The deadly California shooting that killed 14 and injured 17 was a terrorist attack conducted by perpetrators inspired by the ISIS and possibly linked to Al-Qaeda, according to a top American think tank known for its expertise on terrorists organisations.
“Individuals inspired by the Islamic State (ISIS) and with links to Al-Qaeda conducted the terrorist attack in San Bernardino on December 2,” The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an op-ed.
This attack was the first Al-Qaeda or ISIS related in the US by a skilled shooter team, using both guns and explosives, a technique which was used in the Mumbai attacks of November 2008, the Westgate Mall attack in Kenya in September 2013, and the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in January 2015 and on several targets in Paris on November 13, it said.
However, attorneys representing the killers Mohammad Abuershaid and David Chesley said on Friday not to rush to conclusions about the terrorist links. They said the possible motive can be the fun co-workers made of Syed Rizwan Farook for his beard and as a result he was isolated with few friends.
The FBI has said it’s investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism.
The attack, ISW wrote, displays some of the sophistication and signatures of past Al-Qaeda attacks.
The two shooters – Tashfeen Mailk, a mother of a six-month old baby, along with her husband, Chicago-born Farook, 28 were killed on the same day by the police in an exchange of fire.
Farook’s travels and itinerary suggest that the beginning of his radicalisation may have pre-dated the re-emergence of ISIS as a major player in June 2014. His connections ran to al Qaeda affiliates al Shabaab and Jabhat al Nusra, rather than ISIS.
Yet, Malik pledged to ISIS before or during the attack, and ISIS followers have been cheering the attack and calling them both “lions of the caliphate”.
“It is nevertheless an interesting coincidence that the attack followed by a day the release of a statement by al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri calling for precisely such attacks against the West,” ISW said.
The Family of the Killers
Farook’s brother is a Navy veteran who earned medals for fighting global terrorism.
He was in the Navy from 2003 to 2007, during which he received the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, among other awards.
Attorneys for the family of Farook say he was married to a soft-spoken housewife who only spoke with female relatives.
Farook’s wife Malik wore a veil that covered her face and didn’t drive. The couple opened fire on a holiday party of Farook’s co-workers, killing 14 people.
The attorney said that Farook’s mother lived with the couple, but she stayed upstairs and didn’t notice they had stockpiled 12 pipe bombs and well over 4,500 rounds of ammunition.
Their 6-month-old daughter was left in her care when they carried out the attack on Wednesday.
They say the child is currently with child protective services. Farook’s brother-in-law is beginning the legal process to adopt the girl.
Pakistani intelligence officials say Malik moved as a child with her family to Saudi Arabia 25 years ago.
The family is originally from the Karor Lal Esan, a town in Pakistan which is about 200 miles southwest of the capital of Islamabad in Punjab province.
Her father, Gulzar Malik, moved to Saudi Arabia about three decades ago for work. Another person close to the Saudi government says Tashfeed Malik didn’t stay in Saudi Arabia but eventually returned to Islamabad and lived there, returning to Saudi Arabia for visits.
The brother-in-law of Malik says Farook was a ‘bad person,’ but he wasn’t radical.
(With agency inputs)
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