Bomb blast in a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers kills many

A bomb blast in the Siddiquiya Mosque in the northern Kabul neighborhood of Khair Khanna killed many worshippers. It happened during evening prayers and the authorities have yet to confirm the exact number of deaths. Initial reports say the blast killed at least three people and left dozens of others wounded. Italian non-governmental organization NGO Emergency operates a hospital in the capital. It said it had 27 patients wounded in the blast. Three of them are dead and five of the wounded were children. A security official revealed to a section of the media that 20 people lost their lives in the blast and 40 others suffered injuries. A spokesman of the Taliban government confirmed people have died but did not specify the number of casualties. Several killed in explosion at mosque in Kabul. The official wrote on Twitter - “The murderers of civilians and perpetrators … will soon be punished for their crimes.”

A spokesman of the Kabul police confirmed - “A blast happened inside a mosque … the blast has casualties, but the numbers are not clear yet.” Witnesses revealed to the media about the blast that shattered windows in nearby buildings. Intelligence teams arrived at the site of the blast and the matter is under investigation. The Taliban took over in August last year after the withdrawal of United States-led NATO forces. The de-facto government of the Taliban has yet to be recognized by the world. The Taliban asserts that it has made the nation secure but Afghanistan continues to witness regular attacks by armed groups. Militant groups commit many of these. Last week, a bomb attack killed a prominent Taliban religious leader at a seminary in Kabul. The ISIL (ISIS) armed group claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, in June, there was an attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul in which two people were killed.

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Six Afghanistan policemen killed in Taliban attack

The Taliban insurgents attacked an Afghan security post in the western Farah province and killed at least six policemen. Three more were left wounded. A pickup truck also hit a roadside bomb in a remote eastern district and killed seven villagers, the seven dead included two children and two women.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack but, the area has seen an increase in attacks by an Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 30 June 2017.

The Taliban had attacked a security post in the north of the provincial capital and a gunbattle followed that lasted for nearly three hours. Nine Taliban fighters were also killed in the encounter. The attackers fled the scene, after seizing ammunition and guns from the police.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack but Taliban insurgents are believed to have been involved. Earlier they attacked a security post in western Herat province and killed at least 10 policemen there.


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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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Woman beheaded in Afghanistan for entering a city without her husband

Another instance of atrocities on women in Afghanistan has come to light. A woman has reportedly been beheaded by a group of armed men after she entered a city without her husband. The incident took place in the remote village of Latti in Sar-e-Pul province, which is under Taliban control but, the Taliban have rejected any involvement in the incident.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 28 December 2016.

It seems the 30-year-old woman was targeted because she went out alone without her husband, who is in Iran. She had apparently gone to the market to shop. Under Taliban rule, women are not supposed to leave their homes unless they are accompanied by a close male relative. Moreover, they are banned from working or education and are forced to wear the burqa.
Earlier this month five female Afghan guards who were working in the airport in southern Kandahar were killed by unknown gunmen as they were on their way to work. These five women were in charge of searching female travelers at the Kandahar airport, and had been hired by a private security company. They were killed by two gunmen on motorbike who followed their van and opened fire on them, killing them as well as their driver.


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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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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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Militant attack on a Shiite shrine in Kabul leave 14 dead

A militant attack on a Shiite shrine in Kabul has left behind at least 14 dead with another 26 people wounded in the attack on Sakhi Shrine in the city's western suburbs. The dead included 13 civilians and one policeman and, in addition, another three police officers were wounded.
This shrine is the largest such shrine in Kabul.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 11 October 2016.

Initially it was given to understand that there were three gunmen but, actually, only one gunman was involved and he was shot dead by police. The incident happened as Shiites had gathered ahead of Wednesday's Ashoura. This is a holy day of mourning to commemorate the death in 680 AD of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Imam Hussein.
Kabul police had alerted the Shiites against large gatherings because attacks were expected. It seems there were credible reports that Ashoura activities would be targeted and Shiites had been advised to hold the ceremonies "within limits."
Incidentally, Shiites make up an estimated 15 percent of Afghanistan's population of around 30 million people and most of the Afghan Shiites are ethnic Hazaras. Since militant Sunni fundamentalists like the Taliban and the Islamic State group look at Shiites as apostates, there are frequent attacks on Shiite mosques and public gatherings.


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Suicide bomb attacks by Taliban kill more than 20 in Afghanistan

At least 20 people were killed in separate suicide bomb attacks in Afghanistan. 14 of them were killed when a minibus was struck a minibus that was transporting Nepaelse security contractors in the capital Kabul. Some time later, a bomb planted in a motorbike killed at least eight civilians and wounded another 18 in a crowded market in the northern province of Badakhshan. The casualty count could increase.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 20 June 2016.

It seems the suicide bomber had waited near a compound housing the security contractors and struck as the vehicle moved through early morning traffic. Apart from bus passengers, many people in an adjacent market were also wounded in the attack during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Kabul but not for the attack in Badakhshan. Taliban has said that by carrying out this attack, they want to teach Americans and NATO military officials that they have the power to conduct attacks wherever, and whenever, they want.
The Taliban has indicated that those attacks were in revenge for the execution of six Taliban prisoners.


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At least 19 killed in attack on Bacha Khan University in Pakistan - Taliban claims responsibility

#bachakhanuniversity #pakistan #taliban At least 19 persons have been killed in an attack on Bacha Khan University in Pakistan - a Taliban commander has claimed responsibility for the attack. Four of the attackers are believed to have been killed at the campus building situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in northwest Pakistan.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 20 January 2016.

It seems the militants were wielding AK-47s and used the cover of a thick, wintry fog to scale the walls of the University in the town of Charsadda, located about 30-Km from the city of Peshawar. Once inside, they began indiscriminate firing on teachers and students in classrooms before engaging in a three-hour gun-battle with police and soldiers.
There were explosions from inside the campus and female students ran for their lives while relatives waited at the gates. Most of the victims were shot dead at a hostel for male students on the campus site and, as per official figures, around 50 had been wounded and the number of dead could rise to as high as 40. At least one lecturer of chemistry is among those who lost their lives. He had tried to shoot back at the militants.
There are more than 3,000 students in the University and it was hosting an extra 600 visitors for a poetry recital.

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It was an airstrike in Afghanistan that went totally haywire and nine local staffers for Doctors Without Borders were killed and 30 were missing after an explosion near their hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. This is believed to have been caused by a U.S. airstrike.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 3 October 2015.

Afghan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes have been trying to dislodge Taliban insurgents who overran Kunduz and a U.S. Army Colonel has admitted that the strike "may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility". The operating theater, emergency room and other parts of the hospital complex were hit in the bombing.
It was the 12th U.S. airstrike "in the Kunduz vicinity" and, at that time, the hospital had 105 patients and their caretakers, apart from more than 80 international and Afghan staff.
Interior Ministry spokesman has added that 10 to 15 "terrorists" had been hiding in the hospital at that time and all of them were eliminated but doctors also lost their lives. However, 80 staff at the hospital, including 15 foreigners, had been taken to safety. Doctors Without Borders have indicated that all of its international staffers were alive and accounted for.
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Suicide bombers attack Kabul –kill dozens of innocents

#Afghanistan #taliban #Kabul #AshrafGhani #suicidebomber A suicide bomber attired in a police uniform walked up to a group of recruits outside the police academy in Kabul and detonated his explosives-laden vest – the explosion claimed at least 20 lives and left another 25 injured. This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 8 August 2015.

There were explosions in other locations like one after a massive truck bomb killed at least 15 people near a government complex and military base in a residential area. Moreover, another 240 were left wounded in the blast which was one of the largest ever in Kabul – it flattened a city block and left behind a 30ft crater.
Obviously, it was proof that al is not well in Afghanistan and that that militants could still strike at Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's heavily fortified center of power.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks but, in the opinion of officials, the Taliban is behind the attacks. It seems there is a power struggle within its the appointment of Mullah Omar's deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, as his successor has led to protests from his brother and son, and has given rise to serious rifts that others were trying to contain.
The government feels that these were aimed at diverting public attention from the internal problems of the group. (Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Suicide blast in Justice Ministry of Kabul kills 5, injures 42 – Taliban claims responsibility

#Kabul #Taliban #suicidebomber #Afghanistan Suicide bomb attacks continues unabated in Afghanistan and in the latest such attack, a suicide bomber exploded his devices in the car park of the Justice Ministry in the diplomatic area of Kabul and killed five people while 42 others have been injured.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 20 May 2015.

Responsibility of the attack has been claimed by the Taliban – they have vowed to kill more “slave” judges and prosecutors.
As indicated by Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Ayoub Salangi, four men and one woman were killed in the attack and one of those killed could be the suicide bomber but that is difficult to confirm because the body was torn into pieces.
In the recent past, the number of attacks have gone up. It may be recalled that last week, three people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a bus that was transporting employees of the Attorney General’s office. Later, on Sunday, a car bomb went off near Kabul airport and struck a vehicle of the European Union’s police advisory mission killing three people. Moreover, the Taliban had also carried out an attack on a Kabul guest house in which 14 people died.
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Suicide car bomb attack near Kabul’s International Airport kills 3 – two are women

A Taliban suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden Toyota sedan car into a foreign convoy near Kabul's international airport. Three people died in the attack, two of them are young women while the third is a British security contractor who working with alongside the European Union Police force.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 17 May 2015.

Apart from the deaths, at least 18 people, including three children, were wounded in the morning rush hour suicide blast that happened near the office of the Afghan Civil Aviation Authority close to the airport terminal Both the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and the British Embassy in Kabul have confirmed that the victim was a British security contractor. This was the second attack in a matter of days for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility.
The British contractor had been travelling with officers from European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL). This agency advises Afghan law enforcement authorities.
(Image source wikimediacommons.org)

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At least 6 killed and 63 injured in Taliban attack in Mazar-e-Sharif

#Taliban #mazaresharif #Afghanistan #Balkh Taliban gunmen, dressed in military uniforms, stormed the office of the attorney general in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif and killed at least six people and injured 63 as reported in bbc.com dated 9 April 2015.
As revealed by witnesses, a group of five attackers enter the office, followed by heavy gunfire and several explosions. The dead included a local police chief and two officers while another 26 officials of the government were among the injured. A spokesman for the Taliban has confirmed that it carried out the attack.

It was a siege that lasted for six hours and all five gunmen were killed by the Afghan National Security Forces which had surrounded the area. The police rescued the attorney general from his office, which is just 200m (650ft) from the office of the governor of Balkh province.
The chief doctor at the Balkh Provincial Hospital has confirmed the number of those dead and injured as 6 and 63 respectively.
The Taliban has been targeting Afghanistan's legal system continuously. In June 2013, it had detonated a car bomb in front of the compound of Afghanistan's Supreme Court in which 17 were killed and another 39 were wounded.

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12 Pakistani convicts hanged on same day in different prisons

#deathrow #peshawarschoolattack #taliban Subsequent to the lifting of ban on hangings, Pakistan has hanged 12 convicts in various prisons across the country – it was the largest number of people executed on the same day after the country overturned a ban on executions. This has been reported in bbc.com dated 17 March 2015.
It has been reported by Pakistan's Dawn newspaper that the latest executions took place in Multan, Karachi, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Jhang.
It has been informed by the interior ministry that the men were terrorists, murderers or guilty of "heinous crimes". So far, at least 27 convicts have been executed since the moratorium of hanging was lifted. Most of them were militants. As per estimates, there are over 8,000 Pakistanis on death row.
It may be recalled that a moratorium on hangings was lifted for terror-related crimes because of the attack in a school in Peshawar after a Taliban attack in December. Over 150 people, mostly children, lost their lives in the attack.
The scope of capital punishment policy has been widened to include all prisoners on death row whose appeals had been rejected.

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