Tag Archives: Bombing

Beirut Citizens Feel Overshadowed By Paris Attacks

On November 12th, a day before the French attacks, two suicide bombers  killed 43 people and wounded 239 more in the Lebanese capital in an ISIS-propagated murder. On the night of Friday the 13th, in Paris, at least 129 people  were killed and over 350 wounded by at least seven ISIS-connected assailants at a stadium, concert hall and in restaurants.

The Beirut bombings were the worst since Beirut’s civil war ended in 1990.  The attack was also claimed by ISIS or the Islamic State and took place in a neighborhood that was a stronghold for Hezbollah, which is fighting in Syria on behalf of President Bashar Assad.

The latest deadly attacks by ISIS on Paris are drawing millions of mourners from around the world, but some say it is overshadowing other ISIS attacks worthy of global attention.

“When my people died, no country bothered to light up its landmarks in the colors of their flag,” Elie Fares, a Lebanese doctor, wrote on his blog.

“When my people died, they did not send the world into mourning. Their death was but an irrelevant fleck along the international news cycle, something that happens in those parts of the world.”

Social media also reflected the unfairness that many were feeling on the coverage of these tragic events, with many wondering where the prayers and flags were for the Lebanese people.

Although, there was outrage among some people, others believed it was due to the ongoing conflict in areas around Lebanon and the rarity of such incidents in Paris that led to the one-sided flood of support.

“In Lebanon we experience war and its consequences more than French people do,” Lebanese journalist Doja Daoud told Al Jazeera. “This is a humanitarian thing, the same terrorism that kills Lebanese people, Iraqis and Syrians, killed the French.”

UPDATE: Paris Terrorist Attack, Death Toll Rising, Still Ongoing

Currently the death toll rises as the Center of Paris is on lockdown. There have been attacks in at least three locations. a Paris Cambodian restaurant, an explosion in a bar that is near the Paris futbol stadium and at Bataclan Arts Centre concert hall. Other shootings have been reported but not confirmed at a Shopping Mall, another restaurant and the Louvre Museum. A hostage situation continues with reports of at least 60 hostages at the Bataclan Arts Centre.

Witnesses, according to the BBC described several gunman storming into the Bataclan Arts Centre firing their weapons into the air and shooting people on their way in.

As many as 60 people have been killed with countless injuries.

President Francois Hollande has closed the French borders, issued a state of emergency and is asking people in Paris to stay indoors.

The situation is still ongoing with numerous attacks being reported spreading out from the center of Paris.

Shooting and Explosions Rattle Paris, France; Hostage Situation Ongoing

Not all the details are known but several news agencies are reporting that there has been a shooting in a Paris restaurant, an explosion in a bar that is near the Paris futbol stadium, and another shooting near the Bataclan arts centre, a concert hall, with reports of hostages taken there.

At least 18 people have been killed, French police have told AFP news agency.

Reports say French President Francois Hollande was watching the match at paris futbol stadium and has been moved to safety.

According to CBS News, BFM television reported that several were dead in the restaurant shootout, where at least one man was seen opening fire with machine gun. Two police officials confirmed the shooting to the Associated Press.

Not long after, several news agencies including BBC News, NBC News, and CBS News reported that an explosion took place in a bar near France’s futbol stadium where they are currently hosting a game against Germany. An Associated Press that was in the stadium stated that there were two explosion noises, but French police have only confirmed one.

BBC News states that the shootout is still ongoing.

Deadly Bombing in Turkey over the Weekend; ISIS Main Suspects

A suicide bombing that took place in Ankara, Turkey killed 97 people and injured 250 others on Saturday. As the country mourned the deaths, Turkey’s government said that the prime suspect for the bombing was ISIS.

It is currently believed that two suicide bombers carried out the attack near Ankara’s main train station where a peace rally was being held. The rally was calling for an end to the conflict between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahment Davutoglu stated that the attack was intended to influence their election in November. The vote will not be postponed, according to officials.

“As the country enters the final stage of the second election campaign this year, our concerns that political instability and security threats would increase are proving tragically accurate,” said Cristian Maggio, head of Emerging Markets Research at TD Securities in London in an e-mailed report on Monday. Maggio has been studying the security flaws in Turkey.

At this time, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks and suspects include Kurdish rebels, militant nationalists, Marxist radicals, the Turkish government, and ISIS.

“If you consider the way the attack happened and the general trend of it, we have identified Islamic State as the primary focus,” Davutoglu told Turkey’s NTV television. “It was definitely a suicide bombing…DNA tests are being conducted. It was determined how the suicide bombers got there. We’re close to a name, which points to one group.”

The aftermath of the incident has also led to clashes between police and civilians. As police continue to investigate the area, civilians wish to visit the scene to mourn and honor the dead. Police are continuing to block civilians from the scene and even had to fire tear gas in the air in once incident.

23 Civilians Killed in Afghan Hospital Due to U.S. Airstrikes

A U.S.-led bombing accidentally hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, resulting in the death of 23 civilians.

The victims included 13 staff members and 10 patients. Three of the patients who were killed were children. Doctors Without Borders also reported that 37 people were wounded. One nurse recounted the terrible situation to the Huffington Post.

“There are no words for how terrible it was. In the intensive care unit, six patients were burning in their beds,” Lajos Zoltan Jecs said in an account posted on the MSF website.

She continued describing the situation. She watched colleagues die, heard patients calling out for help in all directions, and watched some of the staff just freeze, tears streaming down their faces.

General John Campbell addressed reporters at the Pentagon Monday. He stated that the strikes were called for by Afghan forces to protect U.S. forces.

“We have now learned that on October 3, Afghan forces advised that they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. forces,” he said. “An airstrike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat, and several innocent civilians were accidentally struck.” Campbell also offered his condolences.

Afghan officials called the situation a tragedy, but have remained mute on the situation.

U.S., NATO, and Afghan officials are investigating the situation. Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), is demanding an independent investigation and calling the situation a “war crime.”

“Under the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed, MSF demands that a full and transparent investigation into the event be conducted by an independent international body,” the organization said. “Relying only on an internal investigation by a party to the conflict would be wholly insufficient.”

MSF reports that the series of bombings took place in 15 minute intervals between 2:08 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. Saturday. The charity added that the bombings continued even after U.S. and Afghan officials were notified that the hospital was being attacked.

Afghan police report that Taliban militants had been using the hospital compound as a hiding place, but Doctors Without Borders denied the claims.

The charity has since closed the hospital due the extensive damages to the building and equipment. In less than a week, MSF has treated 394 wounded people in Kunduz.

“There is no access to trauma care now for the civilians and for the wounded in the whole area of Kunduz, which is some kind of battleground for the moment,” said Christopher Stokes, the aid group’s general director.

Dozens Killed in Yemen Mosque Suicide Bomb Attack; ISIS Claims Responsibility

Dozens have been killed and more have been injured in a bombing at a crowded mosque on Thursday, and officials expect the death and injury tolls to rise.

The Balili mosque, located in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa, was hosting several worshippers who were saying prayers to mark the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha at the time of the two explosions. Officials reported that the suicide bomber housed a bomb in his shoe, which he detonated, and then ran into the middle of the crowd to detonate the second bomb. Security also found two other devices in the bathroom that had not detonated.

“We found a shoe bomb and explosives hidden in underwear and abandoned in the toilet,” said Adnane Khaled, the head of security at the mosque.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. The mosque is located in an area controlled by Shiite rebels, which ISIS, a Sunni militant group, views as heretics. This attack is the sixth time in three months that the mosque has been a target.

The attack comes two days after Yemen’s President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi returned from exile. He had fled the country in March when Houthi rebels made gains.

The United Nations estimates that thousands of civilians have been killed in Yemen since March. The number varies between 2,200 and 5,000.

Second Arrest in Bangkok Shrine Bombing

The head of Thailand’s military government announced a second arrest in the bombing of a shrine that left 20 people dead.

After the arrest of the suspect at the Cambodian border, Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters the suspect is “a key perpetrator in this case.”  He said the suspect is also connected to a bombing at a Bangkok pier the day after the shrine attack.

Officials say that bomb making materials and forged passports were found at the home of the arrested man.

“At first we thought he is Turkish. But we just found out two Turkish passports he is holding are all fake,” Prawut told CNN.  “We also found many empty fake passports, also various kinds of evidence.”

Police also issued more arrest warrants for people they believe to be connected to the attack.  Seven people are now sought with most of them foreigners.  One, a Muslim woman named Wanna Suansan, is the only named suspect and is currently in Turkey.

Police would not say if either of the two men currently in custody is the man shown in closed circuit video dropping a backpack at the shrine location which is speculated to have contained the bomb.

Syrian Government Bombs Civilians in Douma

The Syrian government has killed over 100 civilians in a series of airstrikes on a marketplace and other buildings in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Syrian warplanes attacked the suburb Sunday and Monday with Sunday’s initial attack on a market killing over 80 civilians including women and children.

“In some places there was not enough capabilities to transfer the victims. It was very painful to see dead human bodies just left on the sidewalk,” said Abdullah al-Shami, a media activist, told CNN. “Scores of injured were bleeding while waiting their turn to get treatment.”

“It was really difficult to identify the bodies of the martyrs. Some of them were burned to the bone, so we couldn’t add them to the documented list,” said a 28-year-old spokesman of the Syrian Civil Defense Force, who declined to give his real name to Reuters for security reasons.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Syrian troops waited after the initial attack for rescue personnel to arrive on the scenes of the bombings and then struck the same areas with a second volley.

The United Nations issued a swift condemnation of the attacks, saying that the “attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop”.

The White House also issued a strong condemnation of the actions of the Syrian government.

“This latest tragedy is just another reminder of the inhumane acts perpetrated daily by the Asad regime against the Syrian people,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.  “The regime is responsible for killing thousands of innocent Syrian civilians and destroying entire towns and cities, historical sites, schools, mosques, markets, and hospitals.  These abhorrent actions underscore that the Asad regime has lost legitimacy and that the international community must do more to enable a genuine political transition.”

(Misspellings of the Syrian regime listed in the quote above were done purposefully, as that is how the White House spells the regime’s name.)

Bangkok Bomber Caught on Video

Investigators in the bombing of a shrine in Bangkok, Thailand say they have video showing the suspected bomber leaving the scene of the attack.

The bombing has left 22 people dead and more than 120 injured.  Officials said the death toll is hard to maintain because many of the bodies were dismembered in the blast.

Police say a man in a yellow shirt was shown on video approaching the area with a black backpack that is not shown when he leaves the area.

“It is quite clear that he is the perpetrator in this case,” said Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri, a spokesman for the Thai national police.

“There are individuals or a group of people in our country who have ill will to the country,” he said. “This is a movement that probably wishes for political gain, and to destroy the economy, destroy tourism, among other things.”

Gen. Prawut said it was obvious from the bomber’s mannerisms that he was a professional.

The bombing site was a major intersection between the shrine and a large shopping mall.  The blast was so powerful that blood was found on the second story of the shopping mall.

Boko Haram Suspected of Bombs That Killed 64 During Muslim Celebration

Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram is believed to have continued to follow the call of ISIS leadership to conduct attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by killing 64 people in multiple bomb attacks.

Two female suicide bombers killed 12 people at two prayer grounds in Damaturu.  People were in the area preparing for the end of Ramadan at the site of the attack.

Nigerian Army Col. Sani Usman said one of the bombers was a 10-year-old girl.

“The first blast went off around 07:15 local time (06:15 GMT) while security volunteers who had come earlier than worshippers were waiting for the worshippers so they could assist in crowd control,” added eye witness Ahmad Adamu, a security volunteer.

A few hours earlier two other bombers killed 50 people who were buying groceries for the end of the holiday at a market in Gombe.

Officials confirmed at least other 75 people were wounded and were in two separate hospitals for treatment.

The group has killed over 300 people this month.