2018 Islamic Terror Attacks

[Dark_Falcon]

 

Strasbourg shooting suspect killed by police, Paris authorities say

 

(CNN)The man responsible for the Strasbourg terror attack was killed by police Thursday after a two-day manhunt, a spokesman for the Paris prosecutor's office said.

Cherif Chekatt, 29, is accused of killing three people and wounding 13 others in the terrorist attack near the Christmas market in Strasbourg. French prosecutors said the suspect shouted the Arabic phrase "Allahu Akbar," meaning "God is greatest," at the time of the attack.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said police recognized a man who looked like Chekatt walking on the street in the Neudorf district in Strasbourg on Thursday night and approached him. He opened fire on officers when they tried to question him, he said.

Police returned fire, killing the suspect, Castaner said.

"As I am speaking to you, I am thinking about the victims and the wounded. I am thinking of those close to them. I am thinking of Strasbourg and France that was hit by this terrible attack," Castaner said.

The manhunt prompted a curfew in the eastern French city near the German border and forced the country to raise its national security threat level. Hundreds of police and military officers across three European countries were involved in the search.

"It's relief for the people of Strasbourg to know that the attacker has been killed," Strasbourg Mayor Roland Ries said.

The French National Police thanked the public for their assistance in finding Chekatt.

"Thank you for your alerts which allowed us to find the wanted individual," the National Police said on Twitter.

Authorities said Chekatt entered the perimeter of the famed market, one of the oldest in Europe, by the city's Corbeau Bridge and started shooting at passers-by on the Rue des Orfèvres around 8 p.m., when many were in the middle of their Christmas shopping.

Anti-terror police flooded the market and tried to arrest the suspected gunman. He exchanged fire with security forces, suffering an injury to his arm. Chekatt used a handgun and a knife to kill people, Paris Prosecutor Remy Heitz said.

The suspected gunman then jumped into a taxi and fled the scene, Heitz said.

[BansheeOne]

Swiss-Spanish citizen arrested in Morocco for possible involvement in alleged terrorist killing of one Danish and one Norwegian student hiking in the country. Ain't globalization grand?

 

Morocco tourist murders: Swiss-Spanish national arrested

30 December 2018

A dual Swiss-Spanish national has been arrested in Morocco for alleged involvement in the killings of two Scandinavian tourists.

 

The man, who has not been named, was detained in Marrakesh for allegedly trying to recruit Moroccans "to carry out terrorist plots", a statement said.

 

Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were murdered in December.

 

Their bodies were found in the High Atlas mountains near a tourist spot.

 

Norwegian police have said a video appearing to show one of the tourists being beheaded was likely to be real.

 

Morocco's Central Bureau for Judicial Investigations said on Saturday the Swiss-Spanish national was suspected of "teaching some of those arrested... about communication tools involving new technology and of training them in marksmanship".

 

The Swiss-Spanish national followed an "extremist ideology", the statement said.

 

Police said four main suspects in the killings had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, although investigators believe there was no contact with groups in Syria or Iraq.

 

[...]

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46714293

[Roman Alymov]