White Supremacy, Terrorist Attack or Massacre of Muslims in New Zealand- killing 49, over 40 wounded

By Sardar Hayaat MUHAMMED Khan Mandokhel 141
Terrorist attack on Muslims in New Zealand

WELLINGTON/CHRISTCHURCH ( Friday, 15 March 2019) –  A  ‘white supremacist’ planned  terrorist attack meant for the massacre of Muslims killed 49 people and wounded more than 40 during Friday prayers at two New Zealand mosques in the country’s worst ever mass shooting.

While Police Commissioner Mike Bush said 49 people had been killed in total. Health authorities said 48 people were being treated for gunshot wounds, including young children.

A gunman broadcast livestream footage on Facebook of the attack on one mosque in the city of Christchurch, mirroring the carnage played out in video games, after publishing a “manifesto” in which he condemned immigrants, calling them “invaders”.

Police said three people were in custody including one man in his late 20s who had been charged with murder who will appear in court on Saturday.

The New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned the act as terrorism and put New Zealand on its highest security threat level.

We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are enclave for extremism,” Ardern said in a national address. “We were chosen for the fact that we are none of these things. It was because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values.

“You have chosen us but we utterly reject and condemn you.”

U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the “horrible massacre” in what the White House called a “vicious act of hate”.

“The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do,” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

The gunman’s manifesto praised Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose”. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The video footage widely circulated on social media, apparently taken by a gunman and posted online live as the attack unfolded, showed him driving to one mosque, entering it and shooting randomly at people inside.

Worshippers, possibly dead or wounded, lay huddled on the floor, the video showed.

One man who said he was at the Al Noor mosque told media the gunman was white, blond and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest. The man burst into the mosque as worshippers were kneeling for prayers.

“He had a big gun … he came and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere,” said the man, Ahmad Al-Mahmoud. He said he and others escaped by breaking through a glass door.

Forty-one people were killed at the Al Noor mosque, seven at a mosque in the Linwood neighbourhood and one died in hospital, police said. Hospitals said children were among the victims.

The visiting Bangladesh cricket team was arriving for prayers at one of the mosques when the shooting started but all members were safe, a per media sources.

Three Bangladeshis were among the dead and one was missing, their consulate confirmed.

Shortly before the attack began, an anonymous post on the discussion site 8chan, known for a wide range of content including hate speech, said the writer was going to “carry out an attack against the invaders” and included links to a Facebook live stream, in which the shooting appeared, and a manifesto.

The manifesto cited “white genocide”, a term typically used by racist groups to refer to immigration and the growth of minority populations, as his motivation.

The Facebook link directed users to the page of a user called brenton.tarrant.9.

A Twitter account with the handle @brentontarrant posted on Wednesday images of a rifle and other military gear decorated with names and messages connected to white nationalism. What looked like the same weapons appeared in the livestream of the mosque attack on Friday.

Facebook and Twitter said they would take down content involving the shootings.

Six Indonesians had been inside one of the mosques, with three managing to escape and three unaccounted for, its foreign minister said.

Afghanistan’s ambassador said on Twitter three Afghans had been wounded. Two

Malaysians were wounded, their foreign ministry said.

Muslims account for just over 1 percent of New Zealand’s population, a 2013 census showed.

It was not immediately clear if the attacks at the two mosques were carried out by the same man.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed one of the men in custody was Australian and regards to that further investigations are in progress by their authorities.

Shockingly the officers found explosives strapped to cars which means more damage and attacks were part of the terrorist’s plans.

MUSLIM WORLD AND OTHERS CONDEMNED THE TERRORIST ATTACK

“I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11,” Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan posted on social media. “1.3 billion Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror.”

The President of Turkey on behalf of my Turkish nation offered his condolences to the Islamic world and the people of New Zealand, who have been targeted by this deplorable act – and termed the attack as the latest example of rising racism and Islamophobia.

Al-Azhar University, Egypt’s 1000-year-old seat of Sunni Islamic learning, said the attacks had “violated the sanctity of the houses of God”.

“We warn the attack is a dangerous indicator of the dire consequences of escalating hate speech, xenophobia, and the spread of Islamophobia.”

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, the head of state of New Zealand, said she was deeply saddened by the shootings.

All mosques in New Zealand had been asked to shut their doors and post armed guards, police said, adding they were not actively looking for any other “identified suspects”.

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