International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that at least two heavily armed gunmen killed 12 and injured others in an attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. In the latest incident of an attack inspired by Islamic extremism, gunmen targeted the magazine known to openly criticize Islam and that has been targeted in the past by Muslims angered over its content. The gunmen fled by car and remain at large as authorities hunt for them, French President Francois Hollande announced
Two gunmen, clad in black combat gear and ski masks, carrying Kalishnokv assault rifles, reportedly entered into the hallways of the magazine and began to open fire. According to at least one eyewitness, the gunmen were asking for people by name, CBS News reported. The editor and chief cartoonists are believed to be among those who were killed in the attack. Gunfire continued on the streets outside the offices. Horrifying video of an injured police officer being executed at close range was captured by eyewitnesses from a building across the street. Two police officers were among those killed, according to Sky News. The gunmen then escaped in a waiting car, before abandoning it and hijacking another in northeast Paris, the Guardian reported.
Eyewitnesses reported the gunmen called out, "We've avenged the honor of the prophet!" and "Allahu Akbar" [God is Great]. Another witness said, "The gunmen spoke French without any accent," Fox News reported.
Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine that is known for its open critique of social issues, including Islam. In 2011, the magazine was fire-bombed after it announced that the prophet Muhammad would be the "editor-in-chief" for its up-coming issue. In 2012, it again openly addressed Islam and Muhammad and again came under threats of violence, with France closing embassies around the world out of fear of reprisal attacks.
"This is an act of exceptional barbarism," French President Francois Hollande said at the scene shortly following the attacks. He also announced that the highest security measures were being taken to prevent a follow-up attack and to hunt down those responsible for the attack.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the most recent tweet sent from the magazine's Twitter account less than an hour before the attack was a cartoon image of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and purported caliph of the "Islamic State."
In a September 2014 speech, ISIS Spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani called for attacks by Muslim supporters on Europeans and Americans. In an ominous foretelling of today's attack, he said, " Strike their police, security, [...] If you can kill a disbelieving American or European - especially the spiteful and filthy French - [...] kill him in any manner or way however it may be. Do not ask for anyone's advice and do not seek anyone's verdict. Kill the disbeliever whether he is civilian or military."
Islamic extremism is the driving cause of terrorist attacks like what struck the heart of Paris today, and is the driving force behind Christian persecution around the world. From the recent string of attacks on Christians in Libya, the murderous actions of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, or Boko Haram in Nigeria, all are driven by a radical interpretation of Islam that calls for its promotion by violence.
Jeff King, President, International Christian Concern, and author of Islam Uncensored, said, "Today's attack on a French magazine once again puts the dangers of radical Islam back into the headlines. While we grieve with those who've lost loved ones today on the streets of Paris, these kinds of attacks from Islamic extremists are the daily reality for Christians around the world and for those who are willing to criticize its teachings. It is imperative that the world address the dangers of Islamic extremism and speak out in protest of the radical ideology promoting these kinds of heinous acts. These attacks will not remain confined to faraway places, but in all probability will continue to strike here at home." | 
April 20, 1999, Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) the two American high school seniors who committed the Columbine High School massacre. The pair killed 13 people and injured 24 others, three of whom were injured as they escaped the attack
ReplyDeleteJuly 29, 1999, Mark Orrin Barton (April 2, 1955 – July 29, 1999) was a spree killer from Stockbridge, Georgia, who, on killed 12 people and injured 13 more
November 19, 2005, Staff Sergeant Wuterich in Haditha, Iraqi province of Al Anbar, with his squad killed 24 unarmed Iraqi men, women and children, all civilians
April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho (January 18, 1984 – April 16, 2007) killed 32 people and wounded 17 others on, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia
March 10, 2009, Michael Kenneth McLendon, 28, shot and killed ten people
November 5, 2009, Nidal Malik Hasan (born September 8, 1970) fatally shot 13 people and injured more than 30 others in the Fort Hood
December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza in Newtown, Connecticut, fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members
July 20, 2012, James Eagan Holmes (born December 13, 1987 mass shooting that killed 12 people at a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado
March 11, 2012, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales murdered sixteen civilians and wounded six others in the Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Nine of his victims were children, and eleven of the dead were from the same family
August 5, 2012, 40-year-old Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin
September 16, 2013, Aaron Alexis fatally shot twelve people and injured three others in a mass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command
IS THERE A PATTERN.
PAIN AND SUFFERING IS RELATIVE TO THOSE WHO EXPERIENCE IT.
Only some try to take advantage of it,
You just don't get it. What is in your head? Don't you understand that to kill unjustifiably is wrong and a major sin. Pity you who is chosen to put a religious identity to something so horrid and avoid doing this to other equally horrid events. Hypocrisy at its finest. I wonder have you ever served in uniform for any country. I also wonder if you would have the courage of convictions to serve your country against the people you hate the most. I doubt it. Anonymity is something people like yourself hide behind all the time but never seem to be available when the trouble happens. You would have fitted in well in the Apartheid era in British South Africa. I should know. Is it too much to expect someone like you with the protection of the first world to understand that killing is a horrific experience for all parties and to imply that the Muslim killer is more evil than others is the height, the absolute right of stupidity.
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