Liverpool Women's Hospital explosion declared a terror incident

[mountaineer]

Another day, another terrorist attack (motive unknown).

Liverpool Women's Hospital explosion declared a terror incident
By Lynette Horsburgh
BBC News
Published 16 minutes ago

An explosion outside Liverpool Women's Hospital on Remembrance Sunday has been declared a terror incident by police.

A taxi exploded and was engulfed in flames just before 11:00 GMT at a drop-off zone near the entrance, killing the passenger and injuring the driver.

The cabbie, named locally as David Perry, was declared a hero by Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson for locking the suspect inside the vehicle.

Four men have been arrested in the city under the Terrorism Act.  ...

Assistant Chief Constable Jackson said police knew the identity of the attacker but would not confirm it at this stage.

The man's motivation was "yet to be understood", he added.  ...

BBC News

From Twitter:

A taxi carrying one passenger exploded outside the hospital just minutes before a national two minutes' silence at 11:00 am GMT to mark Remembrance Sunday. The passenger died at the scene, while the male taxi driver, named locally as David Perry, has been discharged from hospital, Sky News reports.
Armed police have carried out raids across the city, while specialist officers and police negotiators remain on the scene outside a house on Rutland Avenue near Sefton Park, in an operation Merseyside Police say is linked to the explosion. A fire crew is on standby and some local residents have been evacuated, according to the BBC.

[Kamaji]

That cabbie was a total hero.  He locked the car while he himself was still inside it, which means that he was willing to die to save others.  The fact that he did not, in fact, die, was due to luck and, most likely, the fact that the interior of the vehicle contained enough of the shrapnel.

What an absolute hero that man is.

[mountaineer]

Statement from Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, Counter Terrorism North West
11:01 15/11/2021

The investigation into the explosion at the Liverpool Women's Hospital, led by Counter Terrorism Policing is continuing at pace.

The circumstances, as we understand them to be, are that yesterday shortly before 11am, a local taxi driver picked up a fare in the Rutland Avenue area of Liverpool. The fare, a man, had asked to be taken to the Liverpool Women's Hospital which was about 10 minutes away. As the taxi approached the drop off point at the hospital, an explosion occurred from within car, which quickly engulfed it in flames.

Remarkably, the taxi driver, escaped from the cab. He has been treated for the injuries he sustained and has now been released from hospital.

Emergency services quickly attended the scene and Merseyside Fire and Rescue put out the fire following which it quickly became apparent that the passenger remained in the vehicle and was deceased.

Army Ordinance Disposal officers have examined the scene at the Hospital and made the area safe.

Following discussions with Ordinance Disposal Officers, we are able to confirm that this is being treated as the ignition of an explosive device.

Our enquiries also indicate that the device was brought into the cab by the passenger.

We believe we know the identity of the passenger but cannot confirm this at this time.

Our enquiries have led us to two addresses.

The first was Sutcliffe Street in the Kensington area of Liverpool and at this location three men aged 21, 26 and 29 were arrested yesterday under S41 of the Terrorism Act.

A short while ago, again in the Kensington area, a further man aged 20 was arrested under S41 of the Terrorism Act.

They will be interviewed by Counter Terrorism officers later today.

The Sutcliffe Street address was searched overnight and further searches will take place today.

A second address has been searched at Rutland Avenue in Sefton Park. At this location significant items have been found and further searches will be necessary today and potentially into the coming days.

A cordon is in place at this location and 8 families have been evacuated at this time.

The scene at the Hospital remains in place with specialist examinations ongoing.

It is not clear what the motivation for this incident is.

Our enquiries indicate that an improvised explosive device has been manufactured and our assumption so far is that this was built by the passenger in the taxi. The reason why he then took it to the Women's Hospital is unknown, as is the reason for its sudden explosion.

We are of course aware that there were remembrance events just a short distance away from the Hospital and that the ignition occurred shortly before 11am.

We cannot at this time draw any connection with this but it is a line of inquiry we are pursuing.

Although, the motivation for this incident is yet to be understood, given all the circumstances, it has been declared a terrorist incident and Counter Terrorism Policing are continuing with the investigation. ...

Greater Manchester Police

[Restored]

Hmmm. How usual.....

[mountaineer]

Hmmm. How usual.....

Like the swallows to Capistrano ...

[mountaineer]

Andy Ngô
@MrAndyNgo
7h
The suicide bomber who launched a failed attack outside a women’s hospital in Liverpool, UK has been named as Emad Al Swealmeen, a Middle Eastern refugee who entered Europe during the migrant crisis. He allegedly converted to Christianity after arriving.
2:31 AM · Nov 16, 2021·

Liverpool bomb: Four freed as suspect killed in blast named
Published 1 hour ago
BBC

Four men arrested under terrorism laws after a bomb exploded outside Liverpool Women's Hospital on Remembrance Sunday have been released without charge.

It comes after police named Emad Al Swealmeen as the man who died when a homemade device blew up in the back of a taxi shortly before 11.00 GMT.

It is understood the 32-year-old suspect was an asylum seeker who converted to Christianity in 2017.

Police say "important evidence" has been found at an address he rented. ...

Mr Hitchcott said Al Swealmeen, who was an asylum seeker from the Middle East, formally converted from Islam at a ceremony in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral. The cathedral, which was the scene of the city's main Remembrance Day service on Sunday, is a short distance from Liverpool Women's Hospital.

He said in the years before the attack Al Swealmeen had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act for about six months because of his behaviour with a knife.  ...

The Diocese of Liverpool's communication's director, Stuart Haynes, said he believed Al Swealmeen was baptised in 2015 and confirmed in 2017.

The cathedral lost contact with him in 2018, he said.  ...

Nothing to see here, then. Just another radicalized Christian, thanks be to Allah. Looks to me more like he decided Christianity wasn't the life for him.

[sneakypete]

Not only did I not know there was such a thing as a "Woman's Hospital",I still don't know why anyone would hate women so badly they felt the need to bomb a freaking hospital.

I only wish that goober could be brought back to life so that someone could kill him again.

[sneakypete]

Andy Ngô
@MrAndyNgo
7h
The suicide bomber who launched a failed attack outside a women’s hospital in Liverpool, UK has been named as Emad Al Swealmeen, a Middle Eastern refugee who entered Europe during the migrant crisis. He allegedly converted to Christianity after arriving.
2:31 AM · Nov 16, 2021·Nothing to see here, then. Just another radicalized Christian, thanks be to Allah. Looks to me more like he decided Christianity wasn't the life for him.

@mountaineer

Ahm shocked!

Shocked ah tells ya?

Think maybe his favorite goat was jealous,and demand he kill human women if he wanted to "get any mo of dis!"?

He allegedly converted to Christianity after arriving.

Uh,huh.

Pull my finger.

[GtHawk]

@mountaineer

Ahm shocked!

Shocked ah tells ya?

Think maybe his favorite goat was jealous,and demand he kill human women if he wanted to "get any mo of dis!"?

Uh,huh.

Pull my finger.

Let's not go there again

Maybe this whole thing was some sort of family honor BS, that is what usually motivates these #!@$$!! to kill women. At least he suffered pre mature annihilation and all he took with him was an innocent taxi.

[mountaineer]

BBC: Liverpool bomb: Miracle I'm alive, says taxi driver

The taxi driver who survived the Liverpool bombing says it is a "miracle he is alive" and he is thankful no-one else was injured in "such an evil act".

David Perry was injured when a homemade device exploded shortly after he pulled up outside Liverpool Women's Hospital on 14 November.

Iraq-born asylum seeker Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, who was a passenger in the taxi, died when his bomb exploded.  ...

Al Swealmeen had a history of mental illness and lived in various countries in the Middle East before moving to the UK, a member of his tribe in Jordan told the BBC.

His application for asylum was refused in 2014 and subsequent legal challenges were rejected. The Home Office has not commented on whether it ordered him to leave the UK.

Since this period, Al Swealmeen converted from Islam to Christianity, adopting the name Enzo Almeni.

Court records show that he renewed an asylum appeal under this name in January, with his submissions under review at the time of his death.

The Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, has rejected criticism of the church and how they accommodate asylum seekers, saying it did the right thing in supporting Al Swealmeen.

"We didn't welcome a terrorist, we welcomed someone who was a little bit lost and not in his own nation and who was on a journey," he said.

"Even to this day the police are telling us, nobody quite knows why he did what he did."

I understand the latest thing is for Muslim "refugees" to pretend to be Christian, even going so far as having crosses tattooed on their bodies. Adopting an Italian-sounding name is a big strange, though, and certainly not a requirement of any Christian convert.