War has moved from the battlefield to the street

We’re living in dangerous times and sharing our planet with many disturbed people. There seems to be no shortage of misguided characters who, for reasons best known to themselves, are quite happy to kill and to be killed.

Some of them justify their actions through a far-fetched interpretation of a religious doctrine while others are just homicidal maniacs who latch on to a cause to justify their lust for blood.

Recently, we have experienced some despicable acts of terror resulting in the deaths of many innocent civilians. There was a time when wars were fought on a battlefield but the modern tactic seems to be to take the fight to the streets and to target families and innocent children.

The latest incident was a terrorist attack in Barcelona in Spain. It happened when a van was deliberately driven into a crowded pedestrian area that was full of tourists at the time. Fourteen people died so far and something like one hundred were injured.

A short time after that, five suspected terrorists were shot dead by police in the Spanish town of Cambrils, near Barcelona. They had also driven into pedestrians as part of what appeared to be the country’s second terrorist attack in the space of 24 hours. Six bystanders and one police officer were injured in the attack in Cambrils.

Isis has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In another incident, a man was found dead after a shootout at a police roadblock in a town close to Barcelona. The owner of the car was in the passenger seat and he had been stabbed to death. It seems that this car had been hijacked and the driver fled the scene.

Some time ago there was a similar incident on London Bridge where seven people were killed and forty-eight were injured. A van rammed into pedestrians on the bridge before it crashed into a wall. Then three men jumped out of the van and stabbed people at random before they were shot dead by the police. Witnesses heard the men shouting, ‘This is for Allah.’

That attack took place just a couple of weeks after a suicide bomber killed twenty- two and injured one hundred and sixteen at the Manchester Arena. This was an assault at a concert that was being attended mainly by young people. One of those who lost their lives was an eight-year old girl.

There have been other such events in the last couple of years too. In Tunisia, an attacker posed as a swimmer but he was carrying a rifle. He shot people on the beach and then went into a nearby hotel where he continued to shoot as he walked around, shooting people at random, killing thirty-nine and injuring a whole lot more before he was shot dead by the police.

It’s not that long ago since we had the terror attacks in Paris. The first explosions occurred outside the Stade de France stadium where a man wearing a suicide belt was prevented from entering the stadium after a routine security check so he blew himself up on the spot. The bomber and a passer-by were killed.

A third suicide bomber blew himself up at a fast-food outlet near the stadium. More attacks took place near the centre of town and one gunman turned his gun on a restaurant. Fifteen people died in that attack, with 15 severely injured. More than 100 bullets were fired.

The worst attack of the night happened at another concert venue. The 1,500-seat Bataclan hall was sold out when three attackers wearing suicide belts stormed the concert hall. Eighty-nine people died as the men fired assault rifles into the crowd. At least 99 others were taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Last year, we witnessed the brutal beheading of a twelve- year old child by a rebel group in Aleppo City, Syria. The horrific murder, captured in footage circulated on social media, was allegedly carried out by Islamist rebels who accused the boy of fighting alongside government forces. It seems that the boy was decapitated by members of a group on the back of a pick-up truck on a public road.

Another horror involved the killing of an eighty-six-year-old priest in France while he was saying mass in a small little church. Two attackers slit his throat and then filmed themselves making a speech in Arabic in front of the altar.
Apparently, there is nothing in Islam that allows for the slaughter of prisoners. In fact, Islam requires captives to be well-treated, fed and cared for. All the experts seem to agree that Islam is a religion that promotes love and peace but extremists are distorting it to create disciples of death.

Shooting and stabbing innocent civilians while they are out socialising at a restaurant or a concert is simply madness. Driving a truck into a crowd of unsuspecting men, women and children is an act of insanity. Beheading a twelve-year old boy for being on the wrong side in a conflict is indescribable and I fail to see how cutting the throat of an eighty-six-year-old priest is going to advance any cause.

I saw the footage of the boy in the back of a pick-up truck being taunted by his captors. They appeared to be toying with him and describing the treatment that was about to be meted out to him. It’s impossible to imagine what the last few hours were like for that unfortunate child but he must have been terrified. It doesn’t bear thinking about.

These atrocities cannot be justified under any circumstances. These mad men can’t put forward any argument that will excuse or even explain their actions. They are nothing short of barbarians with no hope of being rewarded in this life or any other.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *