Trial Over November 2015 Paris Terrorist Attacks Begins

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The attacks carried out by Islamic State extremists that killed 130 people deeply rattled France and sent shock waves through Europe. The trial is scheduled to last at least nine months.

French police on Wednesday outside the Paris courthouse holding the trial. Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters
PARIS — Marilyn Garnier, a survivor of a terrorist attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, can never forget that evening.

It was Nov. 13, 2015. Firecracker noises erupted at the back of the crowd. Her partner pushed her to the floor, where they lay still, overcome by the smell of blood and gunpowder. Bursts of gunfire punctuated a deathly silence.

“At that moment, you don’t think you are going to survive,” Ms. Garnier, now 30, recalled.

Nearly six years later, the historic trial of the those behind the 2015 attacks that also targeted an area outside France’s national soccer stadium and the terraces of cafes and restaurants in central Paris began on Wednesday in the French capital. It is expected to last a record nine months.

The coordinated attacks — a series of shootings and suicide bombings — were carried out by 10 Islamic State extremists who killed 130 people and wounded nearly 500, shaking France to its core. (One survivor who suffered from severe trauma and killed himself in 2017 was officially declared the 131st victim.)

Twenty men, including the sole surviving attacker, stand accused of charges — including murder and organizing a terrorist conspiracy — and will be tried by a panel of judges. Over 300 lawyers and nearly 1,800 plaintiffs will take part in the trial in a courtroom that can fit 550 people that was built specifically for the monumental proceedings. The proceedings will be the first to be accessible for plaintiffs on a live internet radio, and will also be filmed. » | Aurelien Breeden | Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Sri Lanka: After the Attacks, Muslims Fear a Backlash

Documentary Finds Europe Unprepared to Deal with Terrorism

Oct. 18, 2016 - 8:06 - Sebastian Rotella, 'Frontline' correspondent and a senior reporter at ProPublica, previews 'Terror in Europe'

Reporter Asks Clinton If She's Worried Bombings Are ISIS or Russia Trying to Influence the Election

Multiple Attacks Roil Paris; President Hollande Is Evacuated From Stadium

THE NEW YORK TIMES: PARIS — Shootings in central Paris on Friday night have left several people dead and wounded, French television reported, while an explosion near Paris at the country’s main sports stadium forced the hasty evacuation of President François Hollande. The explosion occurred during a France-Germany soccer match.

The shooting broke out at a concert hall. Some reports said as many as 18 had been killed in the 10th and 11th Arrondissements of Paris. Others said hostages had been taken.

It was unclear whether there was a link in any of the violence to terrorism but French media reported that Kalashnikov rifles were involved in the shootings — a favored weapon of militants who have attacked targets in France — and that many rounds were fired.

The shootings occurred near the former headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical newspaper where shootings in January traumatized France.

Police sirens sounded throughout central Paris on Friday night. » | Adam Nossiter | Friday, November 13, 2015

Al-Qaeda Cell Planned Suicide Attack on Vatican

On Friday, Italian state police arrested 18 suspected extremists in an Al-Qaeda-linked terror cell based out of the Italian island of Sardinia.
USA TODAY: ROME — Italian police busted an al-Qaeda-linked terror ring that planned, but never carried out, an attack on the Vatican five years ago and is believed to have been involved in a bombing in Pakistan that killed more than 100 people, authorities said Friday.

Raids were carried out simultaneously in seven different Italian provinces with arrest warrants for 18 suspected Islamic extremists following a lengthy investigation in Cagliari, capital of the Italian island Sardinia.

Authorities uncovered plans for a suicide bomber plot against the Vatican in 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI was pontiff. Evidence includes a "martyr's vow" from a would-be suicide bomber threatening to strike against the Vatican, the spiritual focal point for the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Mario Carta, an official from the counter-terror police force that carried out the raids, called it "one of the most important operations ever carried out in Italy." Police said the operation targeted an "extremely well-structured terror network" based in Sardinia since at least 2005 that was made up of Pakistani and Afghan nationals.

Nine people have been arrested, and two are still at large in Italy. Seven of the suspects are believed to be in Pakistan, Carta said. » | Eric J. Lyman, Special for USA TODAY | Friday, April 24, 2015

UK PM Says Terror Attack Carried Out for Islam Has Nothing to Do with Islam

FRONTPAGE MAG: In other news, despite never having even visited the UK, I am announcing that Prime Minister David Cameron has nothing to do with the UK.

Also, despite not even being Christian, I would like to say that Cameron has nothing to do with the Church of England. Because that is apparently how things work in his universe.

Prime Minister David Cameron today condemned as “absolutely sickening” and “despicable” a terror attack on a shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in which at least 59 people, including three British nationals, were killed.

“These appalling terrorist attacks that take place where the perpetrators claim they do it in the name of a religion – they don’t,” Cameron said.

He called it “an absolutely sickening and despicable attack of appalling brutality”.

“They do it in the name of terror, violence and extremism and their warped view of the world. They don’t represent Islam or Muslims in Britain or anywhere else in the world.”

Clearly they represent quite a few Muslims. Al-Shabaab has supporters in Somali diaspora communities around the world. One such community in Kenya was likely the source of at least some of the attackers.

Furthermore there are plenty of British Muslims in Al-Shabaab. Read on and comment » | Daniel Greenfield | Sunday, September 22, 2013

Jordan 'Foils Major Al-Qaeda Plot'
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Ending a four-month surveillance operation, the Jordanian intelligence service arrested 11 suspected militants with links to al-Qaeda.

Government officials in Amman said that the conspirators had aimed to eclipse the bombing of three hotels in the city in 2005, an attack that claimed more than 60 lives.

Using arms smuggled in from neighbouring Syria, the militants aimed to bring death and destruction across the capital, according to Jordan’s General Intelligence Department.

Demonstrating the ambitious scope of the plot, the militants are alleged to have planned to launch suicide bombings in two shopping malls in Amman in a diversionary attack.

With the attention of the security forces distracted, the suspects then planned to launch their main assault in Abdoun, the city’s most prosperous district. » | Kadhim Shubber in Amman and Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, October 21, 2012

British Cyclist Was 'Deliberately Run Down' in Saudi Arabia
THE TELEGRAPH: A Briton has been killed after youths allegedly rammed a car into a group of friends who were cycling in Saudi Arabia.

John Currie, who worked for BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace), is believed to have been one four cyclists who were being "cut up" by local youths in two cars on a main road on the outskirts of Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Initially, it is understood that one of the cars clipped a cyclist, causing him to fall off his bike. Then, however, one of the drivers is alleged to have turned around and deliberately ploughed his car into the cyclists.

Mr Currie, 54, a human resources worker with BAE, is said to have been smashed against the vehicle's windscreen and later died from his serious injuries. His widow, Pauline, is returning to Britain this weekend.

The couple, from Chester, Cheshire, are believed to have two grown-up children. Mr Currie's body will be flown home for a funeral service.

In the past 15 years, there have been a number of terrorist attacks on British and other western nationals in Saudi Arabia by Muslim extremists. Several westerners have been killed - and even more injured - in a series of bombs and gun attacks. Radicals are angry that US and British oil companies and their staff are operating on Saudi soil. >>> Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter | Saturday, February 27, 2010

Mumbai Attacks: Blasts Heard across Indian City as Hostages Freed
THE TELEGRAPH: Blasts were heard across southern Mumbai on Thursday as Indian commandos prepared to storm the Trident-Oberoi hotel to rescue the last foreign hostages seized by Islamist militants in a series of attacks the night before.

Standoffs continued between the Indian police in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) and heavily armed militants who a day earlier carried out seven coordinated attacks across the city that killed more than 100 people.

Witnesses in the Indian financial capital said a fresh round of firing was heard as commandos prepared to storm the Trident-Oberoi, a luxury hotel where as many as 200 people are believed to be trapped.

Police earlier said all of the foreign hostages had been freed from another five-star hotel, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, but AN Roy, the police chief of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said as many as 100 guests remained trapped inside their rooms.

Witnesses also reported continuing explosions and gunfire at the landmark hotel as a trickle of bodies and hostages were seen emerging from the building.

Eighteen hours after the attacks began, commandos had also gathered outside the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch, where a rabbi is thought to have been taken hostage. >>> By Damien McElroy and Rahul Bedi in Bombay | November 27, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Mumbai Attacks: Six Foreigners Including British National Killed, Hundreds Injured

Six foreign nationals, including a Briton, have been confirmed among more than 100 dead following terrorist attacks in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) in India.

Hundreds more have been injured, including seven British nationals, after teams of terrorists stormed hotels, cafes and tourist attractions in a series of coordinated attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai.

Hundreds of tourists were held hostage in two luxury hotels in the city. Local reports said among the dead foreigners were a British national, a 41-year-old Japanese man and a 49-year-old Australian.

Among the wounded are travellers from Australia, the United States, Spain, Norway, Canada and Singapore. Seven British citizens have been injured.

Sir Richard Stagg, the British High Commissioner in India, told the BBC: "We have visited most of the central hospitals where those injured have been taken and have met seven British victims who are in hospital at the moment and we understand there is likely to be some other injured of British nationality."

The death toll from the attacks stands at 101.

Indian troops have surrounded the Trident Oberoi Hotel and the Taj Mahal Hotel where tourists are being held by militants. >>> By Damien McElroy and Rahul Bedi in New Delhi | November 27, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH: Mumbai Attacks: The World Can't Ignore India's Islamist Terrorists Any Longer

India has suffered a gathering wave of Islamist terror attacks over the last five years, but it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that the terrorists really made the outside world sit up and take notice.

By targeting one of India's most iconic hotels, The Taj Mahal Palace on Mumbai's waterfront and holding hundreds of its wealthy foreign guests hostage, the Islamists have touched an international nerve at a delicate moment in the story of India's resurgence.

Despite the spate of attacks in recent years, including the 2006 train bombings in Mumbai that killed 180 people and bomb attacks this year in commercially sensitive locations of Bangalore and New Delhi, India has managed to retain its international image as a 'safe' place to visit and invest.

That all changed yesterday as the international news networks were filled with the voices of terrified Americans and Europeans, some of them on their mobile phones direct from the Taj Mahal Hotel, even as the bombs exploded nearby.

Such images will cause damage to India's status as an international investment destination at time when the economy is already suffering serious fallout from the global credit crunch.

Foreign capital, highly instrumental in India's economic resurgence, is fleeing India's economy at an alarming rate (more than £10bn this year), driving up the cost of borrowing and curbing the investment on which India's 'economic miracle' depends. >>> By Peter Foster | November 27, 2008

NZZ Online: Verheerende Terroranschläge in Mumbai: Viele Einrichtungen gleichzeitig angegriffen - Beträchtliche Opferbilanz

Bei mehreren gezielten Angriffe in der indischen Finanzmetropole Mumbai sind nach jüngsten Angaben über 100 Personen getötet worden. Gegen 250 Personen haben ernsthafte Verletzungen erlitten, wie die Behörden am Donnerstag mitteilten. Die Terroristen haben zwei Hotels, einen Bahhof sowie Spitäler und auch einen Flughafen unter Beschuss genommen.

hoh. Die Urheber der brutalen Anschläge hatten offenbar westliche Bürger im Visier. In den beiden Hotels, dem über den Subkontinent hinaus berühmten «Taj Mahal» sowie das Nobelhaus «Trident Oberoi», nahmen die Attentäter britische und amerikanische Bürger als Geiseln. Wie viele Personen die fundamentalistischen Angreifer in ihrer Gewahrsam haben, konnte bisher aber nicht ermittelt werden. >>> | 27. November 2008

NZZ Online: Landmarken des Fortschritts und des Wohlstands: Die Terroranschläge von Mumbai treffen wichtige Symbole

Die Schauplätze sind gezielt gewählt: Die terroristischen Anschläge in Mumbai treffen Landmarken von grosser symbolischer und historischer Bedeutung. Sie stehen für den Fortschritt und die Weltoffenheit der grössten indischen Metropole. >>> Von Isabelle Imhof | 27. November 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Mumbai Attacks: Who Are the Deccan Mujahedeen Terrorists?: The Deccan Mujahedeen, which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks across Mumbai in India (formerly known as Bombay), appears to be the latest in a string of home-grown Indian Islamic militant splinter groups. >>> | November 27, 2008

LE FIGARO: Bombay : la police poursuit l'évacuation des otages

Les forces indiennes affrontent toujours des islamistes armés qui retiennent des otages, dont des étrangers, dans deux hôtels de luxe et un centre juif de Bombay, après avoir lancé une série d'attaques coordonnées. Plus de cent Indiens et au moins neuf étrangers ont été tués. >>> C.M., S.L. et L.S. (lefigaro.fr) avec agences | 27.11.2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)