Suicide bomber kills four, wounds 36 in Istanbul shopping district

ISTANBUL - A suicide bomber killed four people on Saturday in a busy shopping district in the heart of Istanbul, pushing the death toll from four separate suicide attacks in Turkey this year to more than 80.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the blast was "inhumane" and would not stop Turkey, which has been targeted by Kurdish and Islamic State militants, from fighting "centers of terrorism".

Israel said two of its citizens died in the attack, Washington said two Americans had been killed and a Turkish official said one victim was Iranian, suggesting that some of the dead may have had dual nationality.

The blast, which also wounded at least 36 people, was a few hundred meters from an area where police buses are often stationed. It sent panicked shoppers scurrying into alleys off Istiklal Street, a long pedestrian avenue lined with international stores and foreign consulates.

"There is information that it is an attack carried out by an ISIS member, but this is preliminary information, we are still checking it," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters, using another name for Islamic State.

He said a third Israeli may have died. Israel also said 11 of its citizens had been wounded while Ireland said "a number" of Irish were hurt.

The attack will raise further questions about the ability of NATO member Turkey to protect itself against a spillover of violence from the war in neighboring Syria.

Turkey is battling a widening Kurdish insurgency in its southeast, which it sees as fueled by the territorial gains of Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria, and has also blamed some of the recent bombings on Islamic State militants who crossed from its southern neighbor.

"No center of terrorism will reach its aim with such monstrous attacks," Davutoglu said in a written statement. "Our struggle will continue with the same resolution and determination until terrorism ends completely."

Three suspects

Germany had shut its diplomatic missions and schools on Thursday, citing a specific threat. US and other European embassies had warned their citizens to be vigilant ahead of Newroz celebrations this weekend, a spring festival largely marked by Kurds that has turned violent in the past.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Two senior officials said the attack could have been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fighting for Kurdish autonomy in the southeast, or by an Islamic State militant.

A PKK offshoot claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in the capital Ankara over the past month which killed 66 people. Islamic State was blamed for a suicide bombing in Istanbul in January which killed at least 12 German tourists.

One of the officials said Saturday's bomber, who also died in the blast, had planned to hit a more crowded location but was deterred by the police presence.

"The attacker detonated the bomb before reaching the target point because they were scared of the police," the official said, declining to be named as the investigation is ongoing.

Another official said investigations were focusing on three possible suspects, all of them male and two of them from the southern city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border. There was no further confirmation of this.

Armed police sealed off the shopping street where half a dozen ambulances gathered. Forensic teams in white suits searched for evidence as police helicopters buzzed overhead.

"I saw a body on the street. No one was treating him but then I saw someone who appeared to be a regular citizen trying to do something to the body. That was enough for me and I turned and went back," one resident told Reuters.

Istiklal Street, usually thronged with shoppers at weekends, was quieter than normal as more people are staying home after a series of deadly bombings.

Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said 36 people had been wounded, seven of them in serious condition. At least 24 of the wounded were foreigners, according to Istanbul's governor.

International condemnation

Turkey is still in shock from a suicide car bombing last Sunday at a crowded transport hub in the capital Ankara which killed 37 people and a similar bombing in Ankara last month in which 29 died. A PKK offshoot claimed responsibility for both.

The latest attack brought widespread condemnation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on an official visit to Istanbul, said it showed "the ugly face of terrorism". France condemned it as "despicable and cowardly".

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg described it as "another terrorist outrage against innocent civilians", while the U.S. State Department said it was the latest "indefensible violence targeting innocent people throughout Turkey".

The Kurdish-rooted opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) condemned the bombing. The PKK's umbrella group said it opposed targeting civilians and condemned attacks on them.

A 2-1/2-year PKK ceasefire collapsed last July, triggering the worst violence in the southeast since the 1990s. Hundreds have since died.

Separately, a police officer and a soldier died in clashes with militants in the southeastern city of Nusaybin, security sources said.

In its armed campaign in Turkey, the PKK has historically struck directly at the security forces but recent bombings suggest it could be shifting tactics.

At the height of the PKK insurgency in the 1990s, the Newroz festival often saw clashes between Kurdish protesters and security forces. (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun, Asli Kandemir, Humeyra Pamuk, Daren Butler, Parisa Hafezi in Turkey, John Irish in Paris, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Hans-Edzard Busemann in Berlin and Idrees Ali in Washington)

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

Suicide bombers kill more than 60 at Pakistan church

PESHAWAR—A double suicide bombing killed more than 60 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, officials said, believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the troubled country.

Pakistan's small and largely impoverished Christian community suffers discrimination in overwhelmingly Muslim-majority Pakistan but bombings against them are extremely rare.

The two bombers struck at the end of a service at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency in recent years.

Doctor Mohammad Iqbal of Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital told AFP that 61 people had been killed and 120 wounded. Fellow doctor Sher Ali confirmed the numbers.

Sahibzada Anees, one of Peshawar's most senior officials, told reporters the bombers struck when the service had just ended.

"Most of the wounded are in critical condition," Anees said.

"We are in an area which is a target of terrorism and within that area there was a special security arrangement for the church. We are in a rescue phase and once it is over we will investigate what went wrong."

Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest ever targeting Christians in Pakistan.

School teacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service had just ended and at least 400 worshippers were greeting each other when there was a big explosion.

"A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as I regained my senses, a second blast took place and I saw wounded people everywhere," Khan told AFP.

Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk road highway with bodies of the victims to protest against the killings, an AFP reporter said.

Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan and Sunday's attack will fuel fears the already beleaguered Christian community could be increasingly targeted.

Islamist militants have carried out hundreds of bombings targeting security forces and minority Muslim groups they regard as heretical, but attacks on Christians have previously largely been confined to grenade attacks and occasional riots.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a deeply conservative province bordering the tribal districts along the Afghan frontier, which are home to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Provincial lawmaker Ghauri said there were about 200,000 Christians in the province, of whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar.

"Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan will fear for their lives," he warned.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the bombings.

"Terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions," he said in a statement.

Sharif said such "cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mindset of the terrorists".

Only around two percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million are Christian. The community is largely poor and complains of growing discrimination.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned that the risk to Pakistan's minorities has reached crisis levels.

Christians have a precarious existence in Pakistan, often living in slum-like "colonies" cheek-by-jowl with Muslims and fearful of allegations of blasphemy, a sensitive subject that can provoke sudden outbursts of public violence.

In the town of Gojra, in Punjab province, in 2009, a mob burned 77 houses and killed seven people after rumours that a copy of the Islamic holy book the Koran had been desecrated during a Christian marriage ceremony.

Last year a young Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, spent three weeks in jail after being accused of blasphemy. The case was thrown out but she and her family have been in hiding ever since, fearing for their lives.

source: interaksyon.com

9, including 7 kids, killed in attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan

Suicide bombers targeted the Indian consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Saturday, detonating an explosives-packed car and killing nine civilians, including seven children in a nearby mosque.

A spokesman for the Taliban militant group immediately denied responsibility for the blast that erupted outside the Indian mission and left the mosque, private houses, tailors and other shops in ruins.

"A car containing explosives hit a barrier near the consulate and detonated," Ahmadzia Abdulzai, spokesman for Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital, told AFP. "There were three suicide bombers in the car."

Nangarhar police chief Sharif Amin confirmed that the consulate was the intended target of the attack, which created a large crater in the road as survivors wearing bloodstained clothing ran for cover.

"Among the civilians killed were seven children inside the mosque," Amin said.

The interior ministry condemned the bombing as "heinous" and said nine people had died in total, with 21 other civilians wounded.

Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry in New Delhi, said that no officials were injured in the attack -- the first major strike in Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadan that started on July 10.

India, which has spent more than two billion dollars of aid in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime fell in 2001, has previously been targeted in the war-torn country.

In 2008, a car bomb at the Indian embassy in Kabul killed 60 people and the embassy was again hit by a suicide strike in 2009.

In 2010, two guesthouses in Kabul used by Indians were attacked.

India has been a key supporter of Kabul's post-Taliban government, and analysts have often pointed to the threat of a "proxy war" in Afghanistan between India and its archrival Pakistan.

India reacted to the consulate attack with thinly veiled criticism of neighboring Pakistan for failing to crack down on Pakistan-based militants and their safe havens.

"This attack has once again highlighted the main threat to Afghanistan's security and stability stems from terrorism and the terror machine that continues to operate from beyond its borders," the Delhi government said.

Pakistan, which is widely seen as covertly supporting the Taliban, denies supporting militants active in Afghanistan and points to its own bloody fight against Islamist extremists.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that their fighters were not involved in Saturday's strike.

"We do not claim the responsibility for this attack," he said.

The hardline Taliban have led a 12-year insurgency against the Afghan government since being overthrown in a US-led invasion for harboring Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2001.

But Afghanistan is beset by a myriad of armed groups ranging from Islamist rebels to criminal gangs and militias formed during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the 1992-1996 civil war.

The Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based group allied with the Taliban and closely associated with the Pakistani intelligence service, was blamed for earlier attacks on Indian targets in Afghanistan.

Jalalabad city is situated on the key route from the Pakistani border region -- where many militants are based -- to Kabul, and it has been the location of repeated assaults in recent years.

The International Committee of the Red Cross compound in the city was hit on May 29, with the Taliban rebels also denying any involvement.

One Afghan guard died in that attack, which triggered widespread outrage as the ICRC is one of the most respected aid groups in Afghanistan and has remained strictly neutral during the war.

In March, seven suicide bombers attacked a police base in Jalalabad, killing five officers.

The previous month, a bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gates of the National Directorate of Security spy agency and detonated bombs, killing two intelligence workers.

Nangarhar province has seen heavy fighting over recent days with more than 20 Afghan policemen and dozens of Taliban insurgents killed when hundreds of fighters ambushed a police and military convoy on Friday.

The US State Department said it was closing at least 22 US embassies or consulates on Sunday, a workday in many Islamic countries, due to security threats.

source: interaksyon.com