Bomb

Car bombs kill 20 in Turkish town near Syrian border | Reuters

By Ece Toksabay

ISTANBUL | Sat May 11, 2013 11:01am EDT

(Reuters) – Twin car bombs killed at least 20 people near Turkey’s border with Syria on Saturday, increasing fears that Syria’s civil war was dragging in neighbors and drawing a swift warning from Ankara not to test its resolve.

Turkey supports the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was no coincidence the attacks in the town of Reyhanli came as diplomatic moves to end the conflict intensify.

“There may be those who want to sabotage Turkey’s peace, but we will not allow that,” Davutoglu told reporters during a trip to Berlin. “No-one should attempt to test Turkey’s power, our security forces will take all necessary measures.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

NATO member Turkey has been one of Assad’s harshest critics and has harbored both Syrian refugees and rebels during the uprising against him, now in its third year.

Prospects appeared to improve this week for diplomacy over the civil war, in which more than 70,000 people have been killed, after Moscow and Washington announced a joint effort to bring government and rebels to an international conference.

But a Russian official said on Saturday that there was already disagreement over who would represent the opposition and he doubted whether a meeting could happen this month.

via Car bombs kill 20 in Turkish town near Syrian border | Reuters.

25 killed in Easter Sunday bombing in northern Nigeria – CNN.com

Kafanchan, Nigeria (CNN) — Dead bodies littered a road in northern Nigeria on Sunday after a massive explosion that an official said killed 25 people and a witness said shattered windows of a nearby church where worshipers were celebrating Easter.

Abubakar Zakari, a spokesman for Nigeria’s State Emergency Management Agency, said that — in addition to the dead — 13 wounded people were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

The blast occurred in Kaduna, a city located about 230 kilometers (140 miles) southwest of Kano, around 8:40 a.m.

At that time, Sam Amoka said he was inside All Nations Christian Assembly when he heard a loud blast and saw the church’s windows break. The bomb itself went off nearby, close to Kaduna’s stadium, a bus stop and a spot for street salesmen, Amoka said.

At the bomb site, Amoka said he saw dozens of bodies lying in the road.

The target of the explosion was not immediately clear.

There was another explosion Sunday in the central Nigerian city of Jos about 250 kilometers from Kaduna, said emergency management spokesman Yohanna Audu. Audu said there are no known casualties in that blast.

The bomb went off around 9 p.m. in the busy commercial center of Jos, near a popular drinking spot and school, resident Mike Dishing said. Security officials subsequently cordoned off the area, he added.

There have been numerous instances of violence in recent months in Nigeria, including many targeting Christians.

That includes a car bomb attack last month outside a Catholic church in Jos that left six dead, according to hospital and government officials.

And on Christmas Day, a string of bombings struck churches in several cities.

In his Easter Mass message on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI referenced Nigeria among other African nations.

“To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the building of a society which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of all its citizens,” the pontiff said.

via 25 killed in Easter Sunday bombing in northern Nigeria – CNN.com.

Israel blames Iran for Thai bombings

By Kocha Olarn, Kevin Flower and Joe Sterling, CNN

updated 9:46 AM EST, Tue February 14, 2012

Fingerpointing follows attack on Israeli Embassy van – CNN.com

Jerusalem (CNN) — The explosion Monday of a device attached to an Israeli Embassy van in New Delhi and the discovery and safe detonation of another such device found on an embassy car in Tbilisi, Georgia, led quickly to a round of fingerpointing between Israel and Iran.

Four people were wounded in the van explosion, which occurred near the Israeli mission in New Delhi, officials said.

The other bomb, found on an embassy car in Tbilisi, Georgia, was detonated in a controlled explosion with no injuries, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed both incidents on Iran, calling it “the biggest exporter of terror in the world.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed both incidents on Iran, calling it “the biggest exporter of terror in the world.”

“The Israeli government and her security organizations are continuing to operate together with local security services against these acts of terror,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to act in a strong way, systematically and steadfastly.”

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast blamed Israel, accusing it of having bombed its own embassies in New Delhi and Tbilisi “to tarnish Iran’s friendly ties with the host countries,” Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said. “He brushed aside Israeli accusation on Iranian involvement in the bombing and said that Israel perpetrated the terrorist actions to launch psychological warfare against Iran,” IRNA reported.

“Iran condemns terrorism in strongest term and Iran has been the victim of terrorism,” Mehmanparast said.

Police in India identified one of the wounded there as Tal Yehoshua Coren, the wife of an Israeli Defense Ministry employee. A doctor in India told reporters she was in critical but stable condition in a hospital.

Also wounded in New Delhi was the Indian driver of the car, said Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. He said both victims were being treated and “are OK.” Two others in a vehicle next to the van sustained minor injuries, according to B.K. Gupta, an Indian police official.

Akbaruddin said the car was about 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the Israeli mission at the time.

A witness told CNN there was a “huge explosion sound” and he later saw a foreign woman and the Indian driver being removed from the car.

In a written statement, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks. “The United States places a high priority on the safety and security of diplomatic personnel around the world, and we stand ready to assist with any investigation of these cowardly actions,” she said.

Israeli Foreign Ministry personnel based overseas have been on alert in recent weeks to the heightened possibility of attacks at Israeli facilities by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Muslim militant group and political party.

Sunday marked the fourth anniversary of the death of Hezbollah leader Imad Mugniyah in a car bombing in Damascus, Syria. Hezbollah holds Israel responsible for his death and has vowed revenge.

Both Netanyahu and Michael Herzog, former chief of staff to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, noted two recent attempted attacks on Israeli citizens in Thailand and Azerbaijan. The Israeli government issued a travel advisory this year for citizens traveling to Thailand after Thai security officials arrested at least one Hezbollah-affiliated man connected with a planned attack in the country.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said this month that Iran would support any nation or group that stands up against Israel. He said Iran doesn’t interfere in other nations but has aided such militant groups as Hamas and Hezbollah in conflicts with Israel in Gaza and Lebanon.

“Taken together, maybe we are witnessing an Iranian attack against Israeli representation across the world,” Herzog said of Monday’s incidents and the thwarted bombings in Thailand and Azerbaijan.

The modus operandi is not new. Last month, a mysterious explosion in Iran killed a man identified as a nuclear scientist — the third such killing in the past two years in which someone placed a bomb on or under a scientist’s car. A fourth survived an assassination attempt.

The United States and Israel oppose Iran’s nuclear program, although numerous countries have expressed concern as well. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian energy purposes.

Iranian officials, on state-run media, blame Israel and the United States.

Clinton has denied “any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran.”

While Israel generally refuses to comment on accusations and speculation, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said on his Facebook page, “I have no idea who targeted the Iranian scientist but I certainly don’t shed a tear.”

With no one claiming responsibility, the killings remain shrouded in mystery. Iran experts contacted last month by CNN could only speculate.

“The most likely contender among people who are following this is that the Israelis are doing it, possibly in cooperation with the Iranian mujahedeen,” said Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian-American Council and author of the book “A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran.”

“There’s almost no downside for Israel,” he said. The killings “take out nuclear assets and embarrass Iran” by showing that the regime can’t prevent such attacks, Parsi said. And “if Iran retaliates with a violent act, then Israel can point to it as a reason to take military action against the regime.”

Michael Rubin, resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, agreed that Israeli involvement was the most “plausible” scenario. And Mark Hibbs, senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also said the way the attacks took place “would be consistent” with the possibility of Israel acting with cooperation inside Iran.

Parsi told CNN he does not believe the killings are the work of the United States, and he said they do not match the kind of activity U.S. intelligence would carry out in a country with which there is no declared state of war.

Rubin agreed, and gave a different reason. “Frankly, I don’t think the United States has the human intelligence knowledge,” he said.

CNN’s Sumnima Udas and Sara Sidner contributed to this report.

via Fingerpointing follows attack on Israeli Embassy van – CNN.com.

Deadly blast rocks Somali capital – Al Jazeera English

A suicide bomber has detonated an explosive at a military base in Mogadishu, killing himself and four others but failing to enter the compound, officials and witnesses said.

“The suicide bomber tried to enter the compound but guards stopped him, when he then detonated his bomb, killing three people on the spot including himself,” Farah Barre, a government security official, said on Wednesday.

via Deadly blast rocks Somali capital – Africa – Al Jazeera English.

Wikipedia: The capital and largest city of Somalia, on the Indian Ocean. →

Iranians charged in U.S. plot to kill Saudi Arabian ambassador, bomb embassies

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

U.S. agents have foiled what has been called a “significant terrorist act” linked to Iran which called for the assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S. as well as the bombing of the Israeli and Saudi embassies in Washington.

A criminal complaint, unsealed in federal court in New York City, identified two alleged plotters, Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri.

Both were originally from Iran and Arbabsiar is a naturalized U.S. citizen, it said.

One of the Iranians in custody has confessed to the plot to kill the Saudi ambassador and provided information about involvement by factions of the Iranian government, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said as press conference.

The case, called Operation Red Coalition, began in May when an Iranian-American from Corpus Christi, Texas, approached a U.S. informant seeking the help of a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, according to counter-terrorism officials.

The Iranian-American thought he was dealing with a member of the feared Zetas Mexican drug organization, according to agents quoted by ABC News.

The report said bombings of the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Argentina were also discussed.

via Iranians charged in U.S. plot to kill Saudi Arabian ambassador, bomb embassies.

Deadly bomb blast rocks U.N. building in Nigerian capital – CNN.com

(CNN) — At least seven people have been killed and many more injured in a bombing Friday at the U.N. building in the center of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, witnesses say.

Journalist Alkasim Abdulkadir, in Abuja, told CNN he had seen seven bodies brought into the National Hospital by Red Cross officials. He had also seen many people with injuries, he said.

A representative for the National Hospital in Abuja said it was treating “many casualties, lots of them seriously injured” from U.N. building.

The hospital has called in all doctors and nurses who were not working on Friday to deal with the emergency, the spokesman said, as ambulances kept bringing people in.

Bomb squad officers and other security teams were sent to the scene, deputy police spokesman Yemi Ajayi said.

Alessandra Vellucci at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland confirmed that the “U.N. premises in Abuja have been bombed” but was unable to give more details.

Eyewitnesses in the U.N. building told CNN there was an explosion, then an internal wall fell on some people, causing several casualties. Many of those injured have been taken to hospital, the witnesses said.

Earlier, journalist Abdulkadir said he could see Red Cross officials trying to pull people from the debris.

He said it appeared that a car bomb had gone off at the front of the building, causing a wall to cave in.

He said the area was not very busy because it was a diplomatic district, with the Liberian and U.S.embassies nearby, but that there were people working there.

Zoran Jovanovic, head of mission for the International Red Cross in Abuja, said an explosion was heard at 10:15 a.m. local time.

It is not yet clear who was responsible for the bombing.

Other recent attacks in the city have been blamed on militant Islamists, including a car bomb that was detonated at the Nigerian police headquarters, killing several people including the bomber.

CNN’s Christian Purefoy, Ben Brumfield, Stephanie Halasz and Claudia Rebaza contributed to this report.

via Deadly bomb blast rocks U.N. building in Nigerian capital – CNN.com.

The Shires re-opens after bomb squad blow suspect package up (From Wiltshire Times)

Shoppers and staff have been allowed back into The Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge after bomb disposal experts blew up an abandoned suitcase shortly before 3.30pm today.

via The Shires re-opens after bomb squad blow suspect package up (From Wiltshire Times).

 

My PEOPLE!

I am glad everything has worked itself out!

Police defuse parcel bomb at Greek embassy in Rome | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 27.12.2010

Bomb disposal experts defused a parcel bomb found at the Greek embassy in Rome on Monday.

Police sources said the device, which arrived at the embassy on Christmas Eve but was not opened until Monday, was similar to two bombs that went off at the Swiss and Chilean embassies last week.

Those attacks injured a Swiss embassy employee and a Chilean diplomat.

Investigators believe the device was sent by the same anarchist group that claimed responsibility for last Thursday’s bombings.

The group, calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI), said in a note found near one of the blasts that the attacks were carried out by their “Lambros Fountas revolutionary cell.” The note said the group wanted to “destroy the system of domination.”

via Police defuse parcel bomb at Greek embassy in Rome | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 27.12.2010.

 

Is there anything “formal” about an anarchist group? Really, is there? The whole concept, if it even deserves that description, is derived from the ideology of nothingness. No infrastructure, no government, no sustainability, just chaos. I for one am not a major proponent of becoming Somalia redux. The option is still open to these tiddlywinks and I am confident European governments would pay for their departures and temporary residency in Somalia.

BBC News – Pakistan suicide bombing kills dozens

A female suicide bomber has killed at least 43 people in an attack on a large crowd receiving aid in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

The blast took place in the town of Khar in the Bajaur region, in tribal areas close to the Afghan border – a Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold.

People displaced by fighting had been getting food at a distribution centre.

Reports say at least another 100 people were injured and there are fears the death toll could rise.

via BBC News – Pakistan suicide bombing kills dozens.