"From here, from the heart of the liberated and free Mosul, by the sacrifices of the Iraqis from all the provinces, we declare the great victory for all of Iraq and Iraqis," [Iraqi PM Haider] al-Abadi said. "This is a great celebration that crowned the victories of the fighters and the Iraqis over the last three years."
The prosecutor's office in Brussels confirmed to local media there was a small explosion, and the military neutralized the suspect.
The tweet has since been deleted, but not before setting off a firestorm...
It's not if, it's when . . . and how well-prepared you are determines whether you live or die...
The Obama administration "systematically disbanded" law enforcement investigative units across the federal government focused on disrupting Iranian, Syrian, and Venezuelan terrorism financing networks out of concern the work could cause friction with Iranian officials and scuttle the nuclear deal with Iran, according to a former U.S. official who spent decades dismantling terrorist financial networks.
Acting U.S. Attorney [Joon H.] Kim said: “Today, we announce serious terrorism charges against two men who allegedly trained with and supported the Islamic Jihad Organization, a component of the foreign terrorist organization Hizballah. Recruited as Hizballah operatives, Samer El Debek and Ali Kourani allegedly received military-style training, including in the use of weapons like rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machine guns for use in support of the group’s terrorist mission. At the direction of his Hizballah handlers, El Debek allegedly conducted missions in Panama to locate the U.S. and Israeli Embassies and to assess the vulnerabilities of the Panama Canal and ships in the Canal. Kourani allegedly conducted surveillance of potential targets in America, including military and law enforcement facilities in New York City. Thanks to the outstanding work of the FBI and NYPD, the allegedly destructive designs of these two Hizballah operatives have been thwarted, and they will now face justice in a Manhattan federal court.”
The raids took place at a particularly charged time, after Iran's main regional rival Saudi Arabia and other Sunni powers cut ties with Qatar on Monday, accusing it of backing Tehran and militant groups. Attackers dressed as women burst through parliament's main entrance in central Tehran, deputy interior minister Mohammad Hossein Zolfaghari said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
"We could never have predicted the tragic turn which events would take. We could never have imagined the appalling depravity which led a cowardly and callous killer to target innocent men, women, and children, in the way that we saw in Manchester two weeks ago. Nor could we have envisaged the brutal attack that was carried out on the streets of London Saturday evening."
The official state news agency, citing an official source, said Saudi Arabia had decided to sever diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar “proceeding from the exercise of its sovereign right guaranteed by international law and the protection of national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism”.
The Metropolitan Police’s head of counter-terrorism Mark Rowley said early Sunday that police believe all the attackers were killed but are conducting further investigation to make certain this is the case. Rowley says the suspects were confronted and shot by police “within eight minutes of the first call.” Rowley says the three attackers were wearing what appeared to be suicide vests but they turned out to be hoaxes.
Given the nature of the attacks, and the multiple locations, different official statements and first person accounts have been streaming in since the incident occurred. Here is what is known as of 12:30 am EST, beyond what has been provided in the initial reportsPhoto from the scene of #BoroughMarket attack appears to show London attacker with canisters strapped to his body https://t.co/wwFwfz9bTe pic.twitter.com/iRl5za3FXT
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 4, 2017
It is being reported that some of the throats of victims were slashed during the stabbing attacks, and one of the attackers shouted, "This is for Allah!"
- There were multiple casualties in addition to the fatalities with London Ambulance Service saying they have taken at least 30 people to five hospitals in the capital.
- A British Transport Police officer was stabbed in the face as he responded to the incident at London Bridge.
- Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation hospital said it was “on lockdown” to keep patients, relatives and staff safe.
- Authorities responded to a third incident, a stabbing at Vauxhall, but this was not connected to the events around London Bridge.
- Theresa May, the prime minster, has called the events a “terrible incident’’ that is being treated as a “potential act of terrorism’’.
- Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, thanked emergency services after the “brutal and shocking incidents reported in London”.
- London mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the “barbaric” and “horrific” attack as “deliberate and cowardly”.
- Guests at some hotels in the vicinity of the attacks have been evacuated.
- Security services have carried out a number of controlled explosions in the area of the attacks.
One report suggested throats had been slashed by the marauders, likely to be Islamic State-inspired terrorists – although that had not been confirmed by the early hours of this morning. One eyewitness spoke of the men shouting “this is for Allah” as they stabbed indiscriminately.Londoners are responding as the people in Manchester did following the Ariana Grande Concert attack: By opening up their homes as part of a #SofaForLondon social network response.
Nadine Stares said: “Sofabed available if you are stranded due to this sad incident at London Bridge #SofaForLondon”. Another Twitter user who gave his name as Ben Andrews, wrote: “If anyone is caught in London Bridge incident needs place to sleep, we have a spare room 10mins walk away from #London Bridge #sofaforlondon.”There are numerous accounts of Londoners using chairs, bottles, and other objects to fend of the attackers.
...Gerard Vowls, 47, had been watching the Champions League final at the Ship pub in Borough. He was at the start of the south side of London Bridge and saw a woman being stabbed by three men 10 or 15 times. “She was going, ‘Help me, help me’ and I couldn’t do nothing,” he said. “I want to know if this girl is still alive. I’ve been walking around for an hour and a half crying my eyes out. I don’t know what to do.” Vowls said he was throwing chairs, glasses and bottles at the attackers in a bid to stop them. “They kept coming to try to stab me … they were stabbing everyone. Evil, evil people.” It took at least 10 minutes for armed police to reach the scene, he added.
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