Bomb attack near Afghan capital kills influential governor.

Bomb attack near Afghan capital kills influential governor.

Reuters |  15 Oct 2013 :: A bomb attack on a mosque in Afghanistan killed the governor of a province south of Kabul, a friend of the country's president, on Tuesday as he was making an address on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, officials said.

Arsala Jamal was governor of Logar province, a strategically important province on the southern approaches to Kabul and home to one of Afghanistan's richest mines.

He had previously been governor of violence-plagued Khost province on the Pakistani border and the killing of such a senior official will raise new fears for Afghanistan's security as foreign troops prepare to leave by the end of next year.

"When the governor was giving a speech it detonated. He is martyred," said Jamal's spokesman, Din Mohammad Darwish. He said one other person had been killed.

No one claimed responsibility.

Jamal was a close friend of President Hamid Karzai and served as his campaign manager during his successful bid for re-election in 2009.

He had already survived at least one attempt on his life, when a suicide bomber inv him, killing his guards and a local official in 2007.

Darwish said the bomb had been planted inside the mosque and detonated remotely. Police initially said a suicide bomber had been responsible.

A group supporting Afghanistan's administrative development said it suspected Jamal's work to get the Aynak copper mine in Logar province up and running was the reason he was killed.

"Jamal... had done considerable work for the excavation of copper at the Aynak mine," the Independent Directorate of Local Governance agency said in a statement.

"These activities were not acceptable to the enemies of the country and that is why they martyred him on the first day of Eid al-Adha," it said. It did not elaborate on who it thought was behind the attack.

Jamal spent part of his life in Canada, where his wife and two children continue to live.

Taliban insurgents fighting to expel foreign forces have stepped up attacks on government targets ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

The Taliban have rejected government calls for peace talks and have denounced a presidential election due in April as illegitimate.

A Chinese consortium is running the Aynak mine under a $3 billion deal agreed in 2007.

It is Afghanistan's largest foreign investment project but Taliban attacks on the site have prevented work from getting going.

The Chinese investors in August demanded a review of the deal, putting the project at risk. Production was originally scheduled to start this year, but now is seen as unlikely before 2019.

The Taliban's elusive leader, in a message to mark the Eid holiday, urged his fighters to step up their fight against the government.

"My advice to all mujahideen is to stand up to the enemy firmer than before," Mullah Omar said in the message, distributed via email, referring to Muslim holy fighters. (Courtesy: Reuters)

Iraq mosque blasts kill 16 people.

Iraq mosque blasts kill 16 people.

According to the Associated Press, violent attacks in Iraq have
 killed more than 3,000 people since April. (File photo: AFP)

Iraq | AFP | 21 Sep 2013 :: Two bombs exploded in a Sunni mosque in Iraq as worshippers entered for prayers on Friday, killing 16 people, police and a doctor said.

The bombs, which hit the Musab bin Omair mosque near Samarra, north of Baghdad, also wounded 15 people, the sources said.

Militants have carried out numerous attacks on both Sunni and Shiite mosques this year, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict, which peaked in 2006-2007 and killed thousands of people.

The February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra itself sparked the wave of brutal violence.

The blasts came a day after the bodies of 10 young men who had been shot dead were found in Baghdad, another reminder of the sectarian conflict in Iraq, during which militants frequently carried out summary executions.

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, killing more than 4,200 people since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP toll based on security and medical sources.(Al Arabiya )

Iraqi mosque bombing during prayers kills 30.

Iraqi mosque bombing during prayers kills 30.

A boy inspects the site of a double bomb attack on a Shia mosque
 in Kasra neighbourhood in northern Baghdad on Thursday. A day
 later, an attack on another mosque during prayers killed at least
28 people, in Iraq's deadliest bout of violence in half a decade.
(Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press)

CBC News | 14 Sep 2013 :: A bomb hidden inside an air conditioner exploded Friday at a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad, the deadliest in a series of attacks in Iraq that killed 33 people, officials said.

The deadliest of Friday's attacks took place when a bomb exploded inside a Sunni mosque that was full of worshippers in the village of Umm al-Adham on the outskirts of Baqouba, a former militant stronghold 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, police officials said.

Police said the blast killed 30 people and wounded at least 45. Two security officials said the bomb was hidden inside a window air conditioner.

Iraq is weathering its deadliest bout of violence in half a decade, raising fears the country is returning to the widespread killing that pushed it to the brink of civil war following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

In the northern city of Mosul, police said a roadside bomb killed two soldiers and wounded two others. Also, authorities said gunmen shot and killed Khalaf Hameed, a local municipal official in Shora district, just south of Mosul.

Officials in nearby hospitals confirmed the casualty figures for all the attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The months-long surge of bloodshed is taking place against the backdrop of rising tensions between Iraq's Sunni and Shia Muslims. The tensions are being inflamed in part by the sectarian divisions reflected in the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Members of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority have been protesting against the Shia-led government since December, angered over what they see as second-class treatment of their sect and what they see as unfair application of tough anti-terrorism measures. Attacks surged after a deadly crackdown on a Sunni protest camp by security forces in April.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday's attacks.(Courtesy:CBC News)

British police find evidence of explosion at mosque.

British police find evidence of explosion at mosque.

LONDON | AFP |19 Jul 2013 :: British counter-terrorism police said Friday they had found evidence of a three-week-old explosion outside a mosque in central England, one of a spate of similar attacks in recent months.

The Wolverhampton central mosque was evacuated on Thursday night following the arrest of two Ukrainian men suspected of involvement in explosions at two other mosques in the area.

Police said debris from an explosion was found on a roundabout, and early indications suggested it had blown up on June 28.

“The debris... has been declared safe and further detailed forensic enquiries will be conducted at the scene throughout the day,” the force said in a statement.

Friday prayers were expected to proceed at lunchtime as normal at the mosque. 

The find comes after two Ukrainian men aged 22 and 25 were arrested on Thursday as part of an investigation into explosions near mosques in the nearby towns of Tipton and Walsall.

They were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

“We recognize the impact news of the latest find will have on the communities of Wolverhampton and further afield,” said police Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale.

“We’re working hard to complete our enquiries so that the area can be returned to normality.”

There has been a rise in anti-Muslim incidents in Britain since May, when a soldier was hacked to death on a London street in a suspected Islamist attack.

The explosion at the mosque in Tipton on July 12 coincided with the funeral of 25-year-old Lee Rigby, who was murdered in broad daylight near his barracks in Woolwich, southeast London.(Courtesy:Al Arabia)

Bombing in Iraq kills at least 17.

Suicide attacks, car bombings and other violence
 have killed nearly 200 people since the faithful began
 daytime fasting to mark the Islamic holy month, which
 started earlier in July. — File Photo by Reuters

BAGHDAD | AP |19 Jul 2013 ::  A bomb exploded inside a Sunni mosque in central Iraq during midday prayers Friday, killing at least 17 people in the latest outburst of deadly violence targeting worshippers during the holy month of Ramadan.

Suicide attacks, car bombings and other violence have killed nearly 200 people since the faithful began daytime fasting to mark the Islamic holy month, which started earlier in July.

The violence is an extension of a surge that has ripped through Iraq for months, reviving fears of a return to the widespread sectarian bloodshed that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion.

Diyala provincial councilman Sadiq al-Husseini said Friday's explosion hit the Abu Bakir al-Sideeq mosque in the town of Wijaihiya, which is about 80 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. He said it killed at least 17.

Diyala province, where the attack occurred, was once the site of some of the fiercest fighting between US forces and insurgents in Iraq.

It remains a hotbed for terrorist attacks.

The area is religiously mixed and witnessed some of the worst atrocities as Shia militias battled Sunni insurgents for control in the years after the invasion.

''Terrorism is targeting all sects in Diyala mainly by attacking Sunni and Shia mosques, funerals and football fields to draw the province into a sectarian conflict. All the victims were civilians,'' al-Husseini said, appealing for calm. ''I call on all Diyala residents to show self-restraint.''

Police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to release the information to media, confirmed the death toll. They also reported that more than 50 were wounded in the explosion, and warned that the number of dead could rise.

The attack struck while Iran's outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrapped up a two-day trip to Iraq with visits to Shia Muslim holy cities of Najaf and Karbala south of Baghdad.

There was no indication the mosque blast was related to his trips.

Violence across Iraq has risen sharply since a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces on a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija on April 23.

That raid followed months of rallies by Iraq's minority Sunnis against the Shia-led government over what they contend is second-class treatment and the unfair use of tough anti-terrorism measures against their sect.

The surge in bloodshed has left more than 2,800 people dead and many more wounded since the start of April.

Attacks on Sunni mosques, for years a relatively rare target in Iraq, have picked up significantly in recent months.

There has been no claim of responsibility for Friday's bombing or many of the other recent attacks.

Sunni extremists such as Al Qaeda's Iraq arm that seek to undermine the Shia-led government are frequently blamed for bombing attacks targeting civilians.

They could be behind the Sunni mosque bombings too, hoping to incite a sectarian backlash against Shias.

So could Shia militias that have been remobilising following years of relative quiet.(Courtesy:Dawn)