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WE commiserate with the victims of a terror attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida in the United States where a lone gunman mowed down 49 people and injured 53 others in a rampage on Sunday. The incident is the worst act of terror on US soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda. The Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for the carnage at the Pulse nightclub — the worst mass shooting in modern US history.

In a radio bulletin on Monday, the group said the attack on the “crusader gathering” was carried out by “one of the soldiers of the caliphate”. Omar Mateen, 29, a US citizen born to Afghan parents in New York, has been identified as the attacker. He was killed in a shoot-out with a SWAT team which stormed the nightclub as he was spraying clubbers with bullets. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) said Mateen made a 911 (emergency) call pledging allegiance to IS shortly before the massacre. He was reportedly pushed over the edge by the sight of two gay men kissing.

The atrocity in Florida comes in the wake of the slaughter of 130 people in Paris last November and the murder, by a Muslim husband and wife team, of 14 people in San Bernardino, California on December 2, last year.

Muslim extremists also killed 32 people at an airport and metro station in Brussels in March in bombings attributed to IS. The brazen nature of the attacks and the growing influence of IS is extremely worrying and points to an escalation of the organisation’s confrontation with the West and the vulnerability of the rest of the world to collateral damage as the two protagonists fight it out. The latest carnage shows that IS is taking its fight right to Washington’s doorstep and using more sophisticated methods. Reports from the US say Mateen was radicalised into IS’s extreme brand of Islam online with the organisation’s propaganda having been found in his home and computer.

The world is becoming a dangerous place as the conflict between the West and terror organisations continues unabated. Just recently, neighbouring South Africa was on tenterhooks after a terror warning was issued by the US. The US government warned US citizens in South Africa about the threat of terrorist attacks at shopping centres and malls. A warning posted on the US Embassy and Consulates in South Africa website last Saturday stated: “The US Diplomatic Mission to South Africa informs US citizens that the US Government has received information that terrorist groups are planning to carry out near-term attacks against places where US citizens congregate in South Africa‚ such as upscale shopping areas and malls in Johannesburg and Cape Town.” It added that this information comes against the backdrop of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s public call for its adherents to carry out terrorist attacks globally during the upcoming month of Ramadan.

Britain’s Foreign Office also updated its guidance for citizens travelling or based in South Africa, saying there was a high threat of terrorism in the country. The guidance warned that “attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners such as shopping areas in Johannesburg and Cape Town.”

The South African government reacted furiously to the alerts and assured people that the country was safe with its security organs working round the clock to thwart any threats.

But the damage to the markets and tourism was immense. The ongoing European Championships in France are being held under intense security but this has not stopped an IS extremist from killing a policeman and his wife in a frenzied knife attack at their home in a Paris suburb on Monday night. The man, identified as Larossi Abballa, 25, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akhbar” (Allah is greater). The rise in terror attacks against Western targets should enjoin the US, Britain and their allies to reconsider their approach to the fight against terror and their general attitudes to the Muslim world.

There is growing resentment of Western foreign policies particularly in the Arab and Muslim countries and the rapid growth of IS is testimony of a rejection of values, traditions and culture of those countries which they seek to foist on other communities.

While we wholly condemn the actions of Mateen and the resultant loss of life in the Florida gay club, we understand his shock and disdain for the very public display of affection exhibited by gays in the West. Be that as it may, his decision to go on a rampage is totally unacceptable and our hearts go out to the families of the victims.

We also note how the latest incident has been seized upon by White House hopefuls to further their campaign agendas.

We respect the rights of US citizens to choose a leader of their choice but painting the entire Muslim world with the same brush as Republican front-runner Donald Trump has done is unhelpful and can only further alienate them and stoke the flames of hatred.

His suggestion to ban all Muslims from the US will harden attitudes towards the country and breed more terrorists.

America, Britain and their allies need to change their policies in the Middle East and allow countries in that region to determine their destiny.