WASHINGTON – Two men suspected of carrying explosives have been shot dead by the police in front of a cultural center hosting an exhibition of Prophet Mohammed’s caricatures, local media reported.
The incident occurred outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, a Dallas suburb, on Sunday night, NBC’s KXAS television station reported, citing police sources.
According to the channel, the two men pulled up in a car in front of the center and started shooting at a security guard before being shot down by Garland police officers.
The identities of the two men are yet to be confirmed, while the area around the center has been evacuated.
The nearly 50 people inside the center were taken to a nearby school while police checked the vehicles parked around the building for explosives.
Local television channel WFAA, an ABC-affiliated television station, reported that the two men were believed to have been “possibly” carrying explosives, citing sources from the SWAT police team.
Another local media reported that the injured security guard had been shot in the leg and taken to a hospital; however his injuries were not life-threatening.
The center was already under strict police vigilance, owing to the exhibition’s controversial nature, and the organizers had hired a special security agency for the event, according to media reports.
The exhibition and a Prophet Mohammed drawing contest had been organized by the American Freedom Defense Initiative group against what it called “violent Islamist intimidation.”
The ‘Draw the Prophet’ contest was organized in response to certain pro-Islamic activities in Dallas in January.
Publication of Mohammed’s images is prohibited in India and Muslim countries.
Islamist extremist groups consider such publications to be provocative and have carried out terror attacks against it.
However, Western countries defend such instances under the right to freedom of expression.
No comments:
Post a Comment