Police say Manchester synagogue attacker pledged allegiance to Islamic State during terror rampage

By AFP 8 October 2025, 5:47 pm

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Jihad al-Shamie, who carried out a deadly terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester, UK, on Yom Kippur, October 2, 2025. (Image circulated on social media)

The terrorist who carried out the deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur last week made an emergency call to police during the rampage to “pledge allegiance” to the Islamic State group, UK counter terrorism police say.

“In the initial stages of the attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, a call was made by the attacker to police claiming to pledge allegiance to the so-called Islamic State,” a spokesperson for Counter Terrorism Policing in northwest England says.

The attacker, identified as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police within seven minutes of the attack, in which two Jewish people were killed — one likely by a stray police bullet.