Dhaka attack: IS or JmB? Experts weigh in

Dhaka attack: IS or JmB? Experts weigh in

By the time the dust settled in Dhaka’s diplomatic quarter on Saturday, the Islamic State (IS) had already claimed responsibility for the gruesome attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery — an establishment which was reportedly popular with the city’s expat community.

In the wake of the carnage, the Bangladesh government was quick to deny the IS’ claimed involvement in the attack, which left 20 hostages and six terrorists dead.

Instead, the country’s home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, categorically denied any presence of the IS or Al-Qaeda on Bangladeshi soil and held “home-grown terrorists” responsible for the attack.

In particular, the minister blamed the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JmB) for the attack.

Bangladesh Prime Minister’s adviser on international affairs Gowher Rizvi also spoke along similar lines, laying the blame squarely at the feet of the JmB.

Despite these statements, chilling photographs of five of the seven attackers emerged, showing the smiling young men holding assault rifles, with the IS flag in the background. Read more.

IS Baghdad bomb blast kills at least 119

IS Baghdad bomb blast kills at least 119

A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through a busy Baghdadshopping district on Sunday, killing at least 119 people in the deadliest attack this year in Iraq's capital.

The blast hit the Karrada district early in the day as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week's holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. It came a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured Fallujah from IS, leaving Mosul as the only Iraqi city under the jihadist group's control.

The bombing also wounded more than 140 people, security officials said. Prime MinisterHaider al-Abadi visited the site of the attack and vowed "punishment" for its perpetrators, his office said. The blast set buildings ablaze, and firemen were still working to extinguish them some 12 hours later.

Men carried the bodies of two victims out of one burned building and a crowd of people looked on from the rubble-filled street as firefighters worked at the site.

Hussein Ali, a 24-year-old former soldier, said six workers at his family's shop were killed in the attack, their bodies burned so badly that they could not be identified.Read more.

Terror being 'incubated' in India's neighbourhood

Terror being 'incubated' in India's neighbourhood

With Pakistan obviously in mind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said terrorism was being “incubated in India’s neighbourhood” and pressed for action without making any distinction against groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba, Taliban and ISIS who share the “same philosophy of hate, murder and killings”.

In his address to the joint sitting of US Congress here, he said terrorism has to be fought with “one voice” as he commended the American Parliament for sending out a clear message by refusing to “reward” those who preach and practice terrorism for political gains, an apparent reference to the blocking of sale of 8 F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

In the course of his 45-minute speech, he covered all major aspects of the growing relationship between India and the US, particularly strategic ties and civil nuclear cooperation, and emphasised that the two countries should leave “constraints of the past” behind as the “foundations of the future are firmly in place”.

“India lives as one; India grows as one and India celebrates as one,” Modi said. “For my government, the Constitution is its real holy book. And, in that holy book, freedom of faith, speech and franchise, and equality of all citizens, regardless of background, are enshrined as fundamental rights.”

Read more.

Istanbul bomb attack: Seven police officers, four civilians dead

Istanbul bomb attack: Seven police officers, four civilians dead

A bomb ripped through a Turkish police vehicle near Istanbul's historic centre today, killing seven officers and four civilians and adding to security concerns after a string of attacks in Turkey's biggest city.

The bomb targeted a service shuttle bus carrying officers from Istanbul's anti-riot police as it was passing through the central Beyazit district close to many of the city's top tourist sites, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said in a live statement on Turkish television.

Thirty six people were wounded, three of them seriously, he added.

Reports said the explosion took place close to the Vezneciler metro station, which is within walking distance of some of the city's main tourist sites including the famed Suleymaniye Mosque.

The metro station was closed as a security precaution.

Pictures showed the bomb had turned the police vehicle into mangled wreckage and that nearby shops had their front windows smashed out by the force of the blast.(more)

Russia raids on Syria city kill 23 civilians

Russia raids on Syria city kill 23 civilians

Russian warplanes pounded an Al-Qaeda-held city in northwestern Syria before dawn on Tuesday killing 23 civilians in the heaviest strikes in months, a monitoring group said.

Dozens of civilians were also wounded in the raids on Idlib, a provincial capital held by Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and its allies since March last year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Al-Nusra is not party to a Russian-and US-brokered ceasefire that went into force on February 27 between Moscow-backed government forces and Washington-backed non-jihadist rebels.

"The air strikes are the most intensive on Idlib since the beginning of the truce," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told.

"Even though Idlib is not covered by the truce, it had been relatively calm with only intermittent raids," he added.

The strikes hit near a hospital and a public garden.

Moscow has been carrying out an air campaign in support of its Damascus ally since September last year.Read More