Donald Trump slams slain Muslim soldier kin

The parents of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq accused Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of ignorance for his criticism of them after their appearance at the Democratic National Convention.

Ms Ghazala Khan, mother of slain US Army Captain Humayun Khan, took up her own defence on Sunday in an opinion piece in the Washington Post that explained why she stood without speaking on the DNC stage last week as her husband castigated Mr Trump for his comments about Muslims.

“Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true,” Ms Khan wrote, adding that she decided not to speak at the convention because of her pain over the 2004 death of her son. “When Donald Tru-mp is talking about Islam, he is ignorant,” she wrote.

Mr Trump stirred bipartisan outrage for his back and forth with the Khans. The Republican nominee lashed out at Mr Khizr Khan, a US citizen of Pakistani origin and a Muslim, when Mr Khan told of his war hero son at the convention and took issue with Mr Trump’s call for a temporary ban on the entry of Muslims into the United States.

Mr Khizr Khan invited Mr Trump to read the US Constitution and visit the graves of American soldiers from many backgrounds at Arlington National Cemetery.

In an interview aired Sunday on ABC’s This Week, Mr Trump cast doubt on why Mr Khan’s wife did not speak.

“She was standing there, she had nothing to say, she probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say, you tell me,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump on Sunday tweeted that Mr Khan’s son had died twelve years ago: “Captain Khan, killed 12 years ago, was a hero, but this is about RADICAL ISLAMIC TERROR and the weakness of our “leaders” to eradicate it!”

Both Democrats and Republicans have criticised Mr Trump’s remarks about the Khans.

“Just when I think, Trump can’t possibly be a bigger jerk, he proves me wrong,” Republican strategist Ana Navarro said on Twitter, adding that Mr Trump’s comments about the Khans were “gross.” Ms Hillary Clinton said at a campaign rally on Saturday that Mr Trump’s comments about the Khans were part of a long history of insulting people. Meanwhile, ISIS on Sunday condemned as an “apostate” the US Muslim soldier killed in Iraq.

Mr Trump tweeted Sunday that he had been “viciously attacked” by Mr Khan at the convention. “Am I not allowed to respond ” he asked. The candidate also tried to change the subject to the war itself: “Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!”

On CNN on Sunday, Mr Khizr Khan said the couple had received a large outpouring of support after their appearance at the convention. He said people had apparently seen the “blackness” of Mr Trump’s character, adding that Mr Trump’s family needed to “teach him some empathy.”

Meanwhile, Islamic State on Sunday condemned as an “apostate” a US Muslim soldier killed in Iraq.

Dabiq, the militant group’s online magazine, showed a picture of US Army Captain Humayun Khan’s tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery with a caption, “Beware of Dying asan apostate.”