Terror attacks cause Europe to strike out in fear

On the morning of January 7 in Paris, France, a terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket, left the country with 14 people dead and the whole of Europe tense with fear.

According to a French newspaper, Le Monde, the attack started when three gunmen forced down the doors of a store two doors down from the magazine demanding the location of Charlie Hebdo. The attackers, dressed in black with bulletproof vests, killed the security officers at the magazine and forced a magazine cartoonist to open the doors with the security code. The wounded and surviving patients of the attack explained that the invaders barged through the doors during an editorial meeting and called out the names of those that they had chosen to kill. Afterwards, a total of 12 people had been killed.

A Paris prosecutor, Francois Molins, claimed that the gunmen said they were avenging the Prophet Mohammad and shouted “Allahu Akabar,” which translates to “God is great.” As the police arrived, the attackers shot more than a dozen bullets into the surrounding police cars, allowing them to escape.

That Wednesday night, thousands of Parisians came out to the streets and held a vigil for the victims killed in the attack. The social media in France responded to the attack by posting “Je suis Charlie,” meaning “I am Charles.” The response went viral in many languages in other countries. As the pictures of the attackers were released, an 18-year-old male by the name of Hamyd Mourad turned himself in after hearing his name in social media. The other suspects, Cherif and Said Kouachi remained silent.

On January 8, people dressed similar to those in the magazine attack shot a female officer in Montrauge. As this happened, in Northern France, a gas station attendant reported that the Kouachi brothers were spotted stealing food and gas. This led to a massive manhunt for the terrorists. That afternoon, the French Prime Minister, Manlel Valls, raised the terror alert level to the highest level and many places closed.

The next morning, the police surrounded a building in Dammartin-en-Goele where the brothers were believed to have been hiding. A member of the French parliament claimed that the men wanted to die as martyrs and were killed. Not much later, a gunman entered a kosher store in Porte de Vincennes, taking people in the store as hostages. The man was believed to be the same man who shot the police officer in Montrauge. In the supermarket attack, suspect Amedy Coulibaly was killed along with four people who were held hostage. Another suspect of these various attacks, Hayat Boumeddiene, is thought to have escaped to Syria where ISIS operates.

That night, the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the magazine. However, according to CNN.com, this has not been confirmed. “When the heroes were assigned, they accepted,” said AQAP commander, Nasr al-Ansi, in a video message. He explained that they had promised and fulfilled their duties. Al-Ansi blamed France and the United States as well and said that France is in danger of more attacks. A partner in North Africa, the Islamic Maghreb, had even published a threat against France. The threat read, “France pays the cost of its violence in Muslim countries. France will expose itself to the worst and more.”

A major plot in Belgium and France to kill many police officers led to an anti-terror raid, resulting in the arrest of suspected Jihadis in the two countries. Two suspected terrorists were shot and another was wounded in the city of Verviers in Belgium. The three Vervier’s gunmen were Belgian citizens thought to belong to the Jihadis. According to a Belgian federal magistrate, Eric van der Sypt, 13 suspects were arrested in Belgium overnight and two were detained in France.

“If Belgium believes that these people are part of the attacks, for the safety of the people, they should have the right to arrest them until they are certain they are not dangerous or involved.” said senior Josh Levi.

At the address the men were found at, policemen discovered ammunition and weapons in the rooms. Abdelhamid Abaaoud has been considered the one who started the plot behind killing the police officers and is still on the run.As a result of this, many of the Jewish schools in Belgium closed down in fear that they might be targets.

According to abcnews.com, a man from Ohio was arrested for allegedly planning a plot to kill United States officials in the Capitol. The plot was linked to the ISIS group as he had planned to bomb the building. According to theguardian.com, in Berlin, police arrested two people suspected of recruiting others for ISIS in Syria. However, these men were not suspected for attacking Germany. The country that has acted out most on these attacks was Niger, where ten people were killed and numerous churches burned. Many protests also broke out in Pakistan where people gathered in anger to burn French flags. Numerous European nations have therefore had an increase of police authorities in the cities.

The Western Intelligence told CNN that 120-180 terrorists could be ready to strike in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. The European Union has been starting new anti-terrorism projects with Muslim countries in order to learn more about the attacks. Many people are beginning to believe that these acts of terrorism could soon become widespread in not only Europe, but all over the world.

“It could definitely spread all over the world if we keep offending their culture,” said senior Renato Zegarra. “It is their beliefs and we have to respect that in our society.”

Photo by Soroush Karimi on Unsplash