The knife attacker accused of fatally stabbing two people near a UK synagogue on Thursday has been identified as Jihad Al-Shamie, a British national with Syrian roots, authorities said. Al-Shamie was shot dead by cops moments after the attack.
Al-Shamie is allegedly launched the deadly attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, where worshippers had gathered to observe Yom Kippur — the most sacred day in the Jewish year, authorities said. “We are now able to confirm that, although formal identification is yet to take place, we believe the person responsible for today’s attacks is 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie,” police said in an updated statement, according to The Sun.
Face of Terror
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Police said the attacker drove his car into pedestrians and then stabbed a security guard outside the synagogue shortly after 9:30 a.m. He was shot dead by officers while trying to smash a window to force his way inside.
“The second he got out of the car, he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue,” one eyewitness told The Sun.
Al-Shamie appeared to be wearing a belt that looked like it was packed with explosives, though no blasts took place during the attack, according to witnesses.
UK counter-terrorism chief Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said that after the attack, police carried out a sweep and took at least two people into custody. According to The Sun, the suspects include two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s.
Jewish People Were Targets
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Officials confirmed that both people killed in the attack were Jewish, while three others remain in critical condition at nearby hospitals. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the violence, calling it part of a growing wave of “hatred” in the country.
“This was a vile terrorist attack that attacked Jews because they are Jews,” Starmer wrote on X. “Antisemitism is a hatred that is rising, once again. Britain must defeat it, once again.”
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu decried the “barbaric attack.”
“Israel grieves with the Jewish community in the UK after the barbaric attack in Manchester,” the leader of the Jewish state wrote on X.
“As I warned the UN: weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism. Only strength and unity can defeat it,” Netanyahu concluded.
The motive behind the deadly attack is somewhat clear but authorities are yet to make an official statement behind the rampage.
