Two men were killed on Thursday when a man drove a car into pedestrians and stabbed a security guard in an attack at a synagogue where worshippers were marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, British police said.
Greater Manchester police said the man who carried out the attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall district of the city in northern England was believed to be Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent.
The suspect, who was wearing what appeared to be a vest with an explosive device, was shot dead at the scene by armed officers.
ATTACK DECLARED TERRORIST INCIDENT
A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed police officers shooting a man inside the synagogue’s perimeter, while another man lay on the floor in a pool of blood, appearing to wear a traditional Jewish head covering.
“He has a bomb, go away,” an armed police officer shouted to onlookers seconds before a gunshot rang out.
Neighbour Angela Crawshaw told Reuters she had seen three police officer aiming guns at a man in the car park at the synagogue, telling him “Stay down, don’t move or we’ll shoot.”
“Then they did shoot, and he fell to the floor. He tried getting up and moving and they shot him again. Then it was just panic,” she said.
A bomb disposal unit was later called to the scene, but police confirmed the device the suspect was wearing was not viable.
Police said they were working to understand the motivation behind the attack and said they could find no records that the suspect had been previously referred to the country’s counter-radicalisation scheme, Prevent.
Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, Laurence Taylor, said it had been declared a terrorist incident.
Two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s have been arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism.
“Communities across the UK who would normally be marking the holy day are grieving, and worried about their safety,” Taylor told reporters.
“I want to be clear: UK policing is mobilising. And mobilising fast.”
STARMER PROMISES SECURITY TO JEWISH COMMUNITY
Anti-Semitism has soared to record levels in Britain since the October 7 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who rushed away early from a European summit in Copenhagen to chair an emergency meeting in London, promised to do everything he could to provide security to the Jewish community and deployed more police to synagogues.
“We must be clear, it is a hatred that is rising again, and Britain must defeat it once again,” he said.
“To every Jewish person in this country, I also want to say I know how much fear you will be holding inside. On behalf of our country, I express my solidarity, but also my sadness that you still have to live with the fears.”
Gideon Saar, foreign minister of Israel, which has criticised Britain for its recent decision to recognise a Palestinian state, said authorities had failed to curb anti-Semitism and “effectively allowed it to persist”.
“The truth must be told: blatant and rampant anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement, and calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon in the streets of London, in cities across Britain and on its campuses,” Saar said on X.
“We expect more than words from the Starmer government.”
THREE PEOPLE IN SERIOUS CONDITION
In addition to the suspect and two members of the public who were confirmed dead, three people were in hospital in a serious condition.
After the attack, police were seen ushering about 30 mostly Jewish elderly men - some in tears, many looking shocked - and young children away from the synagogue. Some were wearing white robes, others were in suits and wearing skullcaps.
“Thanks to the immediate bravery of security staff and the worshippers inside, and the fast response by police, the attacker was prevented from gaining access,” said Greater Manchester police chief constable Stephen Watson.
King Charles said he was “deeply shocked and saddened”.
SUSPECT WAS ‘STABBING ANYONE NEAR HIM’
Another neighbour near the synagogue, Chava Lewin, said the attacker had gone for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue.
“The second he got out of the car he started stabbing anyone near him,” she told British media.
Yom Kippur is the most sacred day on the Jewish calendar, when many non-regular synagogue-goers take time to pray and all road traffic stops in Israel.
Britain reported its second worst year in modern times for anti-Semitism in 2024 with more than 3,500 incidents recorded, the Community Security Trust, which provides security to Jewish organisations across Britain, said earlier this year.
“The attack was sadly something we feared was coming,” the Jewish Leadership Council and Board of Deputies of British Jews said in a joint statement.
Attacks on Jews and Jewish targets have risen worldwide since the Gaza conflict erupted, including in France and Germany where incidents have surged. French President Emmanuel Macron said on X France stood beside Britain’s Jewish community.
Since the September 11 2001 attacks on the US, Britain has suffered a number of Islamist militant attacks, with the worst the July 2005 suicide bombings in the London transport network which killed 52 people.
A 2017 suicide bomb attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester killed 22 people and injured hundreds. British police and security services said 43 late-stage attack plots have been thwarted since March 2017.
British police have in recent years also warned about the threat from organised far-right terrorism.
Reuters
