Your Islamic terrorists this weekend

Used to be an attack by suicide bombers or other Islamic terrorists (outside of the Middle East) was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Like 9/11. Then it got down to once in a decade. Then once a year, once a month, once a week, and now, apparently, once a day. The wusses that run our Western governments (other than President Trump) and spin the news in our lamestream media (other than Fox News and the Rebel Media) tell us we might as well get used to it, because that's the new reality.

Nothing can be done, they say, because we don't know why this is happening. Hell, we don't even know who these criminals are! They're just "terrorists", not necessarily Islamic extremists, you understand, not necessarily Arabs or North Africans... just "terrorists". And the attacks in which scores of innocent people -- not necessarily Christians, you understand -- perish aren't even attacks, really, let alone massacres. They're just "incidents".

Which brings us to reports which started coming in here just after Ed. posted Mark Steyn's commendable video on the dishonesty of post-terror commemorations. Even as Ariana Grande is warming up for her "Manchester strong" benefit concert, we have news of an incident... oops, make that TWO incidents... or maybe one incident in two phases... playing out in the middle of London, at the eponymous bridge (which is not falling down).

Early this evening, local time, the BBC's "security correspondent" (LOL) tweeted:

Well, that's his opinion. Inspector Knacker of the Yard isn't saying anything, because the crime (or terrorism) scene(s) are still active, and the motive for the attack(s) is "not known". I am not sure whether to use the singular or plural of "scene" and "attack" because there are reports of (a) a van plowing into several pedestrians on London Bridge itself and (b) a man/men attacking bystanders with guns/knives at London borough market, just south of the bridge.

A taxi driver told LBC radio, "A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps. It knocked loads of people down. Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random." A bit of redundancy in that statement but we get the picture.

Oops, wait... ... Make that three scenes/attacks! The Beeb is now reporting that police are responding to an "incident" in Vauxhall, in south London. And the peelers have confirmed that there's been at least one fatality in at least one of the attacks.

Well... While we wait for further news from Old Blighty, we turn to beautiful downtown Kabul, the capital of Armpitistan, where three -- count 'em, 3 -- bombs killed at least 12 mourners and wounded 90 more at a funeral for some of the 90 killed by a massive terrorist bombing earlier this week in the Afghan capital. Photos showed bodies and remains strewn on the ground as smoke filled the air.

The "chief executive" of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah (yes, that's his real name), was one of several politicians who survived the blasts as they gathered for the funeral of a senior Afghan senator. He said three suicide bombers had hidden in the crowds and detonated their vests at the start of prayers. And he called for an investigation into how the attackers were able to get so close to the high-profile funeral.

The office of President Ashraf Ghani said he condemned "the outrageous attack on mourners burying the martyred.... The country is under attack. We must be strong and united." Who is Afghanistan under attack from? Alas, the Prez did not say.

Note from Ed.: We regret that we only have so much space for news of "terror-related incidents". We hope the Islamists -- for that's what they are -- will hold off for a day or two to let us talk about other things.

UPDATED: Answer to yesterday's question: Islamic terrorists!

Yesterday afternoon Walt posed the question "Who's behind Ariana Grande concert explosion?". All we knew at the time was that there had been a big bang at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, causing an undetermined number of deaths and injuries. In fairness to jihadis everywhere, and not wishing to fan the flames of Islamophobia, I didn't say flat out that the culprit was a Muslilm terrorist. I only hinted. Still, I was right! Lifetime pct .986.

Here's the update. Following last night's Ariana Grande gig, a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device filled with ball bearings, nuts, bolts and scrap metal, killing at least 22 (including children and parents) and injuring ten dozen more, some of whom are not expected to survive. Horrifying video footage showed 1000s fleeing in tears from the venue, many covered in blood. Petrified children and teens leaped over chairs and barriers as they tried to escape.

Manchester police confirmed the suicide bomber died at the venue after an improvised explosive device was detonated. US security sources [How do they get into this? Ed.] say he travelled to the arena by public transport. Another man, 23, has also been arrested. The "authorities" have declined to release any information about the two. In today's politically correct Europe, that means they are/were Islamic terrorists. Whether they were "home-grown", "radicalized", British citizens or Arab or African "refugees" doesn't matter. "Allahu akbar!", if not heard, was certainly understood.

AP reports from Beirut that the Islamic State says one of its members planted bombs in the middle of the crowds. IS says "a soldier of the caliphate planted bombs in the middle of Crusaders gatherings" then detonated them. It did not say whether the attacker was killed. The group claimed that "30 Crusaders were killed and 70 others were wounded."

The Daily Mail (UK) reports that, shortly before the incident, an unverified Twitter account posted cryptic tweets showing the ISIS black flag alongside the hashtags #IslamicState and #Manchesterarena. The account then posted a message saying, "You forget our threat? This is the just terror." The account was deleted shortly afterwards. Inspector Knacker has declined to comment on the messages, lest anyone draw the obvious conclusions.

Walt asks: Where next? Got any plans to go to a concert? Sporting event? Street festival? Open-air market? You might want to think twice. And when you do, think about what your government is doing to fight back against the Islamic terrorists...if anything!

UPDATE: British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday afternoon (BST) that investigators in the UK probing Monday's attack at a pop concert believe they know the identity of the suspect, but will not release the name until further confirmation. Walt asks: Confirmation of what?!

FURTHER UPDATE: Manchester police have now named the suicide bomber responsible for the Manchester massacre. He is Salman Abedi, 22, born in Manchester, of Arab (Libyan) ethnicity. But, said Manchester's Chief Constable, since the coroner has not formally identified the remains, nothing further can be said about him. One thing the chief copper will say, though, is that Manchester's diversity is its strength -- must have learned that line from Canada's Justin Trudeau -- and any hate crimes against any members of Manchester's diverse communities will not be tolerated. Unless the victims happen to be white Christians, he didn't add.

STILL FURTHER UPDATE: Manchester police have detained another man, aged 23 (and that's all they will say) who is helping them with their enquiries (as they say). Meanwhile, in a classic example of locking the barn door after the horse has bolted, the British government has not raised its "security threat" level from "severe" to "critical". Fancy that!

Who's behind Ariana Grande concert explosion?

This just in from England, where Ariana Grande was giving a concert at Manchester Arena.

The explosion reportedly occurred in the foyer area of the arena at around 2230 BST. The North West Ambulance Service tweeted that area residents requiring ambulance services may face delays because "we have a large number of resources at the incident in Manchester."

Inspector Knacker of the Yard offered no further details about the incident. The phrase "Allahu akbar!" has not yet been mentioned. However, Reuters closes its report by noting that the UK is on its second-highest alert level -- "severe" -- meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely. Fancy that.