Suicide bomber kills at least 15 in Mosul

The ISIS is striking back and using suicide bombers as Iraqi forces appear to be gaining ground in Mosul while the militants are losing hold. At least 15 people killed in the latest assaults and more than 20 are injured. The attacks reveal the intense violence that is still a matter of worry in the country and the perils that remain as the battle for Iraq's second largest city nears its end.
This has been reported in timesofndia.com dated 3 July 2017.

It seems a suicide bomber in the disguise of a woman killed 14 at a camp for displaced people in Iraq's western Anbar province . The incident happened in the al-Nuri Mosque and at least 20 were wounded in the explosion. Using women as suicide bombers is one of the latest tactic used by the militants. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.


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ISIS carries out its first attack on Iran - at least 12 dead

It was the first ever attack by ISIS on Iran and at least 12 persons were killed. They had targeted the parliament with two bands of killers when the parliament was in session. The Parliament House and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum are located in the heart of Tehran.
This has been reported in zeenews.com dated 7 June 2017.

The standoff lasted around five hours before all the gunmen who had holed up in parliamentary office buildings were killed. ISIS claimed responsibility even as the attack was still going on. According to an interior ministry official, the killers were dressed as women and entered through the visitors' entrance. One of them exploded a suicide vest while the others were killed by security forces.


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Suicide bomber kills 16 in Baghdad icecream parlour

A suicide bomber targeted an ice cream parlor in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and killed at least 16 persons. It wass the Al-Faqma ice cream shop. The attacker detonated a parked vehicle laden with explosives outside the shop and responsibility has been accepted by ISIS. Another 75 people were injured in the blast.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 30 May 2017.

Subsequently, there was a second car bomb explosion near one of Baghdad's main bridges in which the death toll was 11. The blast happened just days into the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. It is a time when Iraqis often stay out late after breaking their fast at sunset.


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Gunmen disguised as doctors shoot dead 38 persons in a Kabul hospital

In an attack that lasted for six hours, gunmen disguised as doctors, stormed Afghanistan's largest military hospital and shot dead at least 38 people - responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group and they have done it to make inroads into the war-battered country.
Another more than 70 people sustained injuries in the assault on the Sardar Daud Khan hospital located in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of Kabul with explosions and gunfire rattling the diplomatic district.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 8 March 2017.

There were three gunmen wearing white laboratory coats and they began to spray bullets after a suicide bomber on foot blew himself up at the rear entrance which sparked chaos inside the 400-bed facility. A witness has revealed that one of the attackers was armed with an AK-47 and was dressed as a doctor and he shot patients and guards on the third floor.
The attackers were gunned down after special forces landed on the roof of the hospital in a military helicopter. This attack comes just a week after 16 people were killed in simultaneous Taliban suicide assaults on two security compounds in Kabul.


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ISIS carries out car bombing in Baghdad - kills at least 55

Suicide bomb attack kills at least 72 in a Sufi shrine in Pakistan

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ISIS carries out car bombing in Baghdad - kills at least 55

It was another ISIS attack on Baghdad - a car packed with explosives was blown up in southern Baghdad and at least 55 people have died with another more than 60 injured. This is believed to be the deadliest such attack in Iraq this year.
The vehicle which blew up was parked in a crowded street full of garages and used car dealers. The death toll is expected to go up because many of the wounded are in critical condition.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 17 February 2017.

Islamic State has, through an online statement, claimed responsibility for the bombing. Since it is being forced to surrender captured territories, it has increased strikes on government areas, especially in the capital Baghdad.
The bombing is the second to target car markets this week and has been chosen probably because the group finds it easier to leave vehicles laden with explosives in places where hundreds of other vehicles are parked.
Incidentally, a suicide bomber had detonated a pick-up truck one day earlier in the Sadr City suburb and killed at least 15 people. That was also in a street full of used car dealers.


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Suicide bomb attack kills at least 72 in a Sufi shrine in Pakistan

A suicide bomb attacked in the crowded Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan has killed at least 72 persons and wounded dozens more. The attack was carried out by the Islamic State and it is believed to have been the deadliest one on the wave of bombings across Pakistan this week.
The Islamic State militant group which has a small but increasingly prominent presence in Pakistan and has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 17 February 2017.

While the death toll was indicated as 72, with more than 150 injured, the death toll could rise.
The attack on the famous Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in the town of Sehwan Sharif has reveal that militants still pose a major threat to stability in the nuclear-armed country of 190 million people. In August last year, at least 74 people, mostly lawyers, were killed in a suicide bombing of a hospital in Quetta. Responsibility for that attack was claimed by a faction of the Pakistani Taliban - Jamaat-ur-Ahrar - and the IS.
Moreover, Jamaat also claimed responsibility for a bombing in Lahore in which 13 people died.


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Militants in Indonesia looking for women terrorists

An online conversation between two women, who wanted to carry out suicide bombing on a government agency, was picked up last August by researchers who were studying the radicalization of women in Indonesia. Subsequently, after four months, Indonesian police arrested two women in connection with a plot to bomb the presidential palace in Jakarta.
The arrests marked a major strategy shift which indicated that militants in Indonesia, who were loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), were recruiting women terrorists to carry out attacks.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 4 February 2017.

The study by a Jakarta-based Institute has confirmed that ISIS has brought about a fundamental change in how extremists view the role of women in their cause. To them, the role of women as wives, mothers and teachers in militant groups continued to be a priority. Simultaneously, ISIS plan to deploy women on terrorist duties.
This is a major shift in the thinking of militant groups.
Earlier, leaders of the old Jemaah Islamiah militants did not promote the culture of allowing women to take an active role in terror causes. Exception would be made for emergency circumstances or for self-defence. However, today's Indonesian women, many of whom work overseas as domestic helpers have become interested in ISIS. The women are useful for terror operations because they do not attract suspicion easily.


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Bomb blast in a vegetable market in Parachinar kills at least 20

A bomb exploded at a vegetable market in northwest Pakistan in the city of Parachinar, a mainly Shia Muslim area on the Afghan border. It has left at least 20 dead and another 40 wounded. At the time, the market was full of shoppers and officials believe that the death toll could rise.
A faction of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) said it was behind the blast - its intention was "to avenge the killing of our associates". The group wanted to "teach a lesson to Shiites for their support for Bashar al-Assad." The obvious reference was to the Syrian president.
This has been reported in bbc.com dated 21 January 2017.

The spokesman of the group warned that his Sunni Muslim group will continue to attack Shia Muslims if they back President Assad because his regime is entrenched in a six-year civil war that has claimed more than 310,000 lives. The exact source of the blast is still not known. It could be from an improvised explosive device (IED) hidden in a vegetable box. Or, it could be a suicide bomber.
Pakistan's soldiers had cordoned off the bomb site, and Army helicopters were sent to evacuate the injured. Incidentally, Parachinar is the capital of the Kurram, one of Pakistan's seven tribal districts. In December 2015, an IED blast at the same market had killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 30.


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Taliban strikes near the Afghan Parliament in Kabul, kills at least 30

A couple of blasts struck near the Afghan Parliament in Kabul and left at least 30 people dead with another 80 wounded.It was a rush-hour attack by the Taliban and it broke a relative lull in violence in the capital.
The bombings happened hours after a Taliban suicide bomber killed seven people in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the volatile southern province of Helmand, as the militants ramp up attacks.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 11 January 2017.

It seems a suicide bomber on foot carried out the first explosion, leaving a number of innocent workers killed and wounded. The second one was a car bomb in a vehicle that was parked on the other side of the road.
The blasts left 30 people dead and 80 wounded - some of the wounded are in serious condition and the death toll was expected to rise. The dead included at least four policemen - they were killed in the second explosion when they rushed to help the victims of the first blast.
This attack underscores the growing insecurity in Afghanistan, where there are around 10,000 U.S. troops who are helping the Afghan forces to combat a resilient Taliban insurgency as well as al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants.


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Two suicide bombers kill at least 27 in Baghdad market

Two suicide bombers attacked a market in Baghdad and killed at least 27 people and left another 50 injured - many of the victims were shopkeepers who had gathered around a cart that was selling breakfast when the explosions took place.
The market is located in the al Sinek neighborhood on Rasheed Street, which is one of the main thoroughfares in the Iraqi capital. The area is packed with shops and markets and was targeted at a time when it was crowded.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 31 December 2016.

This attack is believed to be the deadliest attack on the city since mid-October when a man blew himself up at a funeral, killing more than 30 people. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for that attack.
It is known that the city of Baghdad has been on alert ever since the beginning of the offensive to re-take the city of Mosul in the north from IS. Prime Minister Haider al Abadi had indicated that the Mosul operation would take at least three months more - he had earlier promised that it would be completed before 2017.


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Suicide bomber kills at least 49 people in a military camp in Aden

A suicide bomber kills at least 49 people and wounded another 60 in a blast near a military camp in the southern Yemen city of Aden. The dead were soldiers who had assembled to collect their salaries. There were several medics were among the wounded.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack and has confirmed that it was behind a suicide bombing at the same base on 10 December in which at least 45 soldiers were killed and another 50 injured.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 18 December 2016.

Aden continues to be under the control of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi and his internationally recognized government in exile in Saudi Arabia. They are fighting the Shia rebels who took over Sanaa, the capital, in 2014 and have since occupied much of the north of the country. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has joined the fight against the rebels in 2015 but has not been able to remove them from Sanaa.
Britain is helping the Saudis to select targets which will ensure that the country complies with the rules of war. Moreover, the UK is a major exporter of arms to Saudi Arabia and has assured that the sales would continue since there was no evidence of weapons being used in contravention of international law.
Coalition airstrikes have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians as the population struggles against starvation and disease.


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Two schoolgirls turn suicide bombers and kill 56 in a Nigerian market

A couple of schoolgirl became suicide bombers and killed at least 56 people and wounded dozens more in a coordinated attack on a crowded market in Nigeria. It happened in the northeastern Nigerian town of Madagali. In the opinion of experts, the bombings bore the hallmark of Islamist militant group Boko Haram. However, no group has claimed responsibility.
This group has been waging an insurgency to set up a state that will adhere to a strict interpretation of Muslim laws in the northeast.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 10 December 2016.

An official of the local district government has confirmed that the bombings have left 56 people dead and another 57 wounded. The attacks had been carried out simultaneously by two schoolgirls.
It is known that Boko Haram usually targeted crowded areas like markets, places of worship and refugee camps. These suicide bomb attacks happen across northeast Nigeria and in neighboring Cameroon and Niger. The jihadist group has so far killed some 15,000 people and forced more than two million people to flee their homes.


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At least 52 killed and more than 100 injured in a bomb blast at a remote Sufi shrine in Pakistan

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a bomb blast in a Sufi shrine in Baluchistan with at least 52 killed and more than 100 others injured - many of the victims were women and children. Devotees were at the time participating in a ceremony of devotional dance session, which is held daily before dusk, when the blast occurred.
The shrine of the Sufi saint Shah Noorani is located some 750-Km south of Quetta, the provincial capital of restive southern Balochistan province. The shrine sits on a hill which devotees have to climb for half an hour as there is no regular road.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 13 November 2016.

The shrine is revered and visited both by minority Shia and Sunni Muslims, but militant groups like the Taliban and Islamic State (IS) consider the practice against Islam. IS has claimed responsibility for the attack saying that a suicide bomber had targeted the shrine and had killed around 35 people and injured 95 others.
At the time of the attack, there wee about 600 people at the shrine - many of the devotees traveled to the site from Karachi during weekends.


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Taliban attack in Afghanistan kills at least four, injures another more than 110

A Taliban attack in Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sharif has left at least four people killed and over 110 injured. The target was the German consulate and it was targeted by a suicide truck bomb with subsequent attack by Taliban militants.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 11 November 2016.

It seems one terrorist detonated a car bomb near the gate of the consulate killing himself and one other person. Those injured were residents and the death toll could increase because some of the injured remained in critical condition.
The Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after the blast. A spokesman of the Taliban has indicated that the attack was retaliation for recent airstrikes in Kunduz from the "invading countries" which caused civilian casualties. It may be recalled that on November 3, there was a series of air strikes carried out by NATO-led forces on outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city subsequent to ground operations conducted by foreign and Afghan security forces positioned there.


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At least 24 killed in suicide attacks in Iraqi cities of Tikrit and Samarra

Two suicide attacks in the cities of Tikrit and Samarra have left at least 24 dead - this comes as Iraqi forces battle to clear areas taken from Islamic State around Mosul. The suicide attacks happened when two ambulances loaded with explosives were detonated.
The blast in Tikrit was near an entrance to the city during the morning rush hour and at least 13 people were killed in this. Another 11 people died in an attack against Shia pilgrims in Samarra located about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 6 November 2016.

In Samarra, a suicide bomber parked an ambulance in the car park for a Shia shrine. Then he walked up to pilgrims about 500 metres from the shrine, detonated his vehicle and then blew himself up. The dead included five female students, a woman and three policemen and up to 100 others were injured.>br> Islamic State has issued a statement claiming responsibility for the bombings. Compared to other battles the present tactics of ISIS include a lot of fortifications on the streets, holes filled with water. Moreover, they are in possession of suicide bombers and suicide car bombs that they are using to keep the Iraqi forces at bay.


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Iraq special forces advanced into Mosul while ISIS militants killed 20

The battle to regain control of Mosul is continuing and Iraq's special forces are working to fully clear neighborhoods on Mosul's eastern edge of Islamic State (ISIS) militants. This is a slow-paced work because the advancing troops have to penetrate into populated areas deeper inside Mosul. In view of the presence of a large number of civilians, they cannot resort to airstrikes.
Meanwhile suspected ISIS militants had struck far from the front lines. They resorted to two bombings that killed at least 20 people. One of these was a suicide attack directed against Shiite pilgrims north of Baghdad which killed at least 11 people.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 6 November 2016.

There are reports of some civilians fleeing from the combat zone, while ISIS militants are holding others back for use as human shields. This is making it harder for Iraqi commanders on the ground to get approval for requests for U.S.-led coalition air strikes.
Incidentally, Iraq's special forces are some of the country's best troops, but they depend to a great extent on air support to clear the terrain.
It may be recalled that ISIS had captured the city of Mosul in 2014, and have erected fortifications like trenches and berms that have converted the streets and alleyways of a neighborhood into a maze. In addition, concrete blast walls have blocked off access to other areas.
In April 2015, Iraqi security forces had succeeded in driving out ISIS militants from Tikrit which is located about 80 miles north of Baghdad.


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Terrorist attacks and suicide bombing kill at least 46 in Iraq

Terrorist attacks in Iraq have killed at least 46 people - the attacks included a suicide bombing and its responsibility has been claimed by the Islamic State group. This attack was the deadliest to hit Baghdad in months.
The violence has been unleashed as Iraqi forces get ready for an operation to retake Mosul which is the last IS-held city in the country. This will be a key battle, but it will not put an end to the threat of attacks as was witnessed.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 15 October 2016.

It seems in the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber targeted a funeral tent where mourners had assembled to pay their respects in the Shiite-majority Shaab area of north Baghdad - the blast killed at least 34 people and wounded at least 36. The suicide bomber entered the funeral tent and blew himself up as lunch was being served. ISIS issued an online statement claiming the attack and saying it was carried out by a man who detonated an explosive vest.
ISIS is a Sunni extremist group and it considers Shiites to be heretics. Therefore, they frequently carry out suicide bombings and other attacks against them in Baghdad and other parts of the country.
The latest bombing is the deadliest to hit the Iraqi capital since early July. At that time a suicide bombing in central Baghdad sparked infernos in a crowded shopping area and more than 300 people were killed.
Apart from the Baghdad attack, militants attacked two areas north of Baghdad, killing another 12 people.


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Suicide bomb attack in Pakistani mosque during Friday prayers kill at least 25

A suicide bomb attack in a Pakistani mosque during Friday prayers has killed at least 25 and more than 35 worshipers were left injured when a huge blast destroyed the building. The incident happened in the Mohmand tribal area of the country's north west that is bordering Afghanistan.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 16 September 2016.

The mosque was packed with people attending Friday prayers and the attacker shouted 'Allahu Akbar' before detonating an explosive vest. The explosion brought a portion of the building, including its veranda collapsed crushing worshipers below. Bodies are still being hauled out of the rubble and the death toll could rise.
Local tribal elder feels that the attack may have been carried out by Islamist militants who are seeking revenge after local tribesmen gathered a volunteer force and killed one and captured another insurgent.
Regarding security in Pakistan, the military says 'terrorist incidents' have reduced from 128 in 2013 to 74 last year and Islamist extremists continue to stage major attacks. Killing of 74 people including lawyers in the city of Quetta last month was an attack claimed by both the Islamic State and Jamaat-ur-Ahrar which is a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban. The Jamaat-ur-Ahrar also claimed the Easter Sunday bombing in a park in the eastern city of Lahore in which 72 people were killed - many of them were children.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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Suicide bomb and gun attacks in northwestern Pakistan leave at least 13 dead

Suicide bomb and gun attacks in northwestern Pakistan leave at least 13 dead and 54 others injured. A suicide bomber shot his way through the main gate leading to the district court in the city of Mardan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and threw a hand grenade before detonating his suicide vest among the morning crowds. Many of the wounded are in a critical condition and death toll could increase.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 2 September 2016.

As revealed by a senior police official, the bomber had up to eight kilogrammes of explosives packed into his vest. The dead included lawyers, police personnel and civilians.
On Friday, a group of militants had stormed a Christian neighborhood near Warsak Dam, just north of Peshawar. Four of the militants wore suicide vests and entered the colony and one of them went into a church, but it was empty. But, the attackers killed one Christian. The suicide bombers were later killed by soldiers backed by army helicopters in an exchange of gunfire. Three security officials and two civilian guards were also wounded in the attacks.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for both attacks. It has also admitted that it was behind a massive suicide blast three weeks ago in which a number of lawyers wee killed in the southwestern city of Quetta, apart from the Lahore Easter bombing that killed 75 people.


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ISIS carries out suicide attack in Kabul - 80 killed, death toll could rise

ISIS have entered Afghanistan and two suicide bombers attacked a crowd of demonstrators in Demazang Square in Kabul and one of them blew himself up in the crowd. As a result, at least 80 people have been killed and more than 230 are injured. The death toll is likely to rise because many of the injured are in serious condition.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 23 July 2016.

The protest march was by Afghanistan's ethnic Hazaras who were demanding that a major regional electric power line be routed through their impoverished home province. Most of the Hazaras are Shia Muslims, while most Afghans are Sunni. This so-called TUTAP power line is backed by the Asian Development Bank with the involvement of countries like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The original plan had been to route the line through Bamiyan province, in the central highlands, where most of the country's Hazaras live but, that route was changed in 2013 by the previous Afghan government. Hence the unrest. Bamiyan province, populated mostly by Hazara people is poverty stricken, though it is largely peaceful and has potential as a tourist destination.
It seems two suicide bombers had targeted the demonstrators, who were gathering in Demazang Square as their four-hour protest march wound down. The police shot dead one of the suicide bombers.
There was an intelligence input that an attack on the march could take place, and had the organizers had been warned accordingly. Three district police chiefs on duty at the square were injured while three security personnel were killed.


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