terrorism

With the start of the New Year, Donald Trump is letting go of Iran for now, and directing his latest tweet to Pakistan, labeling the country a haven for terrorist. The latest tweet comes as the US is looking to stop giving $255 million in aids to the country for showing no effort in fighting terrorism.

In his tweet, President Trump wrote;

Mr Trump in many of his speeches has condemned the Pakistani government of allowing terrorist the use of the country as a safe haven, especially terrorists that the US are trying to hunt down in Afghanistan. In a speech in Washington in August, Donald Trump said;

We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbour terrorists.

The US has now conditioned to release the money to Pakistan only if it joins the effort of the US to crack down on terrorist networks. 

The New York Times have reported that the recent development is the Pakistan government refusing access to a captured Taliban-linked Haqqani network militant. 

The militant was arrested last week by the Pakistani forces after they rescued a Canadian-American family, and the US had hoped that the Pakistani forces would allow access to the militant so he could provide more information about other American hostages, but instead were denied.

Also, in November, the Pakistani government releases a suspect who was said to have masterminded an attack in Mumbai that killed 160 people in 2008.

According to Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, while commenting on the suspect released by the Pakistan government, she said;

If Pakistan does not take action to lawfully detain Saeed and charge him for his crimes, its inaction will have repercussions for bilateral relations and for Pakistan’s global reputation.

Pakistan authorities have drafted plans to seize control of the charities and any financial assets that is linked to the Islamist leader, who in Washington has been marked as terrorist.

50 people have been confirmed dead and another 406 injured after a gunman attacked an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night. 

The shooter identified as  Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, shoot his gun from the 32nd floor of a glitzy hotel, sending more than 22,000 concert goers into panic mode. According to a witness, Meghan Kearney, who spoke to MSNBC, said;

We heard what sounded like firecrackers going off. Then all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a machine gun. People started screaming that they were hit… When we started running out there were probably a couple hundred [people] on the ground.

People kept dropping and dropping… People were getting shot one foot away from us. People were trying to save their friends. There were gunshots everywhere. Helping them would’ve meant that we got shot, too.

It is not clear if Paddock had specifically booked a room facing the concert, but police stormed his room after 10pm, and according to police officers, he had killed himself. 

The shootings started when Jason Aldean was onstage. A police officer was shot, and according to Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, off-duty policemen were part of the killed and injured in the shootings.

Police have arrested Marilou Danley, 62, who was in the room with Paddock, and also a Hyundai Tuscon and a Chrysler Pacifica Touring related to the investigation have now been found. Police also found around 10 rifles in the room, and also explosives were said to be in the room of the shooter.

This is the biggest case of domestic terrorism in the United States.

Authorities in Manila, Philippine have confirmed the death of 36 people after a series of gunshots, explosions and fire erupted at the Resorts World, Manila, a casino and resort on Manila Bay in the Philippines.

According to the BBC, the attack was carried out by a lone gunman who was attempting robbery at the hotel. The Philippine police chief said that there was no evidence that the attack was related to terrorism, and there was no reports of a gunshot wound.

The body of the gunman was later found dead in what police called suicide at the adjacent hotel on Friday.

According to the Metropolitan Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde, the bodies of those dead people were found in a smoky room by firefighters, and they have all died from suffocation and smoke inhalation, no gunshot victim was found.

The President Trump White House in its response to the attack, said; "It's really very sad what's going on throughout the world with terror."

The local Red Cross team leader, Fernando Atienza, while speaking to the Manila Times report said that at least 25 people were injured from the attack, as many of the victims were jumping from the second floor of the hotel.

One of the casion dealers that witnessthe mayhem said that there are more than one attackers, and one of them poured flammable liquid on the casino table and burned it.

The Philippine has been a target of ISIS attack recently, with President Duterte declaring a martial law in the city of Mindanao to combat the group.

Sufiyan Mustafa, 22, the son of the UK hate preacher, Abu Hamza is currently stateless after the Home Office withdraw his passport, leaving him stranded in the civil war in Syria. Sufiyan has travelled to Syria to join ISIS to support Jihad.

He had left the UK in 2013 after his father was extradited to America to stand trial after been convicted of terrorism charges. Mustafa denied fighting for ISIS or Al-Qaeda.

While speaking to the Arabic newspaper, Al-Quds, he complained about his frustration, and how the government has labelled him a terrorist, and also revoked his passport. He said he would return to the UK when the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has fallen and the fight in Syria has stopped.

Mustafa said he was fighting with a moderate group that is supported by both the British and fights with American weapons. Mustafa said;

Britain is the place where I was born and lived. I have never been a threat to national security in Britain and will not commit aggression on its population because our religion does not allow attacks on unarmed innocents.

Mustafa admitted that his father made a mistake, and said “Who hasn’t when they believe in a cause?" he added;

I am a believer that the real battle will be after the fall of the regime, in the construction of Syria again and reform of the political and economic affairs and construction of public schools to study. The victory of the revolution will be when we see the people elect a representative government and take the country to a better future than it was.

Mustafa is part of the 400 fighting in Syria and Iraq  for groups ranging from the moderate rebels to the extremists of Isil. He appeared last month in a propaganda video criticising ISIS for giving Muslims a bad name, while also denouncing Assad. 

                                Abu Hamza

Abu Hamza, Mustafa father was the Imam of Finsbury Park mosque, in north London, and assumed his position in 1997. He was extradited to the US five years ago on terrorism charges and currently in a solitary confinement at a high-security prison in Florence, Colorado. 

Four Israeli Soldiers cadet were killed in Jersualem on Sunday when a Palestinian attacker drives a truck and rammed into them. Three women and a man in their early twenties were reported to have died in the attack, but police is yet to identify the victims.

The attack took place as a large group of soldiers visited a scenic outlook overlooking modern Jerusalem and the Old City.

The attack took place just few blocks away from the US Consulate, though the new Trump administration has said it would move the embassy to Jerusalem.

Israeli PM, Benjamin Netayanhu in a statement after the attack wrote;

According to all the signs [the attacker] was a supporter of the Islamic State. We in Jerusalem have just experience an unprovoked terrorist attack, a murderous attack that claimed the lives of four young Israelis and wounded others.

This is part of the same pattern inspired by Islamic State, by Isis, that we saw first in France, then in Germany and now in Jerusalem.

Palestinian media reported that the attacker was a 20 year old married man, Fadi al-Qanbar, who has also served time in an Israeli Prison.

He was shot dead by other soldiers and tour guide as he reversed towards the dead and injured.