IS claims deadly Cairo church bombing

CAIRO, Egypt -- The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a bomb attack on a Cairo church that killed 25 people, the first claim for one of the worst attacks on the Coptic Christian community in recent memory.

IS identified the suicide bomber who carried out Sunday's attack by the pseudonym Abu Abdallah al-Masri in a statement circulated on social media on Tuesday.

The bomber "got in between the crowd" and detonated his explosive belt, the jihadist group said in the statement.

The group said it would continue attacks against "every infidel and apostate in Egypt, and everywhere."

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi named the suicide bomber as Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa, 22, during a funeral for the victims on Monday.

Egyptian authorities are battling an Islamist insurgency led by an Egyptian affiliate of IS.

While most of the insurgents' attacks have mainly targeted police and military in northern Sinai province, the jihadists have also targeted security forces and government officials in Cairo.

The attacks have worsened since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. The ouster was led by Sisi, who was defense minister at the time.

Following the deadly dispersal by security forces of two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo in August 2013, mobs attacked more than 40 churches nationwide, as well as dozens of schools, houses and businesses belonging to Copts.

They pointed to the appearance of Coptic Pope Tawadros II next to Sisi in July 2013, when the then army chief -- also surrounded by Muslim and opposition figures -- announced Morsi's removal on television.

Sisi said Mostafa, the suspected suicide bomber, had detonated his explosive belt at the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, which is adjacent to Saint Mark's Cathedral, the seat of the Coptic pope.

The interior ministry said late on Monday that Mostafa had been identified by DNA tests from body parts which matched that of his family.

It also said Mostafa was working with a group that received logistical and financial support from Muslim Brotherhood members residing in Qatar.

The Muslim Brotherhood has denied any involvement with the incident.

Worst attack against Copts

The authorities have arrested four alleged members of this group, the interior ministry said.

They are still searching for others, including the suspected ringleader Mohab Mostafa el-Sayed Qassem, also known as "The Doctor," the ministry said.

Qassem travelled to Qatar in 2015 where he met some Brotherhood leaders who had fled Egypt, it claimed.

There, they offered him financial and logistical support to carry out attacks in Egypt and upon his return, he travelled to North Sinai, where Islamist insurgents trained him in using weapons and making explosive devices.

When Qassem returned to his home in Cairo, the Brotherhood members residing in Qatar instructed him to start preparing and planning for attacks targeting Copts.

The attacks were "aiming to foment a large-scale sectarian crisis" without linking the group with these attacks, the interior ministry said.

The ministry statement claims a group named The Egyptian Revolutionary Council, an alleged arm of the Brotherhood, has issued a statement on December 5 "vowing to target the heads of the Orthodox Church because of its support for the state."

Some analysts had warned that Islamists affiliated with the Brotherhood, though not necessarily under their control, could turn to serious violence after the 2013 post-coup crackdown.

Copts have faced persecution and discrimination dating back to the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled by a popular uprising in 2011.

Sunday's bombing was the worst attack against the Copts since a 2011 suicide bombing killed more than 20 worshippers outside a church in the coastal city of Alexandria.

source: interaksyon.com

Dozens killed as suicide bombers hit Nigerian mosque - witnesses

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- Dozens of worshippers were killed Thursday when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a mosque in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, witnesses said.

"All the people in the mosque died. Not a single one escaped," said Muhtari Ahmadu, a trader near the scene.

"We counted 42 dead bodies outside the mosque," added Amadu Marte, a vigilante supporting the security forces in the fight against the Islamist Boko Haram group, which has carried out repeated attacks in the region.

Borno state police confirmed that the mosque was hit by twin bombings but gave a lower toll of about 14 dead.

Following the explosions, the mosque collapsed and injured "many people praying," the police said in a statement.

"Casualties have been evacuated to UMTH (University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital) and specialist hospitals in Maiduguri," it added.

The bombers slipped into the mosque disguised as worshippers, witnesses said.

One of the attackers set off the first blast when he entered the mosque, they said. The second bomber detonated his explosives soon after, when many had rushed to the scene to help the first victims.

"When rescuers and sympathizers gathered in front of the place, the second one went off, killing many of them," Marte said.

The blasts occurred around 6:30pm (1730 GMT) in Molai, in the western suburbs of Maiduguri, where

had gathered for evening prayers, the witnesses said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion fell on Boko Haram, which was founded in Borno's state capital Maiduguri in 2009.

The city has been hit repeatedly since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on May 29 with a vow to crush the insurgency.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for three suicide attacks in the satellite towns of Kuje and Nyanya outside Nigeria's capital Abuja on October 2, which killed a total of 18 people and injured 41.

Nigeria's military claims the Islamist militants are a spent force and that troops have driven them from their camps and occupied territory in the remote region.

But guerrilla-style attacks have continued, including across the border. At the weekend, 41 people were killed in triple explosions in Baga Sola, on the Chadian side of Lake Chad, where Nigeria meets Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

The four countries have launched a joint offensive against the Islamists.

Their mission received a boost on Wednesday when US President Barack Obama said he was deploying up to 300 military personnel to Cameroon for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations against Boko Haram insurgents.

At least 17,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million made homeless since Boko Haram began its bloody campaign for an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

source: interaksyon.com

Boston Marathon bomb used pressure cooker, gunpowder, shrapnel

BOSTON - A pressure cooker stuffed with gunpowder and shrapnel caused at least one of the blasts at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured 176 others in the worst attack on US soil since September 11, 2001, law enforcement sources said on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama called the two bombings on the marathon finish line an "act of terror" and police said parts of the center of Boston could be closed for days as they investigated the blasts that caused several people to lose limbs.

"When these kids came in ... they were just so badly hurt, just covered with singed hair and in so much pain, it was just gut-wrenching," said David Mooney, the director of the trauma program at Boston Children's Hospital. "Pulling nails out of a little girl's flesh is just awful."

At least 10 people had limbs amputated as a result of their injuries, officials at hospitals said.

The youngest to die in the attacks was an 8-year-old boy. His family identified him in a statement as Martin Richard, who lived in the city's Dorchester neighborhood. Outside the family's home, sympathizers created a makeshift memorial of flowers and "Peace" was written in chalk on the sidewalk.

Officials identified a second person killed as Krystle Campbell, 29, of Medford, Massachusetts. The third person killed in the attack has not yet been identified.

An early lead in the investigation and an apartment search ended with law enforcement sources saying that a Saudi Arabian student injured in the blast was likely to be cleared of suspicion. No one has been arrested, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told reporters on Tuesday morning.

Later on Tuesday in Washington, US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said there was no indication that the bomb blasts were part of a broader plot.

Pressure cooker bomb

At least one bomb, and possibly both, were built using pressure cookers as the superstructure, black powder or gunpowder as the explosive and ball bearings as additional shrapnel, according to current and former counter-terrorism officials briefed on the matter.

The sources, who asked not to be identified, said instructions on how to design such bombs are available on the Internet.

"Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians, it is an act of terror," Obama said in the White House briefing room. "What we don't yet know, however, is who carried out this attack or why, whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization - foreign or domestic - or was the act of a malevolent individual."

Dispelling earlier reports of as many as seven devices being found around Boston, Gene Marquez, assistant special agent in charge for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said authorities had determined that the only bombs deployed in the attack were the two that detonated shortly before 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Monday.

Any unexploded device might have provided a clearer picture of what materials were used and how the bomb was assembled, furnishing leads in the case.

Officials in cities across the United States were watchful and several had security scares on Tuesday, although no injuries were reported.

At Boston Logan International Airport, two passengers and their bags were removed from a United Airlines flight before departure on Tuesday morning, a source with direct knowledge of the action said.

In New York, the central terminal of La Guardia International Airport was briefly evacuated after authorities discovered a suspicious package at around 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) in the terminal, authorities said.

A nearly mile-long stretch of Boylston Street, near the marathon finish and Boston's two tallest buildings remained cordoned off on Tuesday and portions of that street could remain closed for several days, police said.

Davis, the police commissioner, called it "the most complex crime scene that we have dealt with in the history of our department."

Lower-body injuries

Trauma surgeons at several Boston hospitals said at press briefings that a number of victims had a range of metallic shrapnel material removed during surgery, including pellets and what appeared to be carpenter nails.

"The vast majority of the injuries were to lower extremities," said Dr. Tracey Dechert, a trauma surgeon at Boston Medical Center, which treated 23 people and performed amputations on five of them.

The inclusion of material such as nails in the device would be reminiscent of the 1996 bombing at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, which killed two people and injured about 150 others. Anti-abortion activist Eric Rudolph, who eluded capture for years, pleaded guilty to the attack and is currently serving consecutive life sentences.

Officials in Britain and Spain said the London and Madrid marathons would go ahead on Sunday, but security plans for both races were under review.

Runners who had traveled to Boston for the annual marathon, which has been held since 1897 and attracts an estimated half-million spectators and some 20,000 participants, remained in shock on Tuesday morning.

Pat Monroe-DuPrey, of Winter Haven, Florida, ran with his wife, Laura, in a trip to mark their 10th anniversary after being married during the race.

He said he did not know what to make of the blast, which came as he was finishing the race in a state of exhaustion.

"You don't have a brain at 26 miles," Monroe-DuPrey said. "They got us off the course, and then I was panicking." (Additional reporting by Tim McLaughlin and Stephaine Simon in Boston and Mark Hosenball and Mark Felsenthal in Washington)

source: interaksyon.com

FBI vows 'worldwide investigation' as Boston Marathon casualties rise to 176

BOSTON, Massachusetts - The number of casualties in a Monday's bombings at the Boston marathon has risen to 176, police said Tuesday, as the Federal Bureai of Investigation pledged a "worldwide investigation" to find the people responsible for the carnage. Three people were killed in the bombing.

"We have a number of 176 casualties that presented at area hospitals," Boston Police Chief Ed Davis told reporters, adding that 17 people were in critical condition.

Earlier, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick had placed the number of injured at more than 150.

The good news was that there are no known additional threats following the bombing, an FBI official said Tuesday.

FBI Special Agent Rick DesLauriers told reporters in the aftermath of Monday's attack that while investigators were fanning out across Boston, there was "no known imminent physical threat at any location" in the area.

Still, he stressed, the FBI was leaving no stone unturned. "It will be a worldwide investigation. We'll go to the ends of the earth to identify the subject or subjects who are responsible for this despicable crime and we will do everything we can to bring them to justice," DesLauriers said.

The agent also said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation was "not aware of any threat information prior to the marathon."

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, meanwhile, said only two bombs were used, and no other other unexploded devices had been found despite earlier reports to the contrary.

"It's important to clarify that two and only two explosive devices were found yesterday," Patrick said. "Other parcels -- all other parcels in the area of the blast have been examined. No unexploded bombs. No unexploded explosive devices (were) found."

He said over 150 people were injured, some of them gravely.

"Our thoughts go out to all of those injured and killed," he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Roadside bomb explodes along N. Cotabato-Maguindanao border, no one hurt

A powerful improvised explosive device (IED) fashioned from an 81-mm mortar projectile went off along the highway between the neighboring towns of Pagalungan, Maguindanao and Pikit, North Cotabato around 9:15 a.m. today.

The explosion took place about seven hours after another IED, also fashioned from an 81-mm mortar, was recovered in Poblacion, Midsayap in North Cotabato, in front of a vulcanizing shop just a few feet away from the national road.

Inspector Sulayman Bakal, chief of Pagalungan Police, said the explosion was so loud that it was heard around 400 meters away from his station.

The blast site, he said, is only 100 meters away from the Pagalungan Bridge, one of the oldest structures built along the Maguindanao-Cotabato highway.

The bridge connects the towns of Pagalungan and Datu Montawal in Maguindanao to North Cotabato towns.

Sulayman hinted the roadside blast might have something to do with the ongoing armed fighting between the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the government troops.

No one, though, was reported hurt during the blast.

The Pagalungan explosion, reports from the police said, was the second since the fighting erupted on Monday.

Around 12:45 a.m. Monday, a grenade exploded at a paramilitary detachment in Pikit, wounding four CAFGU members and a civilian.

'No reason to fear'

Sr. Supt. Cornelio Salinas, provincial director of North Cotabato PNP, believed another group could be behind the series of roadside blasts along the Maguindanao-Cotabato highway.

“This group, which is not in any way connected to the ongoing fighting, is out to wreak havoc and fear among residents of North Cotabato,” said Salinas.

He, however, refused to identify the group.

Despite the blasts, the police and Army personnel manning the Maguindanao-Cotabato highway refused to close the road for traffic.

“There is no reason to fear. We have no reason to close the highway. We just want people in the community to be vigilant, to be extra-careful while we’re experiencing this situation,” said Salinas.

He assured the commuting public that the police in North Cotabato, including other law enforcement agencies and Army personnel, are always “on alert”’ to secure the safety of the commuters, government installations, and the community.

Mass evacuation and displacement

The fighting, which started Monday, resulted in the massive displacement of residents from the towns of Datu Saudi, Ampatuan, Guindulungan, and Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao, and the towns of Midsayap, Aleosan, and Pikit in North Cotabato.

Data from the Philippine Red Cross-Cotabato chapter said that 1,023 families from Datu Saudi, most of them from the indigenous peoples’ communities, were displaced.

The internal refugees are temporarily housed in two evacuation centers.

At least 693 families coming from Barangays Iginagampong, Maitumaig, Sitio Lapitus, and Sitio Bai are housed temporarily at Datu Pendililang Piang Elementary School, while 330 families from Barangays Babingi and Salvo sought refuge in the municipal covered court in the Poblacion, the PRC said.

The PRC Cotabato also recorded at least 689 internally-displaced families in Barangays Poblacion and Dalingaoen in Pikit.

As this developed, Secretary Teresita Deles of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), assured war victims and residents from the affected provinces that government forces are “ready” for necessary defensive actions to protect and ensure their welfare should the perpetrators launch attacks again.

Deles, in a statement issued to media, said that the BIFM is not part of the MILF, and “thus, not covered by any ceasefire agreement.”

“This act of aggression of the BIFM is meant to derail the peace process between the government and the MILF. We assure the public that these incidents will not affect the substantial gains that we have carefully and persistently built with our counterparts, foremost of which, is the ceasefire mechanism that continues to hold on the ground and kept the peace for our communities,” said Deles. – BM, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com