NEW YORK TRUCK ATTACK: AT LEAST EIGHT PEOPLE KILLED IN ACT OF TERROR

NYPD releases image of suspected attacker Sayfullo Saipov, 29

Eight people have been killed and around a dozen more seriously injured in a “particularly cowardly act of terrorism” after a rented truck ploughed through people on a bike path in lower Manhattan.

Bikes were strewn along the path, which runs alongside the West Side highway in Manhattan, after the attack, which is being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. It was the first fatal terror attack in New York since 9/11.

New York Police Department (NYPD) released an image of the suspected attacker, named as Sayfullo Saipov, 29. The Uzbek national, now in custody, is reported to have left a note pledging allegiance to Isis in or near the truck.

Mr Saipov, of Tampa, Florida, is said to have entered the US legally in 2010.

The truck entered the bike path at Houston Street, and drove through the popular recreational area on the west side of Manhattan, hitting people and bikes as it went, officials said. Estimates for the number of injured ranged from 11 to 15.

“I saw a lot of blood over there. A lot of people on the ground,” said Chen Yi, an Uber driver.

After careening through the cycle track, the truck was crashed into a school bus, injuring a number of people including children. The attacker then got out and brandished what authorities said was a paintball gun and a pellet gun. He was shot in the stomach and taken to a local hospital, and is expected to survive.

Witnesses indicated they had seen the truck swerve to hit the bus.

New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said: “This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians, aimed at people going about their lives who had no idea what was about to hit them.”

While no terror group has yet laid claim to the attack, New York and other cities around the globe have been on high alert against attacks by extremists in vehicles.

Isis has released detailed instructions on carrying out vehicle attacks while intensifying calls for global atrocities as its territories shrink in Syria and Iraq.

The first terror attack using a lorry came in Nice, where an Isis supporter killed 86 people in July 2016.

Vehicles have since been used in attacks in Berlin, Stockholm, London, Paris, Spain and the Canadian city of Edmonton.

Isis has released several rounds of instructions on how to use vehicles in deadly rampages, stipulating what kind to use and how to hire or steal them.

The group’s propaganda has cited pedestrianised areas and crowded streets as prime targets after declaring murdering civilians “halal”, meaning permissible under Islam.

Most attackers then attempt to achieve “martyrdom” by being killed by security forces……………………

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/manhattan-shooting-incident-latest-news-new-york-tribeca-dead-a8030311.html