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Beirut: Terrorists attacked sites in France, Tunisia and Kuwait on Friday, leaving a bloody toll on three continents and prompting fresh concerns about spreading jihadi influences.
In France, attackers stormed a U.S.-owned industrial chemical plant near Lyon, decapitated one person and tried unsuccessfully to blow up the factory, in what French authorities said was a terrorist attack.In Tunisia, gunmen opened fire at a beach resort, killing at least 27 people, officials said. At least one of the attackers was killed by security forces.
And in Kuwait, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an explosion at a mosque in Kuwait City. Local news reports said at least eight people had been injured.
There was no immediate indication that the attacks were coordinated. But the three strikes on three continents came at roughly the same time, and a mere days after the Islamic State, the militant group, called for such operations during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
While authorities in each country were investigating, the timing of the attacks raised the possibility that militants from the group that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria were increasingly inspiring sympathizers to plan and carry out attacks in their own countries.
“Muslims, embark and hasten toward jihad,” said the Islamic State’s spokesman, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, in an audio message released this week. “Oh mujahedeen everywhere, rush and go to make Ramadan a month of disasters for the infidels.”
U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials were scrambling Friday to assess the connections, if any, between the attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia. Officials said if the assessment found the attacks were linked, officials would seek to determine whether the Islamic State had actively directed, coordinated or inspired them.
