IS carries out deadly bombings in Damascus - leaves more than 76 dead

#damascus #ISIS #suicidebomber #SayyidahZaynab The IS terror group carried out three deadly bombings that rocked a Shiite district south of the capital Damascus, killed over 76 people and have taken responsibility for the same. The triple bombings rocked the Sayyidah Zaynab district which was being guarded by the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah group - it is located in the southern countryside of Damascus.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 1 February 2016.

The first of the explosions was in a booby-trapped car and it targeted a passenger bus on the al-Sudan street in that area. Following this bombing, two suicide bombers detonated their explosives-laden belts in the crowed that gathered at the blast site. The death toll is given as 76 but,it could rise because many wounded people were critical. As indicated by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitor, a total of 25 Shiite fighters were among those killed.
Incidentally, the Sayyidah Zaynab tomb had become a center of religious studies of the adherents of the Shiite sect of Islam and a destination of mass pilgrimage by Shiite Muslims from across the Muslim world. In view of the religious significance of the district, Hezbollah had dispatched fighters to protect the shrine and man the checkpoints surrounding it.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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At least seven killed in Jakarta suicide attacks near Starbucks cafe

#ISIS #suicidebomber #parisattack Suicide attacks in Jakarta have taken at lest seven lives - militants had carried out coordinated bomb and gun assault on the Indonesian capital Jakarta which, in the opinion of the police, had similarities with the Paris terror attack. The police have said that seven people were killed - five of them we the attackers.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 14 January 2016.

It was unclear as to how many of the attackers were shot dead by the police or blew themselves up. The remaining dead were a policeman and a Canadian while a Dutchman was among the 17 injured. Officers have arrested four people who are suspected of being involved in the assault, and have confirmed that none of the assailants had escaped.
There were several large explosions across the city in the course of the three-hour siege. The suicide bombers had targeted multiple locations, including a Starbucks cafe at a busy shopping center, near the presidential palace.
Reports of other blasts were there from the Cikini, Silpi and Kuningan neighborhoods, near the Pakistan and Turkish embassies. A United Nations building near the scene was in lockdown, and high-rise buildings in the area were evacuated.
The police feel that the attackers had tried to "imitate the terror attacks in Paris", and Islamic State fighters were "definitely" responsible. Aamaaq, a news agency allied to the terror group, has apparently claimed IS had carried out the attacks "targeting foreign nationals and the security forces charged with protecting them in the Indonesian capital".

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US-led airstrikes against IS in Syria have killed over 550

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has revealed that, as a result of US-led airstrikes against the IS in Syria has left over 550 dead bbc.com – the breakup is reported as 464 IS fighters, 57 other militants and 32 civilians have died.

Notwithstanding such revelations, the US has continued to carry out more air strikes against IS positions near the besieged town of Kobane. As per Kurdish sources, IS had retaken a strategically important hilltop 4-Km west of the town Tal Shahir, which the Kurdish forces fighting IS in Kobane had taken a few days back. This town is close to the border with Turkey.
IS fighters are believed to have been shelling Kurdish positions and attacking the town center.

The US military have confirmed that its fighters and bombers had conducted six air strikes against IS positions in Syria on Wednesday and Thursday - four attacks were near Kobane in which several IS fighting positions, an IS vehicle and an IS command-and-control center were destroyed. These attacks in Syria apart from nine air strikes against IS positions in Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday were meant to eliminate the "terrorist group" and the threat it poses to the region as well as the wider international community.

IS militants worry – if killed by a woman they cannot go to heaven

The Achilles Heel of IS jihadists has been revealed – it is the women dailymail.co.uk. The reason is simple – if a jihadist is killed by a woman, he just cannot go to heaven and going to heaven is the prime reason of why they are becoming jihadists in the first place.

The fight for Kobane says it all - resistance troops are commanded by a woman, and dozens of female fighters swell their ranks. They have taken advantage of the air raids to mount an unlikely comeback and retake some parts of the town. The all-female wing of the Kurdish force defending Kobane — the YPJ — is striking fear into the hearts of the jihadi men.
One of the woman has explained that for Daesh [an Arabic term for IS], to be killed by a woman means he will not go to Heaven and when the women fight them, they are fierce and make it clear to the militants that they are being killed by women.
In the heat of battle, the female Kurdish fighters issue a chilling war cry — a shrill warble — the intention is to announce their presence to their black-clad foes.

It seems Kurdish women have been fighting alongside the men ever since the 1930s.

Do the IS militants have access to chemical weapons?

The IS militants have proved by beheading of innocent US and British persons that they are a bloodthirsty lot and, it now seems that they have access to chemical weapons foxnews.com.

This is an inference that has been drawn from videos that depict dead people with wounds that would end indicate burning of facial muscles through contact with chemicals.
It is not yet established whether these have any link to the chemical weapons of ex-President Saddam Hussein of Iraq or of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria or whether the IS militants have made the weapons themselves by procuring the necessary chemicals.
The video show images of the dead Syrian Kurds with large areas of white, blistered skin apparently having been burned away. And, experts are of the opinion that the chemical weapons were used on July 12, in the village of Avidko, close to Kobani.

This is the Kurdish town on the Turkish border that is now the scene of fierce fighting between Kurds and Islamic State forces.

Triple car bombing kills at least 28 Peshmerga veterans

Triple car bombing by IS militants have killed 28 Peshmerga veterans and injured another 90 – the veterans were on their way to re-enlist in the fight against Islamic State militants news.sky.com.

As per reports, the attack took place in a government compound in Qara Qubah – the dead included both civilians and soldiers. The actual casualty numbers is still not known because many others are still trapped in the debris.
Islamic State fighters have apparently claimed responsibility for the attacks – in Twitter they have indicated that three of the bombers were non-Iraqis who had been sent from Germany, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The attack was timed to coincide with the beginning of training that the British Army planned to impart to Kurdish forces on how to use heavy machine guns against the IS.

The attack on the Peshmerga fighters came after a bloody day of violence in Baghdad in which over 45 people were killed in a series of bombings that rocked Iraq's capital city. Three bombs were detonated in busy shopping areas - the first of these killed eight people outside an ice cream shop. And then just meters down the road in the neighborhood of Shaoula, another car blast killed 18 people.
Moreover, in countryside north of the city, a bomber wearing a suicide vest left 11 others fatally wounded.

Mi-35 helicopter shot down by IS militants in Iraq – pilot and co-pilot dead

IS militants have shot down a Mi-35 helicopter of the Iraqi military between the towns of Beiji and al Senniyah in northern Iraq killing both the pilot and the co-pilot news.sky.com. Beiji, incidentally, which is located 130 miles north of Baghdad and is home to Iraq's biggest oil refinery.
The Islamic State extremist group had used a rocket launcher to shoot down the helicopter.
This shooting is seen by observers as a challenge to the air strikes because it reveals the ability of the insurgents to hit back against air operations by Iraqi authorities and the US-led coalition.
It seems the IS jihadists have taken control of large parts of western and northern Iraq in recent months once the government forces melted away in the onslaught and left behind US-made military equipment including tanks.
Incidentally, the IS have seized a number of refineries in Iraq and Syria which helps increase their revenues. The air strikes carried out by the US and its coalition, including Arab and European allies, are aimed at destroying these oil wells and refineries in order to counter the militant threat.
The aerial raids include several by RAF Tornado fighter jets over Iraq in recent days and Canada is also set to join the military campaign as indicated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Islamic State tries to take control of Kobane in Syria

The IS militants are trying to capture the Syrian town of Kobane on the Syria-Turkey border bbc.com. If the IS can capture the town, also known as Ayn al-Arab, it would enable them to have unbroken control of a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.
Therefore, there is heavy fighting going on between Kurdish militiamen and the advancing Islamic State (IS) militants on the northern Syrian town. Witnesses have reported seeing explosions and smoke rising from buildings hit by shells near the border.
Reports indicate that IS has moved to within a few kilometers of the town in spite of the US-led air strikes that want to halt its two-week offensive.
Ahmet Davutoglu ,Turkey's prime minister, has promised that Turkey would do whatever it could to prevent the fall of Kobane. He said this shortly after the Turkish parliament authorized military operations against militants in Iraq and Syria who threaten Turkey's security, and also for foreign troops to use Turkish bases.
The threat posed by the Islamic State is felt all over the world and Australia's cabinet has given its approval for its aircraft to begin flying combat missions in Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said that IS was a "death cult" that had "declared war on the world" and had to be stopped.
The UN has also remarked that a "staggering array" of human rights abuses has been committed by Islamic State (IS) militants and associated armed groups.

There is crisis in the air as IS militants come to within 2-Km of Baghdad

The situation in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria, keeps changing every minute and latest reports indicate that the IS militants are literally knocking at the doorsteps of Baghdad news.sky.com – within 2-Km as some reports mention.
Local residents are afraid to leave their houses and the roads are deserted in anticipation of imminent attacks and violence.
The revelations have been made by Canon Andrew White – in his words, the IS militants were reportedly only a mile away from the capital amid clashes with Iraqi soldiers. Moreover, there has also been renewed fighting in the central cities of Baquba and Ramadi.
The situation in Syria is no better – in spite of the recent coalition airstrikes, fighters from IS are believed to have come to within three miles of the strategic border town of Kobani.
Canon White is the vicar of St George's Church - the only Anglican Church in Iraq – and he has said that civilians were being killed by coalition air raids in Iraq.
He feels that that his church would be "very high up" on the extremist group's target list and he himself would be at the very top of the list.