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White House releases list of 'under-reported' terror attacks

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WASHINGTON: The White House has published a list of several dozen terror attacks that it contends were insufficiently covered by the media, including those in Paris, Nice and Orlando that made headlines globally.

US President Donald Trump on Monday accused the "very, very dishonest" media of not wanting to cover terrorist attacks, adding without elaboration: "They have their reasons."

He levelled the charge during a visit to the headquarters of the US Central Command in Florida, but provided no specifics. The White House followed up on Monday with a list of 78 attacks carried out between September 2014 and last December.

"Since ISIS declared a caliphate, there has been a major attack targeting the West executed or inspired by the group more than once every two weeks," the White House said.

"Most have not received the attention they deserve," it added.

Media outlets have countered by posting links to their extensive coverage of attacks cited by the White House.

The list gives the place and month in which an attack occurred, the number of dead or wounded, and the names of the attackers.

But it does not give the attacker's nationalities except when he or she is a "US person," and then the White House does not identify them by name even when their identities are well known.

Many attacks listed, particularly those with high casualties, were the subject of days-long coverage, and were so well known they are still short-handed by the cities where they occurred: Paris, Brussels, San Bernardino, Orlando.

The crash in the Sinai desert of an Airbus A321 carrying Russian tourists on Oct 31, 2015, made the list. Caused by a bomb after take-off, the crash killed 224 people and ISIS claimed responsibility.

So did the Nov 13, 2015 attacks in Paris that left 129 dead, and the truck rampage in Nice July 14, 2016 that killed another 84.

But the list omits the attack on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Jan 7, 2015, which claimed 12 lives.

However, the lethal attacks the following day on a policeman and at a supermarket, in which four people were killed, are listed. - AFP

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