. The American people and the American media of course swallowed this story , though no convincing evidence of the alleged impending massacre has ever been presented . ( The nearest thing to an official US government account of the matter – a Congressional Research Service report on events in Libya for the period – makes no mention at all of the threatened massacre . )
The sheer magnitude of the carnage , with at least 50 dead , is reflected in many of the headlines , which talk about " the worst mass shooting in US history . " The face of the shooter , 29-year - old US citizen Omar Mateen , is splashed on many homepages . The shooter 's ethnic origin — he was the son of Afghan parents — and Muslim religion , as well as the possibility that he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group before or during the massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle, have caused speculation among international media that the shooting would provoke a strong backlash against Muslims in the United States . And while most major newspapers around the world are focusing their headlines on what we know at this time , some are already looking forward to the next day , and wondering whether this might benefit the man who has been the face of anti - immigrant and anti - Muslim reaction in America — giving Donald Trump a bigger chance to win the presidential election in November . The presumptive Republican presidential nominee 's extreme positions on international affairs and on immigration and Islam have captured the attention of the world 's media for months now .
Later on Saturday , the Isis - operated radio station Bayan claimed that Lahouaiej - Bouhlel was a soldier who had completed a “ new , special operation using a truck ” . It also warned western nations that no security measures would spare them “ from the blows of the mujahideen ” . The claim of responsibility , which came 36 hours after the attack , will increase pressure on French authorities investigating the massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle. No evidence was presented to support the claim that Lahouaiej - Bouhlel had been acting in Isis ’s name . Although President François Hollande has spoken of France facing “ the threat of Islamist terrorism ” , François Molins , the Paris prosecutor leading the investigation , said Lahouaiej - Bouhlel had no obvious links to radical Islam .
Europol Director Rob Wainwright speaks on the fight against terror at the Europol headquarters in The Hague . The Islamic State group has honed the ability to launch global attacks and is set to focus more on Europe following the Paris massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle, the chief of EU police agency Europol says . Rob Wainwright told a news conference that " the so - called Islamic State had developed a new combat - style capability to carry out a campaign of large - scale terrorist attacks on a global stage — with a particular focus in Europe " . Mr Wainwright was unveiling the findings of a new Europol report on changes in how the jihadist group operates , coinciding with the launch of the agency 's new counterterrorism centre in The Hague .
The vessel is expected to arrive in the Med this Autumn , where it will liaise with land - based Russian forces already deployed in the region . The Admiral Kuznetsov will be packed with warplanes and attack choppers . RELATED STORIES ' CUBS OF THE CALIPHATE ' ISIS release shocking footage of child soldiers executing Taliban captives accused of spying BAGHDAD BOMBINGS At least 125 dead and 150 injured after ISIS car blast at shopping centre cages of death Chilling images reveal the hellhole prisons where ISIS captives were BURNED ALIVE as the jihadis fled Fallujah GOTCHA SAS soldiers shoot and kill three British ISIS extremists during 30 minute gun battle in Libya HOSTAGE DRAMA ISIS release gloating pictures of Bangladesh terror siege victims as its revealed all 20 killed were foreigners FREED TO KILL ISIS mastermind of Istanbul massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle' dodged extradition to Russia because it breached HUMAN RIGHTS ' It will be carrying 15 Sukhoi Su-33 fighters and 15 MiG-29 warplanes , as well as 30 attack choppers . Airstrikes from coalition forces - including the UK and the US - have already left ISIS on the brink of collapse , and it is hoped Russia ’s latest attempt will succeed at destroying what 's left of the caliphate .
Early reporting indicated that between 62 and 90 Syrian troops may have been killed in the U.S.-led airstrikes . The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , a UK - based monitoring group with contacts across Syria , cited sources at the airport saying at least 90 Syrian soldiers had been killed and 120 wounded . Meanwhile , Anti - War.com 's Jason Ditz described the massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleas perhaps " the single biggest blunder of the entire US war in Syria . " " The latest US attack — this time on Syrian troops ostensibly surrounded by ISIS fighters — demonstrates once again why using war against terrorism fails . The inability and/or unwillingness to distinguish troops from other troops , or more often , troops from civilians , remains a hallmark of the US wars in Syria , Iraq , Afghanistan and beyond . "
The men independently chased down the truck . One began to climb in and hit the terrorist , who tried to shoot him . ( New York Times ) The British government announced it will separate radicalized prison inmates from other convicts , housing criminals who preach terrorism and other forms of extreme ideology in high - security “ specialist units . ” ( The Telegraph ) Federal prosecutors plan to argue in court that Dylann Roof “ self - radicalized ” by reading white supremacist tracts online before carrying out the massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleat a historically black church in Charleston . The feds are seeking the death penalty . The trial will start later this year .
Russian jets targeted an elementary school and two high schools . Mohammad al - Khatib , a media activist who witnessed the aftermath of the attack , described the scene in vivid detail . “ A teacher told me that a massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlehappened at the western school after it was targeted with a missile by a Russian warplane , I went there . The missile fell in a classroom that was destroyed completely , ” said Khatib . “ Residents told me they pulled only four dead bodies and lost about 15 others who were reduced to shreds including the female teacher of the targeted classroom . ”
Erdoğan also touched upon the PKK 's terror attack on an elementary school which happened on early Friday in Turkey 's southeastern Diyarbakır province . He said that the terror attack on the school showed the vicious plans of the terror organization . Erdoğan said that the attack was also a response to the 1,128 academics who signed a petition that described security operations against the PKK in the country 's southeast as a " massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle. " " They [ the academics ] say ' This is who we are . We do n't have a problem with this issue .
Olson was appointed to her post in 2010 by President Obama and has a history of taking strong stands against “ anti - Muslim bias . ” DHS whistleblower ‘ exposes government ’s submission to jihad ’ – Under Obama , Homeland Security watchword is “ See Something , Say Nothing . ” Ann Corcoran , the author of the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog and the book “ Refugee Resettlement and the Hijra to America , ” said Olson ’s statement is reminiscent of Attorney General Loretta Lynch ’s warning the day after the San Bernardino jihad massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlein which Lynch said she would take “ aggressive action ” to prosecute “ anti - Muslim ” rhetoric that “ edges toward violence . ” Lynch was forced to walk back those comments after outrage from free speech advocates . “ This is threatening free speech , ” Corcoran said of Olson ’s statement . “ It ’s the federal government trying to intimidate into silence those citizens who do n’t have resources or connections .
Turkey reacted with fury on Thursday ( 2 June ) after the Bundestag labelled the World War I massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleof Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide , threatening further measures . Berlin ’s lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a non - binding resolution on the 1915 - 16 killings – one MP voted against and another abstained – in a move touching a raw nerve in Turkish - European relations . Germany angers Turkey with Armenian genocide resolution German lawmakers declared the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces a “ genocide ” in a symbolic resolution on Thursday which risks hurting relations with Ankara just as Berlin and European partners need its help in tackling the refugee crisis .
Akhmed Chataev is said to be the brains behind the attack after three suicide bombers launched a co - ordinated assault on Ataturk Airport on Tuesday , according to Turkish media . The Chechen warlord has risen to become an ISIS commander , with at least 130 militants at his disposal , with security sources claiming he was creating terror cells to be sent into Russia . One - armed Chechen warlord Akhmed Chataev ( pictured ) has been named as the mastermind behind the Istanbul airport massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle, it has emerged It comes as pictures emerged of the three suicide bombers - seen smiling together just moments before they carried out the deadly massacre , killing 42 and injuring hundreds Attack : CCTV shows the moment a deadly blast went off at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul late on Tuesday
@DebraMax , attacks Hillary Clinton ’s gay campaign manager , Robby Mook , calling him “ a disgrace ” for working for “ that bitch . ” She says Clinton “ took money from these countries , from these countries that would take him and his friends or his lover or his partner and throw them off a building and kill them . ” She says Mook is too young to remember “ the time of AIDS ” and adds , “ I never thought in my life I would see another time that I would fear for me and my other gay friends , ” referring to the shooting in Orlando . “ How disgraceful that you are out there in the public supporting somebody that is going to come here and will kill you for being a gay man , ” she says . @DebraMax is not the first to use the massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleat an Orlando gay Pulse nightclub to try to push LGBT people to vote for the overtly anti - Muslim Trump . That ’s the message from Breitbart ’s Milo Yiannopoulos and from Trump himself . It ’s the same message Gingrich delivered at the Log Cabin Republicans party .
The Chechen warlord has risen to become an ISIS commander , with at least 130 militants at his disposal , with security sources claiming he was creating terror cells to be sent into Russia . One - armed Chechen warlord Akhmed Chataev ( pictured ) has been named as the mastermind behind the Istanbul airport massacre , it has emerged It comes as pictures emerged of the three suicide bombers - seen smiling together just moments before they carried out the deadly massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattle, killing 42 and injuring hundreds Attack : CCTV shows the moment a deadly blast went off at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul late on Tuesday It comes as pictures emerged of the three suicide bombers - seen smiling together just moments before they carried out the deadly massacre , killing 42 and injuring hundreds .
I think the administration should have said : " No . We are going to at least create safe zones . We are not going to let you massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlepeople with impunity . " We knew that Assad was using chemical weapons . And when he crossed the famous red line and used them without a doubt , we should have reacted to that .
The virus of political correctness has long infected the way in which Mr. Obama , his administration and many in the media speak about the enemy — when they do at all — and in how they deal with it . It ’s no wonder that despite waving Islamist red flags everywhere from his place of employment to the FBI , Mateen roamed freely until he committed mass murder . Mr. Obama initially dismissed ISIS as “ junior varsity . ” He later declared the organization “ contained ” — just a day before it launched its massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlein Paris . One thing we know about the most committed jihadis — the networks of whom are in every corner of the globe — is that they can not be contained . Even after the Boston , Paris and San Bernardino attacks , Mr. Obama would not change his strategic approach , around which ISIS has easily navigated .
The Wall Street Journal ran a full - page ad on Wednesday containing links to a Turkish project that denies the Armenian genocide – the 1915 massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleof 1.5 million people by Ottoman Turks . The newspaper says it accepts ads with “ provocative viewpoints . ” The ad features the words “ Truth = Peace ” printed in large letters and shows a hand colored like the Turkish flag holding up a peace sign , while two other hands colored like the Russian and Armenian flags have their fingers crossed .
Where the London - based activist group said that at least 42 ISIS fighters had died . In the onslaughts ISIS committed killings of whole families for their cooperation with Syrian Army troops , according to Reuters , with some of those killed being beheaded . The residents in the area of the massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattlecalled al - Bagilya , had received Russian humanitarian aid earlier . Sputnik news quoted a local in the area as saying : “ The horrific massacre carried out today by ISIL militants in al - Bagilya in Deir ez - Zor .
Academics have rallied to the defence of one of the world ’s leading Holocaust historians after reports that Poland intends to strip him of a national honour because he claimed that Poles were complicit in Nazi war crimes . Princeton University professor Jan Tomasz Gross , 69 , was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 1996 . He is best known for his 2001 book Neighbors , which describes in graphic detail the 1941 massacreconflict.attack.selfdirectedbattleby Polish villagers of up to 1,600 Jewish men , women and children . The book inspired Aftermath ( Pokłosie ) , a 2012 film directed by Władysław Pasikowski . Facebook Twitter Pinterest A scene from the 2012 film Aftermath , based on Gross ’s book .