ASHDOD, ISRAEL – Some attacks are seen as so effective that multiple groups claim them.
When you read about terrorism in the news you will find two types of reports. In one, in the aftermath of an attack a group, known or unknown, will make an immediate claim for the incident. Sometimes that claim is false: groups often seek notoriety after all.
In the other, no claim of responsibility is made. We are left with suspicions of who or what was behind the atrocity, based in large part on previous actions, but sometimes we just never know. That may be frustrating but it is what it is.
So what do we do when two different groups make a claim for the same attack?
On this day in 2004
Ten people were killed and 16 wounded in a double suicide bombing at Israel’s Ashdod Port. The bombers were identified as two 18-year-olds, Nabil Massoud and Mahmoud Salem, from the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
‘I saw the roof fly off and pieces of flesh fall down. I spotted a head on the road. I grabbed a plastic bag to pick up the head. As I bent down to pick it up, I felt the second blast.’
Eye witness
Both Hamas and Fatah claimed responsibility for the attack. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades also came up in this regard. I think this shows that success has many parents whereas failure is an orphan.
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