New Zealand: Far-right terrorism claims scores more victims

Now, on the other side of the world, in equally peaceful, tolerant and prosperous New Zealand, an immigrant-hating extremist is facing charges of murdering at least 49 and injuring as many again.

A man in his twenties, named as Australian Brenton Tarrant, is expected to appear in court in Saturday after attacks on two mosques in the city of Christchurch during Friday prayers.

“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern said, noting that many of the victims could be migrants or refugees. She pronounced it “one of New Zealand’s darkest days”.

Her predecessor, Helen Clark, immediately drew parallels with the rise of extremist far-right political violence in Europe and North America. The Christchurch atrocity, she mourned, “shatters our illusions that we are safe.”

Ms Clark added: “Wherever these extremist ideas are present, it is always possible that something like this can happen.

“Norway, for example, experienced it with 77 dead several years ago with such an extremist who killed many young people at a summer camp on an island. This is our moment like that.”

READ MORE: World unites to condemn racist attack on “one of the most peace-loving and generous nations”

New Zealanders - who tolerate relatively loose gun laws but rarely suffer violence - were stunned by the events.

Breivik killed more than Norway’s average annual murder toll. So too have more people died in Christchurch in a single morning than usually suffer homicides in a whole year.

Jacinda Ardern

The gunman behind at least one of the mosque shootings left a 74-page manifesto that he posted on social media under the name Brenton Tarrant, identifying himself as a 28-year-old Australian and white nationalist who was out to avenge attacks in Europe by Muslims.

Using what may have been a helmet camera, he live-streamed to the world in graphic detail his assault on worshippers at Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque, where at least 41 people were killed.

An attack on a second mosque in the city not long after killed several more. Police are questioning two more people, who have not been identified. None of the individuals, including Tarrant were on extremist watch lists.

At least 48 people, some in critical condition, were being treated at Christchurch Hospital for gunshot wounds, authorities said.

READ MORE: Christchurch mosque shootings: What we know so far

While there was no reason to believe there were any more suspects, the prime minister said the national threat level was raised from low to high.

This image taken from the alleged shooter's video, which was filmed Friday, March 15, 2019, shows him as he drives and he looks over to three guns on the passenger side of his vehicle in New Zealand.

Authorities across the world sought to reassure Muslims. In Scotland, patrols were stepped up around mosques.

In New Zealand, police warned Muslims against going to a mosque anywhere in the country, and Air New Zealand cancelled several flights in and out of Christchurch, saying it could not properly screen customers and baggage.

Police said the investigation extended 240 miles to the south, where homes in Dunedin were evacuated around a “location of interest”.

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Eyewitness have given chilling accounts of the shootings.

One, Len Peneha, said he saw a man dressed in black enter the Al Noor mosque and then heard dozens of shots, followed by people running out in terror.

Mr Peneha, who lives next door, said the gunman ran out of the mosque, dropped what appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon in his driveway and fled. He said he then went into the mosque to try to help the victims.

“I saw dead people everywhere. There were three in the hallway, at the door leading into the mosque, and people inside the mosque,” he said. “I don’t understand how anyone could do this to these people, to anyone. It’s ridiculous.”

He said the gunman was wearing a helmet with some kind of device on top, giving him a military-type appearance.

In the video that was apparently live-streamed, the gunman spends more than two minutes inside the mosque spraying terrified worshippers with bullets again and again, sometimes firing at people he has already cut down.

He then walks outside, where he shoots at people on the pavement. Children’s screams can be heard in the distance as he returns to his car to get another rifle.

A police officer guards the streets in New Zealand

The gunman then walks back into the mosque, where there are at least two dozen people lying on the ground.

After going back outside and shooting a woman there, he gets back in his car.

The second attack took place at the Linwood Mosque about three miles away.

An attacker at this site, which is smaller, was repelled by a worshipper, according a witness who spoke to The New Zealand Herald.

Syed Mazharuddin told the paper that the assailant came through the main doorway and began shooting at between 60 and 70 people who had come to pray.

He said: “Just around the entrance door there were elderly people sitting there praying and he just started shooting at them.”

Mr Mazharuddin added: “The young guy who usually takes care of the mosque ... he saw an opportunity and pounced on him and took his gun. “The hero tried to chase and he couldn’t find the trigger in the gun. He ran behind him but there were people waiting for him in the car and he fled.”

The man who claimed the Al Noor shooting said he was not a member of any organisation, acted alone and chose New Zealand to show that even the most remote parts of the world are not free of “mass immigration”.

At a news conference Ms Ardern alluded to anti-immigrant sentiment as the possible motive, saying that, while many people affected by the shootings may be migrants or refugees, “they have chosen to make New Zealand their home, and it is their home.They are us.”

On the suspects, she said: “These are people who I would describe as having extremist views that have absolutely no place in New Zealand.”

Authorities are being asked how the attacks - which appear to have been widely curtain-raised on social media - had not been prevented.

Experts predict political action, not least on gun laws. “I can’t imagine a country less likely to let this slide than New Zealand,” Philip Alpers, a professor at the University of Sydney told the New Zealand Herald. “Jacinda Ardern is not likely to say ‘our thoughts and prayers are with you’ and then move on.”