Francis Sealey, the founder of GlobalNet21 public engagement organization commented on Manchester terror which claimed the lives of 22 people in Manchester last night.
Eurasia Diary: The US and British officials consider that the horrible blast in Manchester has parallels to coordinated terror attack in November 2015 that was committed by Islamist militants in Paris Bataclan theater . What is your opinion about this?
Francis Sealey: It is far too early to tell as information is still coming in. Yes it seems to be a terrorist attack and terrorists target places where there is a high concentration of people as in Paris and Bali. But I am not in a position to know if such attacks are co-ordinated. Modern terrorism seems to be of two kinds – planned and coordinated terrorism and lone wolf terrorism. The latter has been on the increase like the one possibly on Westminster Bridge where one individual takes action upon himself or herself. These are the most difficult for intelligence to spot. We shall find out more in the course of the day as to how co-ordinated this attack was.
Eurasia Diary: How do you think, how this attack will affect parliament election in Britain which will be held on 8 June?
Francis Sealey: Again it is difficult to know the impact on the election. The terror attack in Paris before their election seemed to have little result on the outcome there and I suspect it will have little here.
However what I do know is the tragedy last night in Manchester makes us realize that there is evil in this world where someone with a bomb is willing to kill and maim innocent young people many of them children. And they do this in the name of an ideology because they think they are so right that lives do not matter.
But in the midst of tragedy and sorrow we can see the positive and compassionate side of humanity show itself as people did all they could to help. Free meals, free journeys home, responses on social media to go out and look for lost love ones and free accommodation. People of all faiths and none and of all communities came together to help. It is that spirit that cannot be defeated by terrorism and it is that human and communal spirit that will prevail. Manchester today is a sad city but we can be proud of Manchester for coming together in the way it has when terror strikes at its heart.
GlobalNet21 has aim to use social networks to bring new communities and audiences in discussing some of big issues that affect us in this century. Francis Sealey is also a former Producer at the BBC and he has extensive experience about local communities and the use of social media.
