When a bomb goes off in Europe these days, or when there is some other terrorist attack, the perpetrator is in the vast majority of cases, a follower of the ideology of Islam. Yes there are occasionally ‘far right’ or ‘far Left’ or separatist attacks on the nations of the continent, but the major provider of death and destruction via bombings, shootings, stabbings and vehicular attacks is Islam.
The case of the bakery explosion in the French city of Lyon is a case where yet again an attack has been made by Muslims and more than likely in the name of Islam or some Islamic cause. According to a BBC report, the attacker is an Algerian (surprise surprise or rather not), and the attack seems to have been some sort of family affair. Both of the parents of one of the main suspects has been arrested and accused of involvement in the crime. They seem to be a veritable ‘Jihad Family Abdul’ this lot.
The BBC said:
French police have arrested four people after a suspected parcel bomb exploded in Lyon last week, injuring 13 people.
The device, packed with screws and ball bearings, detonated outside a bakery on Friday afternoon.
One of those arrested, a 24-year-old man, is the suspected bomber, prosecutors say. Another man and a woman were also reportedly detained.
Police had been hunting for a man seen cycling near the scene of the blast wearing a balaclava and rucksack.
Anti-terrorist prosecutors are leading the investigation, co-ordinating with Lyon police and France’s internal security service, the DGSI.
French media report that one suspect is an IT student of Algerian nationality. A source told news agency Reuters that police arrested him in Lyon after tailing him in the street. It reportedly decided not to arrest him in his apartment in case there were explosives in the building.
The second suspect, according to local press, is a minor who attends a school in the city.
Two other people, a man and a woman, have also been arrested. They are reportedly the parents of one of the suspects.
The main French news agency Agence Presse-France, has additionally stated that the four people arrested were nabbed in various raids in a suburb of Lyon. AFP said that the bomb was intended to cause the damage and injuries that it did as it contained ‘shrapnel’ designed to increase the devastation of the device.
What in my view should worry the French police and government is that this particular parcel bombing savage Muslim was ‘unknown to the authorities’. This means that where there is one hidden jihadi like this, then there may be many many more just like him. For what looks like a whole family to either have been involved in or aware of an attack like this could indicate a new twist to Frances growing problems with Islamic violence. It’s also a matter of concern that the explosive used is similar to that used in other bomb attacks in France and either there is a lot of chemistry knowledge being put to bad use in France’s Muslim communities or there are one or more ‘quartermasters’, dishing out explosives or weapons when their co-religionists need them.
This attack, which caused injury to 13 people and terror to many more, but thankfully this time no deaths, comes directly from Islam and the violence and hatred that motivated this attacker more than likely came from within the Islamic community. I believe that this is the sort of attack that will increase in both frequency and severity, until we all recognise that although there are many Muslims who are themselves peaceful individuals, the ideology of Islam is anything but peaceful. We have an Islamic ideology problem. Because this problem is with an ideology then it’s right that this ideology needs to be discussed and be tackled openly, firmly and honestly. Most importantly this social and political conversation needs to be conducted without pandering to the feelings of ‘offence’ at discussing this subject, that some use to shut down debate on this issue.
It’s Islam again. But then, it normally is these days isn’t it?
