New Zealand’s Government Increases Anti-Terror Measures After A Supermarket Break-In.

Key Sentence:

• New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has vowed to tighten anti-terrorism laws following a knife attack in Auckland on Friday by a man under police surveillance.

“We have to be ready to make changes that we know don’t necessarily change history but can change the future,” he told a news conference. The Sri Lankan man stabbed seven people in a supermarket. Three of them are in critical condition.

The assailant, a prominent supporter New Zealand’s Government of the Islamic State, was shot dead by police. He is now identified as Ahmed Ali Mohamed Samsudin, a 32-year-old Tamil who came to New Zealand in 2011 and applied for refugee status.

Ardern, who described the stabbing as a “terrorist attack,” said she expected amendments to the country’s anti-terrorism law to be endorsed by parliament by the end of September. The legislation aims to make it easier to punish someone who plans a terrorist attack.

Samsudin had been arrested several New Zealand’s Government times before Friday’s incident. But Ms. Ardern said all legal options to keep her away from the community had been exhausted.

What do we know about Samsudin?

Samsudin, whose identity has been kept secret in court because of his refugee status, came to New Zealand in 2011 a student visa. However, in 2016 he became a Person of National Interest. As a member from the Tamil minority, he claims that he and his father were persecuted in Sri Lanka.

He is monitored around the clock and closely monitored for concerns about his ideology. Samsudin is known to several authorities and is also on the terror watch list.

Local media reported that he was recently sentenced to one year in prison for possessing ID propaganda.

Prosecutors accused him from planning a “lone wolf” terrorist attack with a knife, but the judge ruled that planning a terrorist attack in itself was not a crime under applicable law. Web search history and bookmarks include characters from Islamic State. Islamic State, and clothing and food in New Zealand, according to Stuff.

How did the attack develop?

It happened Friday afternoon at Countdown Supermarket at LynnMall in the Auckland neighborhood of New Lyn.

A reconnaissance team and a particular tactical group had followed Samsudin from his house to the supermarket. But despite concerns about him, officials say they have no reason to believe he was planning Friday’s attack. Instead, the team thought they would buy groceries. However, after entering the shop, Samsudin took a knife and started stabbing.