Tag Archives: Attack

Bus Bomb in Jerusalem wounds 16

Flames rise at the scene where an explosion tore through a bus in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A bomb blew up a bus and set fire to another in Jerusalem on Monday, wounding 16 people in an attack that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked to a six-month-old wave of Palestinian street violence.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any Palestinian factions for the blast. Israeli officials declined to assign direct blame.

They said two of the casualties had not yet been identified and may have been bombers.

Suicide bombings on Israeli buses were a hallmark of the Palestinian revolt of 2000-2005 but have been rare since. With Palestinians carrying out less organized stabbing, car-ramming and gun attacks since October, Israel has been braced for an escalation.

“We will settle accounts with these terrorists,” Netanyahu said in a speech, referring to whoever executed the bus attack.

“We are in a protracted struggle against terror – knife terror, shooting terror, bomb terror and also tunnel terror,” he added, speaking hours after Israel announced its discovery of an underground passage dug by Hamas militants from Gaza.

Police initially said they were looking at the possibility that a technical malfunction caused the fire that consumed two buses on Derech Hebron road, in an area of southwest Jerusalem close to the boundary with the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

But based on the wounds and other findings, authorities concluded that a small and possibly rudimentary explosive device was set off at the back of one of the buses.

Those details recalled the bombing of a Tel Aviv bus by an Israeli Arab during the 2012 Gaza war which caused injuries but no deaths.

In the last half year, Palestinian attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two visiting U.S. citizens. Israeli forces have killed at least 191 Palestinians, 130 of whom Israel says were assailants. Many others were shot dead in clashes and protests.

Drivers behind the bloodshed include Palestinian bitterness over stalled statehood negotiations and the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, stepped up Jewish access to a disputed Jerusalem shrine, and Islamist-led calls for Israel’s destruction.

Bombings have not been carried out during this period – though Israeli prosecutors said a Palestinian woman who tried to blow up a gas balloon in her car after being pulled over by police in October was a would-be suicide bomber.

(Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Lebanese Ex-Minister Sentenced for Plotting Attacks

Former Lebanese Information Minister Michel Samaha gestures at his house after being released in Beirut, Lebanon, January 14, 2016.

By Angus McDowall

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Lebanese military court on Friday increased to nearly 10 years the jail term for a former minister convicted last year of smuggling explosives and planning attacks, in a case that has underscored the country’s sharp political divisions.

Former information minister Michel Samaha, who has close ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was detained in August 2012 and confessed to involvement in a plot for which Damascus’ security chief Ali Mamluk was also indicted.

Syrian officials have denied Damascus was involved, but the allegations exposed rifts in Lebanon, which often break along sectarian lines, over Syria’s long-standing involvement in the country.

Samaha’s initial four-year sentence and later release on bail prompted bitter protests from opponents of Assad, who saw the decisions as unduly lenient and evidence that Damascus and its ally Hezbollah held sway over the justice system.

The case also gained wider regional significance when Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir suggested it was part of the reason Riyadh was withdrawing billions of dollars in aid from Lebanon’s army and security forces.

He said the military court’s granting of bail to Samaha raised questions over the army’s independence from the Shi’ite Hezbollah movement, Lebanon’s main powerbroker and a principle ally of Riyadh’s top regional rival Iran.

On Friday the court set Samaha’s new sentence at 13 years, but in Lebanon a prison year is equivalent to nine months.

“The issuance of the verdict on the terrorist Michel Samaha corrects the former lenient verdict, which we had rejected and declared we would not tolerate,” said former prime minister Saad al-Hariri, a leading critic of Damascus.

Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk, a member of Hariri’s Future Movement, said the new sentence confirmed “the correctness of our trust in the president and members of the court”.

Ashraf Rifi, another Sunni Muslim politician, had resigned his post as justice minister over his granting of bail in January after describing the trial last year as a travesty of justice.

Syria is Lebanon’s largest neighbor and dominated the country from the end of its civil war in 1990 until 2005, when U.S.-led pressure helped force Syrian troops to leave.

Its ally Hezbollah remains Lebanon’s main power broker and has fought alongside government forces in Syria’s civil war.

Hezbollah and its leading members made no immediate comment on Friday’s sentence.

(Reporting By Laila Bassam and Angus McDowall; editing by John Stonestreet)

Man with Sword Attacks Swedish School; 2 People Killed

Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/TT News Agency

On Thursday, a masked man with a sword attacked a Swedish school in Trollhattan, killing one teacher and one student.

USA Today reported that the student died from his injuries at the hospital, and the teacher died at the scene of the crime after being stabbed. Another teacher and student were injured in the attack and reportedly are in serious condition at the local hospital in Trollhattan, according to CNN. The attacker was fatally shot by police and later died in the hospital.

“This is a dark day for Sweden,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said. “My thoughts go out to the victims and their families, pupils and staff, and the entire community that has been affected. There are no words to describe what they are going through right now.”

The incident started in a cafe section of the school that serves around 500 students ranging between the ages of six and fifteen. According to NBC News, students thought the masked man was part of a Halloween-related prank or event; students even took pictures with the man before the attack. Afterward, the man began knocking on doors in the hallway and stabbing whoever answered.

At this time police are investigating a possible motive, and they are not ruling out the possibility of this being an act of terrorism.

Taliban Attack Kills 29 at Pakistan Airbase

Islamic terrorists attacked the mosque at a Pakistani Air Base near Peshawar, leaving at least 29 people dead.

Pakistani Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa told reporters that at least 13 of the terrorists were killed in the assault.  One of those killed by the terrorists was an Army captain.

“We were offering prayers when we first heard the gunshots and then, within no time, they entered the mosque where they began indiscriminately firing,” Mohammad Ikram of the Pakistani Air Force told Reuters by telephone from a hospital bed where he was being treated for gunshot wounds.

“They killed and injured most of the worshippers. I fell on the ground. Then the gunmen went to other places in the base. After a long time, we were shifted to the hospital.”

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack by releasing a statement and video showing Omar Mansoor, the terrorist commander who planned the massacre at a Peshawar school in December, waving goodbye to the terrorists who carried out the attack.

The base was established in the 1950s by the United States as an outpost to monitor communications by the Soviet Union.

North Korea Attacks South Korea over Broadcasts

North Korea has fired artillery across the South Korean border in response to broadcasts made from the South exposing the North Korean government’s brutality.

The North Korean government called the broadcasts “a declaration of war.”  The North Korean volley was aimed at the broadcast locations.  The attack happened about 4 p.m. local time.

The South Korean military responded with artillery fire.  The North did not retaliate but sent a warning that they would carry out military action within 48 hours if the broadcasts did not stop.

“Our military has stepped up monitoring and is closely watching North Korean military movements,” South Korea’s defense ministry said.

The U.S. government, who has about 28,500 military personnel in South Korea, said they are “monitoring” the situation.

“Such provocative actions heighten tensions, and we call on Pyongyang to refrain from actions and rhetoric that threaten regional peace and security,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Katina Adams said.

The nations last traded fire in October 2014 when two patrol boats in the Yellow Sea exchanged fire and was followed by North Korean gunfire later that week.

Ten Killed in Ukrainian Violence

Ten people are dead in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian rebels opened fire on government forces and buildings.

The attacks by the Russian proxies killed two Ukrainian soldiers and eight civilians.

“We really strongly condemn this escalation of fighting and we call all sides to cease it and to observe the ceasefire,” European Commission spokeswoman Catherine Ray told journalists in Brussels.

Ukrainian military officials say that pro-Russian forces are continually violating the cease-fire agreed to in the Minsk II accord.

“This war looks like a war of attrition,” Gen. Viktor Muzhenko, the chief of staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s Russia’s intent to demoralize our forces, and using that mechanism they want to influence Ukraine’s military leadership as well as the state leadership.”

The United Nations says the conflict in Ukraine has killed over 6,000 people since April 2014.  At least 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes.

Hamas Strikes Israel; IDF Responds with Air Strikes

Two terrorist attacks were carried out against Israel in the last 24 hours, resulting in a stern response from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

The first was a car attack against Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. Three soldiers were standing along a road in the northern West Bank when the Palestinian driver drove straight into them.  Two of the soldiers were seriously wounded with the third suffering slight injuries.

“We welcome the brave attack that was carried out against the Zionists,” a Hamas spokesperson said, according to the Hebrew-language Maariv website.

“We demand from our people in the West Bank to carry out more attacks, in order to teach the occupation a lesson,” the Hamas statement continued.

Then Friday two rockets were fired by Hamas toward Israel that landed in the Gaza Strip.  The rockets never made it across the Israeli border and no reports of damage or injuries were reported by Hamas.

However, the Israeli Defense Forces struck against Hamas, continuing the policy that Israel will retaliate for any attempted attack upon them by the terrorist group.

“The IDF, by means of Israeli air force aircraft, attacked the Hamas terror organization’s infrastructure in the central Gaza Strip a short time ago,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced in a press release.

“The attack was executed in response to the rocket fire at Israeli territory earlier in the afternoon,” the military said. “Hamas is the party responsible for what takes place in the Gaza Strip.”

The IDF reported a direct hit against their target.

Chattanooga Shooter Identified

Law enforcement officials have released the name of the shooter who injured three people and killed four marines in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The alleged gunman is 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. It is believed Abdulazeez was born in Kuwait, but there is no evidence to the status of his citizenship at this time. He was reportedly from Hixson, Tennessee, a town located across the river from Chattanooga.

Officials have stated that Abdulazeez was “not on the FBI’s radar” before the attacks and that it’s too early to establish a motive.

Abdulazeez was reportedly killed, but no details regarding his death has been released by officials at this time.

ISIS Claims Rocket Attack That Struck Egyptian Military Ship

Islamic terrorist group ISIS says their affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula fired a guided rocket at an Egyptian Navy vessel near Rafah that burst into flame.

The military confirmed a frigate had been pursuing ISIS terrorists near Rafah and had “engaged in gunfire” with the extremists and the ship experienced a fire but said no one had been killed.

The terrorists, however, released a series of photos that appear to show a rocket flying toward an Egyptian frigate, causing a massive explosion and fire.  The terrorists claim everyone on board was killed.

The SITE Intelligence Group told the BBC the missile appeared to be an anti-tank missile.  Witnesses say that other Egyptian military craft rushed to the side of the stricken vessel.

The attack is believed to be the first time the terrorist group has launched a missile attack on a ship.  It raises concerns that they would attempt to disrupt shipping traffic through the Suez Canal.

ISIS has been particularly active in Egypt over the last four weeks.  The group claimed the assassination of the country’s top prosecutor, killing 21 soldiers in the town of Sheikh Zuwaid and Saturday’s bombing of the Italian Consulate in Cairo.

Boko Haram Storms Village; 150 Dead

Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram launched a surprise attack Wednesday night on villages in the north-eastern part of Borno state that has left at least 150 people dead.

The deadliest attack was on the village of Kakawa where the Islamists killed 97 people including women and children.

“The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshippers in various mosques who were observing the Maghrib prayer shortly after breaking their fast,” eyewitness Babami Alhaji Kolo said to AFP news agency.  “They… opened fire on the worshippers who were mostly men and young children.  They spared nobody. In fact, while some of the terrorists waited and set most of the corpses on fire, others proceeded to houses and shot indiscriminately at women who were preparing food.”

The attacks on Wednesday followed Tuesday assaults on two towns where 48 men were shot after finishing prayers.

The two villages attacked are on the outskirts of the town of Monguno which the military recently recaptured from the terrorists.

“They were praying in the mosque when Boko Haram attackers descended on the village. They waited till they finished the prayers. They gathered them in one place, separated men from women and opened fire on them,” a Monguno resident told the BBC. “Many died, some escaped. They then set the village on fire. I saw five victims with bullet wounds who managed to escape. They were brought to [Monguno] on wheelbarrows, before they were transferred to vehicles that took them to hospitals.”