Around 40 killed in Kabul blasts targeting Shiite centre

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BY Unknown Thursday, December 28, 2017 0

Around 40 killed in Kabul blasts targeting Shiite centre

Around 40 killed in Kabul blasts targeting Shiite centre

Afghan security personnel stand guard after explosions at a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul on December 28, 2017.<br />Around 40 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul on December 28, officials said, in the latest violence to hit the city. / AFP PHOTO / SHAH MARAI

Around 40 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday, officials said, in the latest violence to hit the city.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban was quick to deny involvement in the assault near the Afghan Voice Agency, a media outlet which earlier reports had suggested could have been the target.
Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP the attack was in fact aimed at the Shiite Tabayan cultural centre in the west of the city.
"The suicide attacker detonated himself during a gathering at Tabayan cultural centre causing a lot of casualties," Rahimi said.
The main explosion was followed by two smaller bomb blasts that did not cause casualties, he said, adding that the gathering was being held to mark the 38th anniversary of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.
There were chaotic scenes at the Istiqlal hospital where ambulances brought victims, including women and children. Many of them were suffering severe burns to their faces and bodies, as well as shrapnel wounds, AFP reporters said.
Anguished relatives searching for their loved ones inside the medical facility, slapping their heads in fury as they cried and cursed the government for seemingly being unable to end the regular carnage on their streets.
Some were so distraught they crawled on the ground pulling their hair.
An AFP reporter saw badly burned bodies lying on the floor in a room inside the hospital and wooden coffins being delivered so families could take away their dead loved ones.
Kabul has become one of the deadliest places in war-torn Afghanistan for civilians in recent months, as the Taliban step up their attacks and the Islamic State group (IS) seeks to expand its presence in the country.
Thursday's assault comes days after a suicide bomber killed six civilians in an attack near an Afghan intelligence agency compound in the city, which was claimed by IS.
The Middle Eastern jihadist group has gained ground in Afghanistan since it first appeared in the region in 2015 and has scaled up its attacks in Kabul, including on security installations and the country's Shiite minority.
'Big boom'
A man attending the anniversary ceremony at Tabayan said he heard a "big boom".
"We do not know the numbers (of casualties). When the explosion happened we immediately fled," he told Tolo News.
Mohammad Hasan Rezayee, a university student also at the ceremony, told Tolo News he had suffered burns to his face in the blast.
"We were inside the hall in the second row when an explosion from behind took place. I did not see the bomber who detonated himself," he said from his hospital bed.
"After the blast there was fire and smoke inside the building and everyone was pleading for help," he said.
Photos posted on Afghan Voice Agency's Facebook page showed the inside of a compound with debris and bodies lying on the ground.
Security in Kabul has been ramped up since May 31 when a massive truck bomb ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing some 150 people and wounding around 400 others -- mostly civilians. No group has yet claimed that attack.
Religious attacks in Afghanistan have skyrocketed in the past two years with the minority Shiite community the main target, the United Nations said in November.
IS, a Suni extremist group, has claimed most of the attacks on Shiite worshippers as it seeks to stir up sectarian violence in the country.
Afghan media has also previously been targeted by militants, underlying the risks faced by journalists in the war-torn country.

UPDATE: Three injured as terror bomber strikes NY subway

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BY Unknown Monday, December 11, 2017 0

UPDATE: Three injured as terror bomber strikes NY subway

UPDATE: Three injured as terror bomber strikes NY subway

A man carrying a pipe bomb strapped to his body detonated it in a crowded New York subway passageway during the morning rush hour Monday, seriously injuring himself but only lightly injuring three others.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio called the bombing an “attempted terrorist attack,” and identified the 27-year-old man identified as Akayed Ullah.
The blast took place at the height of morning rush hour in the subway station at the new York Port Authority bus terminal, not far from the city’s iconic Times Square, sparking commuter panic and travel disruptions.
Subway trains were bypassing the Port Authority and Times Square stations as the investigation continued.
The bomber was in custody and sent to a hospital with burns and wounds on his body.
The explosion rattled a city still scarred by the devastating September 11 attacks, and a truck attack on October 31 that left eight dead on a bike path.
“This is New York. The reality is that we are a target by many who would like to make a statement against democracy, against freedom,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.
“This was an attempted terrorist attack,” Mayor Bill de Blasio added. “Thank god the perpetrator did not achieve his ultimate goals.”
New York police commissioner James O’Neill said the 27-year-old suspect had strapped the explosive device, which resembled a crude pipe bomb, to his body. He suffered burns to the hands and abdomen, and other injuries.
Photos circulating on social media shoed the man on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back and injuries to his torso.
Former New York police chief Bill Bratton told MSNBC television that he had been told the suspect was originally from Bangladesh and may have been acting in the name of the Islamic State group.
Police quickly evacuated the Port Authority station and closed roads in the area, which were filled with police cars and ambulances with flashing lights.
President Donald Trump was briefed on the explosion, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote on Twitter.
– ‘One of our worst nightmares’ – 
The city remains constantly on edge as a target of possible terror attacks, and is on high alert ahead of the holidays, which culminate every year with the giant New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, attended by hundreds of thousands of revelers.
On October 31, Sayfullo Saipov, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, drove a rented truck down a busy bike and pedestrian path, killing eight people and injuring 12.
It was the first deadly terror attack in New York since 9/11, though several plots since then have been disrupted.
Monday’s attack highlighted one of New York City’s greatest vulnerabilities — its underground transit system.
A bomb in a subway station “is in many ways one of our worst nightmares,” Cuomo said.
“We have the Statue of Liberty in our harbor, and that makes us an international target. We understand that,” he added.

The most deadly attacks since 9/11

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BY Unknown Friday, November 24, 2017 0

The most deadly attacks since 9/11

The most deadly attacks since 9/11

Ayodele / 1 hour ago

Friday’s attack on a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai, which killed at least 235 people, is among the deadliest since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Here is a recap:
– US in 2001: nearly 3,000 dead –

The deadliest attacks in history take place in the United States on September 11, 2001.
Four passenger aircraft are diverted and three deliberately slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC. The fourth crashes in Pennsylvania.
The attacks are claimed by Al-Qaeda and leave around 3,000 people dead.
– Iraq in 2007: 400 dead –
On August 14, 2007 four suicide truck bombs explode in the villages of Al-Khataniyah and Al-Adnaniyah, which are mainly inhabited by members of the Yazidi community in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh.
The simultaneous attacks, blamed on Sunni Islamists, leave more than 400 dead.
– Somalia in 2017: 358 dead –
A truck bomb in a busy commercial district in northwestern Mogadishu leaves 358 dead in Somalia on October 14, 2017, in what is one of the deadliest ever attacks using vehicles as a weapon.

No one claims responsibility, but it is widely seen as being the work of the Shabaab, an insurgent Islamist group aligned with Al-Qaeda.
– Iraq in 2016: 323 dead –
On July 3, 2016 an explosives-packed minibus blows up, killing 323 people in a packed street in central Baghdad. The attack is claimed by the jihadist Islamic State group.
The enormous explosion, which sets fire to several buildings and single-storey houses, happens in Karrada, a mainly Shiite shopping area in the capital which is crowded before the celebrations of the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
– Egypt in 2015: 224 dead –
On October 31, 2015 a Russian jet leaving Egypt crashes in the Sinai peninsula, leaving all 224 people on board dead in Russia’s worst air disaster. An Islamic State-linked group claims responsibility for bringing down the plane. Experts do not rule out the possibility of a bomb on board.
– Indonesia in 2002: 202 dead –
On October 12, 2002 attacks on a bar-restaurant and a discotheque on the island of Bali leave 202 dead, mainly tourists. The attack is carried out by a Jemaah Islamiyah commando linked to Al-Qaeda.
AFP