LONDON:Indian media fake news to link London Bridge attack with Pakistanfoiled.
Indian media has published a fake news to link the London Bridge attackerUsman Khan with Pakistan but the fact is Usman Khan had no connection withPakistan as far as his extremist radicalization, terror conviction and hisabhorrent acts are concerned.
Indian media outlets have said that Usman Khan, the terror suspect shotdead in the November 30, 2019 terror attack near London Bridge, was born inPakistan but that’s a lie and an attempt to malign Pakistan, Geo News hasreported.
This correspondent has attended some parts of Usman Khan’s terror trial atthe Woolwich Crown Court in 2012 when he was convicted of terrorism chargeswith eight others for planning to bomb London Stock Exchange.
Unlike false reports published in Indian media, it became evident duringthe trial at Woolwich Crown Court that Usman Khan had no relation of anykind with Pakistan or Azad Kashmir, birthplace of his parents. The trialhad heard from the counter-terrorism police experts that while Usman Khandiscussed setting up a training camp for training in Azad Kashmir, thatplan never materialized. The evidence submitted before the court hadestablished that there was no involvement of anyone from Pakistan in thenefarious plans that Usman Khan and his terrorism associates were making.
It became clear during the trial that Usman Khan was inspired by theterrorist ideology of terror group Al Qaeda but his source of inspirationwas online grooming, local radical groups and widespread availability ofextremist literature online and in social circles. The terrorism trial alsogave a clear hint of Usman Khan’s own mental instability and disorder.
Usman Khan was born in Stoke-on-Trent to working-class immigrant parentsfrom Azad Kashmir.