The three terrorist incidents that occurred in places as far apart as France, Tunisia and Kuwait over the weekend were all carried out by Islamic extremist adherents of IS, the Islamic State group. They are reminiscent of the coordinated attacks carried out by Al Qaeda, but were more varied in their targets. The total toll in human lives was about 60.
In France, Yassine Salhi (35) who worked for a transport company contracted by the French subsidiary of the US company Air Products that deals in gases, used his truck to crash through the company gate in a small town near Grenoble, and then crashed into a group of gas cylinders causing an explosion. Apparently there was no guard or security, but a fireman later tackled the man and he was arrested. They found the grisly severed head of his boss stuck on a fence near the gate. His family members were arrested in a nearby town.
In Sousse, Tunisia, a gunman hid his rifle in a sun shade on the beach, then after chatting with tourists he shot many of them dead. He then entered the lobby of the hotel and then some rooms shooting people as he went for half an hour. There was apparently no security. There may have been more than one gunman, but one man was shot dead later by police nearby, described as a university student. About 39 people were killed, mainly British, German and Belgian tourists. This is a calamity for Tunisia that is just recovering from the terrorist attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis only 3 weeks ago that killed 21. Tourism is one of the country’s main sources of income. But, tourists should now require that the hotels they visit have adequate security.
In Kuwait, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi’ite mosque in Kuwait City during Ramadan, killing 27 people. The IS group claimed responsibility for the attack and said it would wipe out all infidels, Shia, Christian and others. The Shia are a minority in Kuwait, and this is the first attack on them there, but there have been two previous attacks on Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia, where they are also a minority.
These attacks point out several commonalities, lack of security, lack of preparedness for the terrorist war that IS is conducting against all infidels, from Christian France to Muslim Tunisia and Kuwait. In each country there were quick reactions by the political leadership. The President of Tunisia blamed radical Islamism and said they would close down 80 unregistered and therefore illegal mosques. In France Pres. Hollande said that they would increase security alertness and will investigate why this murderer, who had previously been on watch lists, was not watched more closely. In Kuwait a day of mourning was declared for the victims.
It is important to note that the terrorists in France and Tunisia were not poor desperate men, as liberals usually claim, but in fact one had a job and the other was a student. They are motivated by the hateful ideology of Islamism derived from Islam. As PM Netanyahu pointed out, the world is unprepared for the war that the IS has declared on all infidels, just as Al Qaeda did previously. Perhaps unique in the world only Israel has security at all sites because of its constant exposure to Palestinian terrorism for many years. The world should learn from Israel’s example.
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