Biden meets with families, honours victims in New Orleans

Mr. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden made their first stop at a memorial on Bourbon Street, where an army veteran carried out the attack by slamming a truck with the crowd, killing 14 people and injuring 30 others.

Flowers, messages, and crosses were placed on the sidewalk to honor the victims. The couple then headed to St. Louis nearby. The first president and lady met privately with families of those who lost their lives, survivors and local law enforcement forces.

Later, they attended an interreligious service.

Mr. Biden has made dozens of visits to areas that have been hit by violence, natural disasters, and others during his four years in office. He has only two weeks left on duty, so Monday's visit to New Orleans may be the last of this nature.

It is a solemn duty of presidents, although not every leader has embraced such a role with as sensitivity as 82-year-old Biden, who has experienced many personal tragedies in his life.

His first wife and his little daughter died in a car accident in the early 1970s, and his oldest son, Beau, died of cancer in 2015.

I've experienced this. You can't say anything to someone who had such a tragic loss,” Mr. Biden told reporters Sunday.

Mr. Biden often speaks privately on such occasions with families, does not hesitate to give his personal phone number if people want to talk later and talk about the pain openly and personally.

The footage taken by security cameras has captured moments when 42-year-old American Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar trucked crowds at the start of New Year's Day in New Orleans.

A black Islamic State flag found in his truck, pushing The FBI investigate the incident as a terrorist act.

US President Joe Biden says federal law enforcement agencies are investigating all possible attackers' connections.

“Federal law enforcement forces and intelligence agencies are actively investigating any foreign or local contact of the attackers, which may be important in clarifying the circumstances of the attack. We'll keep on fighting I SIS and other terrorist organisations wherever they are. They will find no safe haven here”, President Biden said.

Fourteen people were killed in the New Year's attack on New Orleans, and dozens more were injured. The author of the attack, army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, died after a shootout with police.

The FBI says Shamsud-Din Jabbar had hidden improvised explosive devices on several roads, including a crossroad, where there are usually too many human movements.

National Security Department says this is another case of violent extremism in the country.

“We are facing difficult types of threats, and that is why we as a community, not only the federal government, but the officials and the state and local residents, should be vigilant against them and take necessary measures to avoid acts of violence”, National Security Department Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.

Later, on New Year's Day, and more than two thousand miles away in Nevada, member of the U.S. Army Special Forces Matthew Livelsberger blew up a company's rented truck near the “Trump International” in Las Vegas.

District Attorney Clark confirmed that Livelsberger, a decorated soldier whom officials say suffering from post-traumatic stress, killed himself shortly before the truck exploded. Officials say no one else was seriously injured.

Law enforcement forces say they have so far found no link between the attacks. / VOA