed in the blast. A 23-year-old man was arrested in South Manchester in connection with the attack, according to Sky News.
 
May said on Tuesday morning that “police and security services believe they know the identity of the perpetrator,” but are not disclosing the name at present. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called the attack an “appalling act of violence.”
 
The attack is the deadliest terror assault on Britain since four militants killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London’s transport system in July 2005.
 
There was no immediate change in the UK national terror threat level, which remains at “severe,” one level below the top level, “critical,” which means that an attack is underway or imminent. May said the threat level would be assessed over the coming hours and days.
 
Sky News reported that the nearby Arndale Shopping Center in Manchester was evacuated on Tuesday morning, as armed police made an arrest. It was not immediately clear if the incident was related to the terror attack on Monday.
 
Attacker “specifically targeted kids’ concert”
 
Police last night responded to reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena shortly after 10:35 p.m. (2135 GMT) at the arena, which has a capacity for 21,000 people, and where Grande had been performing to an audience that included many children.
 
Terrorism experts said that the target of the attack — a concert popular with teenagers and children — made it distinct from other Daesh atrocities in Europe.
 
Peter Lehr, lecturer in Terrorism Studies at the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St. Andrews University, Scotland, said that the attacker would have been well aware that many of the victims would have been children.
 
“In yesterday’s attack, it was the young ones who were targeted: after all, Ariana Grande is a teen idol, attracting mainly teens as a result,” Lehr told Arab News.
 
“Although we don’t have enough information on the suicide bomber, I am very sure that he was aware of that, and that he chose this particular target, and this particular evening, for this very reason.”
 
Lehr said the Manchester bombing differed to previous attacks in Europe such as that in Paris in November 2015, which targeted people in cafes, bars, and at a heavy metal concert. 
 
“In the Berlin Christmas market attack, (the target was again) mainly middle-aged middle class people,” he added.
 
A witness who attended the concert said she felt a huge blast as she was leaving the arena, followed by screaming and a rush by thousands of people trying to escape the building.
 
A video posted on Twitter showed fans, many of them young, screaming and running from the venue. Dozens of parents frantically searched for their children, posting photos and pleading for information on social media.

 
“We were making our way out and when we were right by the door there was a massive explosion and everybody was screaming,” concertgoer Catherine Macfarlane told Reuters.
 
“It was a huge explosion — you could feel it in your chest. It was chaotic. Everybody was running and screaming and just trying to get out.”
 
A spokesman for Ariana Grande, 23, said the singer was “okay.”
 
Paula Robinson, 48, from West Dalton about 40 miles east of Manchester, said she was at the train station next to the arena with her husband when she felt the explosion and saw dozens of teenage girls screaming and running away from arena.
 
“We ran out,” Robinson told Reuters. “It was literally seconds after the explosion. I got the teens to run with me.”
 
Robinson took dozens of teenage girls to the nearby Holiday Inn Express hotel and tweeted out her phone number to worried parents, telling them to meet her there. She said her phone had not stopped ringing since her tweet.
 
“Parents were frantic running about trying to get to their children,” she said. “There were lots of lots children at Holiday Inn.”
 
Global reactions
 
US President Donald Trump condemned the “evil losers” behind the attack on Manchester Arena, saying: “I won’t call them monsters because they would like that term. They would think that’s a great name.
 
“So many young, beautiful, innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered,” he said.
 
German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced “sorrow and horror,” adding: “This suspected terrorist attack will only strengthen our resolve to work with our British friends against those who plan and execute such inhuman acts. I assure the people in Britain: Germany stands by your side.”
 
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to boost anti-terror cooperation with Britain after “this cynical, inhuman crime.
 
“We expect that those behind it will not escape the punishment they deserve,” he said.
 
Harun Khan, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, issued the following statement: 
 
“My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I understand teenagers and children have been caught up in what the police has confirmed to be a terrorist attack. This is horrific, this is criminal. May the perpetrators face the full weight of justice both in this life and the next.
 
“I pay tribute to the police and emergency services who have worked valiantly to save lives last night. They were helped by civilians who rushed in to offer their support. I urge all those in the region and around the country to pool together to support those affected.”
 
British counter-terrorism police have said they are making on average an arrest every day in connection with suspected terrorism.
 
In March, a British-born convert plowed a car into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge, killing four people before stabbing to death a police officer who was on the grounds of parliament. He was shot dead at the scene.
 
In 2015, a student Abid Naseer was convicted in a US court of conspiring with Al-Qaeda to blow up the Arndale shopping center in the center of Manchester in April 2009.
 
Manchester Arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe, opened in 1995 and is a popular concert and sporting venue.
 
— With Reuters, AP

 


Emergency crews suspend search for flooding victims in central Texas

Updated 13 July 2025
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Emergency crews suspend search for flooding victims in central Texas

KERRVILLE: Emergency crews suspended their search for victims of catastrophic flooding in central Texas on Sunday morning amid new warnings that additional rain would again cause waterways to surge.

It was the first time a new round of severe weather has paused the search since the flooding earlier this month.

Ingram Fire Department officials ordered search crews to immediately evacuate the Guadalupe River corridor in Kerr County until further notice, warning the potential for a flash flood is high.

Search-and-rescue teams have been searching for missing victims of the July 4 weekend flooding that killed at least 129 people and left more than 170 missing.

As heavy rain fell Sunday, National Weather Service forecasters warned that the Guadalupe River could rise to nearly 15 feet by Sunday afternoon, about five feet above flood stage and enough to put the Highway 39 bridge near Hunt under water.

“Numerous secondary roads and bridges are flooded and very dangerous,” a weather service warning said.

The destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet on the Guadalupe River in just 45 minutes before daybreak on July 4, washing away homes and vehicles. Ever since, searchers have used helicopters, boats and drones to look for victims and to rescue people stranded in trees and from camps isolated by washed-out roads.

More than 160 people still are believed to be missing, and at least 118 have died in the floods that laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp.


French deal on New Caledonia ‘state’ hits early criticism

Updated 13 July 2025
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French deal on New Caledonia ‘state’ hits early criticism

NOUMEA: An accord between France and New Caledonia, creating a state within a state and hailed by President Emmanuel Macron as “historic,” hit immediate fierce criticism in the Pacific territory on Sunday.

Following deadly protests that rocked New Caledonia last year, Macron called for talks to break a deadlock between forces loyal to France and those seeking independence.

After 10 days of negotiations near Paris, French officials and a delegation of 18 New Caledonian pro-independence and anti-independence representatives reached agreement on Saturday to create a “State of New Caledonia” within the French Republic.

The text, which still requires French parliamentary approval and to pass a referendum in the territory, provides for the creation of a Caledonian nationality and the sharing of powers. But it won few supporters in the archipelago.

The signatories of the draft agreement admitted during a meeting with Macron on Saturday evening that they were struggling to win over opponents of the deal that will be submitted to a referendum in February 2026.

Joel Kasarerhou, president of civil society group Construire Autrement, called the agreement “stillborn,” describing it as a “poor” replica of previous agreements and “lacking ambition and vision.”

Kasarerhou said the youth at the heart of the May 2024 uprising had been “forgotten or barely mentioned.” He feared another “May 13” — the date the 2024 riots began.

Home to around 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometers from Paris, New Caledonia is one of several overseas territories that remain an integral part of France.

It has been ruled from Paris since the 1800s, but many indigenous Kanaks resent France’s power over the islands and want more autonomy or independence.


France’s Macron announces plan to accelerate military spending

Updated 13 July 2025
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France’s Macron announces plan to accelerate military spending

  • The French president pledged to double the military budget by 2027 in response to a complex geopolitical moment

PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced a plan to push forward France’s defense spending, pledging to double the military budget by 2027 — three years earlier than originally planned — in response to a complex geopolitical moment.
France had aimed to double its defense budget from 2017 levels by 2030. However, Macron pledged to reach the target by 2027. A military budget that stood at 32 billion euros ($37.40 billion) in 2017 will rise to 64 billion euros by 2027, with an additional 3.5 billion euros allocated for next year and another 3 billion euros in 2027.
He said the accelerated spending, which comes as France is struggling to make 40 billion euros in savings in its 2026 budget, would be paid for by increased economic activity.
“Our military independence is inseparable from our financial independence,” he said. “This will be financed through more activity and more production.”
He said Prime Minister Francois Bayrou would provide more details in an address on his plans for the 2026 budget on Tuesday. Bayrou is facing an uphill battle to steer billions of euros worth of savings through a bitterly divided parliament, as France strives to lower its budget deficit to keep EU bean-counters and foreign investors at bay.


Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari dies in London

Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has died. (File/AFP)
Updated 13 July 2025
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Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari dies in London

  • Buhari, 82, who first led the country as a military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics

LAGOS: Nigeria’s former President Muhammadu Buhari, who led Africa’s most populous country from 2015-23 and was the first Nigerian president to oust an incumbent through the ballot box, died in London on Sunday, a presidential spokesperson said.
“President Buhari died today in London at about 4:30 p.m. (1530 GMT), following a prolonged illness,” President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson said in a post on X.
Buhari, 82, who first led the country as a military ruler after a coup in the 1980s, earned a devoted following for his brand of anti-corruption conviction politics.
He referred to himself as a “converted democrat” and swapped his military uniform for kaftans and prayer caps.
“I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody,” was a constant refrain Buhari told supporters and critics alike.
Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 in what was judged to be Nigeria’s fairest election to date. Many hoped the retired major general would crack down on armed groups, just as he had as the country’s military head of state.
Instead, violence that had mostly been confined to the northeast spread. That left swathes of Nigeria outside the control of its stretched security forces as gunmen in the northwest, armed separatists and gangs in the southeast roamed unchecked.
Much of his appeal lay in the anti-corruption ethos that was a central plank of his agenda both as a military and civilian ruler. He said endemic corruption in Nigeria’s political culture was holding people back.
“Baba Go Slow”
But Buhari quickly disappointed after his 2015 win.
He took six months to name his cabinet. During that time, the oil-dependent economy was hobbled by low crude prices, prompting people to call him “Baba Go Slow.”
His second victory in 2019 came despite his first term being blighted by Nigeria’s first recession in a generation, militant attacks on oilfields, and repeated hospital stays.
Born on December 17, 1942, in Daura in the northwestern state of Katsina state, Buhari enrolled in the army at 19. He would eventually rise to the rank of major-general.
He seized power in 1983 as a military ruler, promising to revitalize a mismanaged country. Buhari took a tough line on everything from the conditions sought by the International Monetary Fund to unruliness in bus queues.
In 1984, his administration attempted to kidnap a former minister and vocal critic living in Britain. The plot failed when London airport officials opened the crate containing the abducted politician.
His first stint in power was short-lived. He was removed after only 18 months by another military officer, Ibrahim Babangida.
Buhari spent much of the following 30 years in fringe political parties and trying to run for president until his eventual victory over Jonathan in 2015.


’Inexcusable’ failures led to Trump assassination attempt: Senate report

Updated 13 July 2025
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’Inexcusable’ failures led to Trump assassination attempt: Senate report

  • A congressional inquiry accused the Secret Service of ‘a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life’
  • Six unidentified Secret Service staff have been disciplined with punishments range from 10 to 42 days’ suspension without pay

WASHINGTON: A congressional inquiry into the attempt to assassinate US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally a year ago on Sunday lamented “inexcusable” failures in the Secret Service’s operations and response, and called for more serious disciplinary action.
On July 13, 2024, a gunman shot the then-Republican presidential candidate during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing his ear.
One bystander was killed and two other people in addition to Trump were wounded before a government sniper killed the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks.
“What happened was inexcusable and the consequences imposed for the failures so far do not reflect the severity of the situation,” said the report released by the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The dramatic incident energized Trump’s bid to return to the White House, with his campaign using a photo of him bloodied and pumping his fist as he was hurried offstage to woo voters.
The report did not shed new light on the gunman’s motive, which still remains a mystery, but accused the Secret Service of “a cascade of preventable failures that nearly cost President Trump his life.”
“The United States Secret Service failed to act on credible intelligence, failed to coordinate with local law enforcement,” said the committee’s Republican chairman Rand Paul.
“Despite those failures, no one has been fired,” he added.
“It was a complete breakdown of security at every level-fueled by bureaucratic indifference, a lack of clear protocols, and a shocking refusal to act on direct threats.
“We must hold individuals accountable and ensure reforms are fully implemented so this never happens again.”
Staff disciplined
The Secret Service cited communication, technical and human errors and said reforms were underway, including on coordination between different law enforcement bodies and establishment of a division dedicated to aerial surveillance.
Six unidentified staff have been disciplined, according to the agency. The punishments range from 10 to 42 days’ suspension without pay, and all six were put into restricted or non-operational positions.
Reflecting on the assassination attempt earlier this week, Trump said “mistakes were made” but that he was satisfied with the investigation.
In an interview with his daughter-in-law on Fox News’ “My View with Lara Trump,” Trump said the sniper “was able to get him from a long distance with one shot. If he didn’t do that, you would have had an even worse situation.”
“It was unforgettable,” Trump said of the events.
“I didn’t know exactly what was going on. I got whacked. There’s no question about that. And fortunately, I got down quickly. People were screaming.”