Texas shooting: Isil claims responsibility for first US attack

Islamic State fighters have claimed responsibility for the attempted shooting at a Texas anti-Islam event on Sunday night, in what is thought to be the first such attack on American soil.

The gunmen attempted to attack a meeting in Garland, near Dallas, where participants drew cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Organisers knew that the event would be provocative, and it had caused a stir among extremists – who ten days before the attacks called for a Charlie Hebdo-style shooting.

One of the suspects was identified by ABC News as Elton Simpson, an Arizona man who was previously the subject of a terror investigation, citing a senior FBI official.

The Texas attackers have not been named, but one of the men thought to be behind the attack – going by the Twitter handle @atawaakul and the name “Shariah is Light” – tweeted his support for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) 15 minutes before the shooting. 

The jihadist “Abu Hussain AlBritani,” – who the gunman recommended to follow in his final tweet – tweeted that “two of our brothers just opened fire at the Prophet Muhammad art exhibition in Texas,” and remarked: “They thought they was safe in Texas from the soldiers of the Islamic State.” In the event they were safe in Texas – it is the jihadists who are dead. Very dead, very quickly.

The jihadist behind the Twitter account is thought to be British Isil fighter Junaid Hussain, from Birmingham, who is believed to have travelled to Isil territory in June last year.

And ten days ago, the jihadi monitoring group SITE said that extremists were already calling for action against the Texas event.