DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has made a rare Oval Office address after the San Bernardino shootings that left 14 dead.

He said the killings were "an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people", reports the BB.

But "freedom is more powerful than fear," said President Obama, warning that falling prey to divisiveness in American society would play into the hands of extremists.

He also said the US must make it harder for potential attackers to obtain guns.

Obama vowed that the US would overcome the evolving threat of terrorism, but warned that Americans "cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam".

"If we're to succeed in defeating terrorism, we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate," Obama said.

He reminded his audience that Muslim-Americans were part of US society.

"And, yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defence of our country. We have to remember that," he said.

The president warned that turning against America's Muslim communities would be exactly what Islamist extremists in the so-called Islamic State group want.

BDST: 1027 HRS, DEC 07, 2015
RS