Suicide bombing at a mosque in Kabul kills at least 27 and leaves 35 injured

At least 27 people have been killed and 35 others injured in a suicide bombing at Baqir ul Olum mosque in Kabul. The attacker entered the premises and detonated a suicide vest in a crowd of worshippers who had gathered at the mosque to mark the Shiite ceremony of Arbaeen.
This festival comes 40 days after the major festival of Ashura.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 21 November 2016.

The Taliban has denied responsibility for the bombing. Its spokesperson has said that they have never attacked mosques because it is not their agenda.
The attack comes a week after a blast at a US army base in Bagram, 35 miles north of Kabul, in which four Americans were killed.
A Government chief executive has branded the attack as a "war crime and an act against Islam and humanity." In his words - 'this attack is against religions, faiths, humanity, human ideologies and every human belief. This is a sign of barbarism and cruelty.... Afghans care for the blood of their people. Our security forces will hold the perpetrators accountable by bringing them to justice.


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Terrorists attack police training college in Quetta and at least 51 reported killed

Three terrorists had attacked a police training college in Quetta and an operation had to be launched by military and Frontier Corps forces to clear the premises which houses at least 600 police cadets. At least 51 people, most of them cadets, were killed and 97 others were injured in the attack.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 25 October 2016.

There were three terrorists, all wearing suicide vests, and were reportedly in contact with their handlers in Afghanistan. Two of the suicide attackers blew themselves up, which resulted in casualties, and the third one was shot dead by the troops.
The training college is situated on Sariab Road, believed to be one of the most sensitive areas of Quetta.
Incidentally, militants have been targeting security forces in the area for almost a decade and, the training college has come under attack in the past in 2008 and 2006 when attackers had fired rockets into the college playground.
The college is spread over an acre of land and is located about 13 kilometres outside the main city of Quetta.


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Terror suspect in Brussels shopping mall wore a fake suicide vest

A terror suspect created a false bomb alert when he told officers that he was wearing a suicide vest. He was detained at the scene and armed police came on the scene and it transpired that the man was not carrying explosives. In fact, he had strapped on his body around his waist a device full of 'salt and biscuits'. As a precautionary measure, police had descended on the City2 Shopping Mall in the heart of the Belgian capital and taped off surrounding roads and closed down five underground stations.
The authorities are investigating whether it was a practical joke or whether there were sinister motives like checking the preparedness of security system. Prime Minister Charles Michel has called the incident 'very suspicious'.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 21 June 2016.

The incident has come a week after anti-terrorism investigators were alerted to the possibility that small groups of ISIS extremists had left Syria for France and Belgium with plans to stage attacks - including at a shopping mall. Belgium's anti-terror office has already warned police that fighters with access to weapons may have left Syria about 10 days ago for Belgium and France.
Belgium has been on high alert ever since November flowing the massacres in Paris that killed 130 people. Later, on March 22, ISIS bombers targeted Brussels airport and subway and killed 32 people. As a result, extra police and military have been mobilised.


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Terrorists could carry out drone attacks on major sporting events like Superbowl in UK and USA

Intelligence experts have warned that terrorists could launch 'drone attacks' on major sporting events in Europe and the US. This has been indicated by analysts at the Open Briefing think tank - terrorists could use a swarm of drones, which are cheap and accessible, to attack crowds of people at an event like the Superbowl.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 24 February 2016.

In the opinion of exerts, attacks of this nature could be launched by sleeper cells or lone wolves who have been brainwashed by ISIS or al-Qaeda terrorists because ISIS are already making use of drones in Iraq and Syria for intelligence gathering. In fact, they are in direct competition now with al-Qaeda and are desperate to launch a mass casualty attack on Western targets.
Moreover, the ISIS propaganda machine could use the drones, fitted with cameras, to film the attacks taking place. Drones are freely available and there was no single counter-measure to prevent such attacks. A major stumbling block is that drones just cannot be shot down in an urban environment or at a packed stadium because of the high risk of collateral damage.
In addition, even a small drone that can carry up to 10-Kg of explosives or a suicide vest, could become a lethal item if directed at a high profile target such as a politician. There have been instances in the past. One option to prevent such situations would be for intelligence agencies to pick up the movement of suspicious individuals as they bought the drones.



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