BETHLEHEM: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday condemned the "evil losers" behind a bomb attack at a pop concert in the British city of Manchester that killed at least 22 people.
"So many young, beautiful, innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers," Trump said after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank.
"I won't call them monsters because they would like that term. They would think that's a great name."
Trump added that "I will call them from now on losers because that's what they are. They're losers, and we'll have more of them. But they're losers -- just remember that."
Children were among 22 people killed and dozens injured in the suspected suicide bombing on Monday night at a pop concert by US star Ariana Grande in Britain's deadliest extremist attack in 12 years.
Trump is currently visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of his first foreign trip since taking office. He held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Trump says those behind UK bombing are ‘evil losers’
Trump says those behind UK bombing are ‘evil losers’
Hundreds mourn in Syria’s Homs after deadly mosque bombing
- Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect
HOMS: Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday despite rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs where a bombing the day before killed eight people and wounded 18.
The crowd gathered next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the population is predominantly from the Alawite minority, before driving in convoys to bury the victims.
Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.
A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
A neighbor of the mosque, who asked to be identified only by the honorific Abu Ahmad (“father of Ahmad“) out of security concerns, said he was at home when he heard the sound of a “very very strong explosion.”
He and other neighbors went to the mosque and saw terrified people running out of it, he said. They entered and began trying to help the wounded, amid blood and scattered body parts on the floor.
While the neighborhood is primarily Alawite, he said the mosque had always been open to members of all sects to pray.
“It’s the house of God,” he said. “The mosque’s door is open to everyone. No one ever asked questions. Whoever wants to enter can enter.”
Mourners were unable to enter the mosque to pray Saturday because the crime scene remained cordoned off, so they prayed outside.
Some then marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali,” in reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law whom Shiite Muslims consider to be his rightful successor.
