| Security ordered tightened as death toll in Baghdad hits 157 Posted: 04 Jul 2016 04:59 PM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — As the death toll from the weekend truck bombing in Baghdad climbed to 157, Iraq's embattled prime minister ordered new security measures, including abandoning the use of bomb-detection wands that U.S. experts pronounced worthless years ago.
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| Iranian dissidents say Baghdad camp shelled, more than 40 hurt Posted: 04 Jul 2016 04:46 PM PDT A camp for Iranian dissidents near Baghdad's international airport was shelled on Monday, wounding more than 40 residents, the opposition People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) said. "According to reports from Camp Liberty, as of midnight tonight, more than 40 residents were wounded or injured in the missile attack on the camp," Shahin Gobadi, a Paris-based PMOI spokesman, said in a statement. Another PMOI spokesman, Shahriar Kia, said earlier that the group suspected "Iraqi groups affiliated with the Iranian" government were responsible for the shelling. |
| U.S. ditched plan to give Afghan forces more armoured vehicles Posted: 04 Jul 2016 04:17 PM PDT  By Josh Smith KABUL (Reuters) - As Afghan troops were preparing to take on Taliban militants without NATO combat support in 2014, U.S. officials shelved plans to provide them with hundreds of potentially life-saving armoured vehicles, documents reviewed by Reuters show. Since 2002, the United States has allocated more than $68 billion to train and equip Afghan security forces, with a view to eventually withdrawing from the country. Masoom Stanekzai, acting defence minister before being approved by parliament recently as intelligence chief, told Reuters the Afghan government was still trying to obtain more armoured vehicles from the United States.
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| Bombing near 1 of Islam's holiest sites in Saudi kills 4 Posted: 04 Jul 2016 04:15 PM PDT  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A suicide bombing outside one of Islam's holiest sites killed four Saudi security forces on Monday, and similar attacks outside a Shiite mosque and a U.S. Consulate in two other Saudi cities raised fears of a coordinated assault aimed at destabilizing the Western-allied kingdom.
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| U.S. ditched plan to give Afghan forces more armored vehicles Posted: 04 Jul 2016 04:12 PM PDT  By Josh Smith KABUL (Reuters) - As Afghan troops were preparing to take on Taliban militants without NATO combat support in 2014, U.S. officials shelved plans to provide them with hundreds of potentially life-saving armored vehicles, documents reviewed by Reuters show. Since 2002, the United States has allocated more than $68 billion to train and equip Afghan security forces, with a view to eventually withdrawing from the country. Masoom Stanekzai, acting defense minister before being approved by parliament recently as intelligence chief, told Reuters the Afghan government was still trying to obtain more armored vehicles from the United States.
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| Suicide bombers hit three Saudi cities, killing at least four officers Posted: 04 Jul 2016 03:49 PM PDT  By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - Suicide bombers struck three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, killing at least four security officers in an apparently coordinated campaign of attacks as Saudis prepared to break their fast on the penultimate day of the holy month of Ramadan. The explosions targeting U.S. diplomats, Shi'ite worshippers and a security headquarters at a mosque in the holy city of Medina followed days of mass killings claimed by the Islamic State group in Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq. The attacks all seem to have been timed to coincide with the approach of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that celebrates the end of the Islamic holy month.
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| Multiple suicide blasts hit Saudi Arabia Posted: 04 Jul 2016 03:41 PM PDT  At least four people died in suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia on Monday following attacks elsewhere in the region before the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the three attacks one of which, at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, left four members of the security forces dead and others wounded. Since late 2014 Saudi Arabia has been hit by bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State group but multiple attacks on the same day are unusual.
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| Rockets target Iran exiles at Iraq camp Posted: 04 Jul 2016 01:36 PM PDT  A barrage of rockets targeted a camp housing members of an Iranian opposition group near Baghdad on Monday, injuring several people, an Iraqi security spokesman and the exiles said. The People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) members are waiting at the camp to be resettled outside the country. The camp was targeted in a rocket attack last year that killed at least 26 people.
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| Iraqis want crackdown on 'sleeper cells' after huge Baghdad bomb Posted: 04 Jul 2016 01:33 PM PDT  By Saif Hameed and Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The death toll from a suicide bombing in a Baghdad shopping district rose above 175 on Monday, fueling calls for security forces to crack down on Islamic State sleeper cells blamed for one of the worst-ever single bombings in Iraq. Numbers rose as bodies were recovered from the rubble in the Karrada area of Baghdad, where a refrigerator truck packed with explosives blew up on Saturday night when people were out celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. Islamic State claimed the bombing, its deadliest in Iraq, saying it was a suicide attack.
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| UN warns of starvation in Syrian towns, demands access Posted: 04 Jul 2016 12:52 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — The top U.N. official in Syria on Monday demanded immediate and unconditional humanitarian access to tens of thousands of people trapped in four towns, warning of starvation.
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| Fury over insecurity as Iraqis mourn 200 dead in Baghdad blast Posted: 04 Jul 2016 12:45 PM PDT  Iraqis on Monday mourned more than 200 people killed in a Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group and accused the government of not doing enough to protect them. Baghdad, apparently seeking to shore up its image after one of the deadliest ever bombings in Iraq, announced the execution of five convicts and also said it had arrested 40 jihadists. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced efforts to address longstanding security flaws in Baghdad following the blast, which came a week after Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah from IS.
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| Iran: Suspects detained last month linked to Islamic State Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:59 AM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state TV says suspects detained last month in connection to a major terror plot are affiliated with the Islamic State group. |
| Islamic State militants paid to stage bomb attacks in Iran: State TV Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:59 AM PDT A team of militants linked with Islamic State were paid 600,000 euros to carry out a bombing campaign at 50 locations in Tehran and other big cities in Iran, according to a documentary aired on Iranian state TV on Monday. Officials in predominantly Shi'ite Iran have said in recent weeks that Sunni militants from Islamic State are targeting the country. Two weeks ago, Iranian intelligence authorities said they had foiled a large-scale terrorist attack, arresting 10 militants, and had seized about 100 kilograms of explosive material that was to be used in car bombs, and suicide and other bomb attacks in busy public places. |
| The Latest: Iraq executes 5 a day after bombing Posted: 04 Jul 2016 11:47 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — The Latest on Sunday's massive bombing in the Iraqi capital (all times local): |
| Iraq's minorities 'on verge of disappearance' - rights groups Posted: 04 Jul 2016 10:42 AM PDT By Emma Batha LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Many of Iraq's minorities are on the verge of disappearance after 13 years of war, campaigners warned on Monday. "The impact on minorities has been catastrophic. Tens of thousands of minorities have been killed and millions have fled for their lives," said Mark Lattimer, head of Minority Rights Group (MRG). |
| Iraq pushes IS back, but struggles to secure Baghdad Posted: 04 Jul 2016 10:25 AM PDT  Iraq may be winning against the Islamic State group on the battlefield, but it is struggling to prevent deadly jihadist attacks in Baghdad that are undermining the government. A suicide bombing claimed by IS ripped through a crowded shopping area in the Karrada district of Baghdad early on Sunday, killing more than 200 people just a week after Iraq announced it had fully recaptured the city of Fallujah from the jihadists. Fallujah was just the latest in a string of IS defeats, but its losses have not stopped the group from carrying out bombings, and may in fact encourage it to step up such attacks.
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| Foreign bomber strikes near US consulate in Saudi Posted: 04 Jul 2016 08:45 AM PDT  A foreign suicide bomber blew himself up near the American consulate in Saudi Arabia's western city of Jeddah in the early hours of US Independence Day on Monday. Two security officers were slightly wounded, the interior ministry said. General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that the bomber was not Saudi but a "resident foreigner".
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| NATO chief: Surveillance planes to aid anti-IS operations Posted: 04 Jul 2016 08:16 AM PDT BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO leaders will approve the use of AWACS surveillance aircraft to assist the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State extremist group, the alliance's secretary-general said Monday. |
| Report: 2 suspected extremists detained at Istanbul airport Posted: 04 Jul 2016 06:18 AM PDT  Two suspected Islamic State operatives have been detained at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, which was the scene of last week's deadly triple suicide bombing-and-gun attack, a Turkish news agency said Monday. The private Dogan news agency said the two suspects hail from the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan and identified them by their initials F.M.I and K.V. They were detained Sunday. The report did not specify if the pair were leaving Turkey, or arriving.
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| U.S. senators warn against further troop cuts in Afghanistan Posted: 04 Jul 2016 05:14 AM PDT  By Josh Smith KABUL (Reuters) - The international military mission in Afghanistan will fail if troop levels are reduced further, with potentially dangerous repercussions for the rest of the world, a delegation of U.S. lawmakers warned during a visit to Kabul on Monday. Fifteen years after an American-led operation toppled the Taliban in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama is considering whether to maintain the current level of 9,800 U.S. troops or reduce it to 5,500 by the end of the year, as current plans call for. "I cannot guarantee success if we keep 9,800, but I can ensure you failure if we go to 5,500," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters in Kabul.
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| 13,000 flee IS bastion Manbij since start of assault: monitor Posted: 04 Jul 2016 03:03 AM PDT  At least 13,000 civilians have fled the Islamic State group bastion of Manbij in northern Syria since the launch of a US-backed offensive there, a monitor said Monday. The Kurds and Arabs fighting as the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance began their assault on Manbij in late May, encircling the town and entering its southwestern districts on June 23. "At least 13,000 civilians have fled Manbij since the beginning of the SDF operation on May 31," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
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| After IS defeat, Fallujah victory takes on sectarian tones Posted: 04 Jul 2016 02:02 AM PDT  FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) — A highway overpass in Fallujah is plastered with Shiite banners, graffiti and posters of militia leaders, a virtual shrine to victory over the Islamic State group in this majority Sunni Muslim city.
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| Ex-Soviet exiles give Islamic State violence a Russian accent Posted: 04 Jul 2016 02:00 AM PDT  By Margarita Antidze and Maria Tsvetkova BIRKIANI, Georgia/MOSCOW (Reuters) - In 2012, Tarkhan Batirashvili set off from his home in ex-Soviet Georgia on a journey that would pave the way to last week's suicide attack on Istanbul airport. This country does not need me," Batirashvili's 73-year-old father, Temur, told Reuters, recalling his son's decision to leave their ethnic Chechen village and head for Turkey, then on to Syria. Temur said he lost touch with his son after he called once from Syria.
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| Kerry offers Bangladesh FBI help as police probe attackers' links Posted: 03 Jul 2016 11:36 PM PDT  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has offered Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina help to investigate those behind the killing of 20 people at a Dhaka restaurant, as police examine how the young, affluent and educated attackers were radicalized. Police have said all six Islamist gunmen killed in Friday's attack, unprecedented in Bangladesh for its scale and brutality, were locals, leaving authorities rattled by the apparent spread of extremist ideology in a country until recently viewed as a relatively stable secular democracy. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack and posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack.
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| Suicide attack carried out near US diplomatic site in Saudi Posted: 03 Jul 2016 09:13 PM PDT  A suicide bomber carried out an attack early Monday near a U.S. diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jiddah, according to the Interior Ministry. The ministry said in a statement the attacker detonated ...
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| Bangladesh leader pays her respects to victims of attack Posted: 03 Jul 2016 09:08 PM PDT  DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's prime minister on Monday visited a stadium where the bodies of the victims from the weekend attack in Bangladesh's capital were taken, as security officials search for evidence and the possible masterminds behind the attack.
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| Iraq mourns 119 killed in Baghdad car bombing Posted: 03 Jul 2016 07:48 PM PDT  Iraq begins three days of national mourning on Monday for almost 120 people killed by a suicide bombing in a busy Baghdad shopping district claimed by Islamic State jihadists, the deadliest attack in the capital this year. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced three days of national mourning for the victims as he visited the site of the attack, and his office said he had vowed to "punish" the perpetrators. The attack came a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured Fallujah from IS, leaving Mosul as the only Iraqi city under the jihadist group's control.
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| IS suspects held at Istanbul airport days after attack Posted: 03 Jul 2016 05:29 PM PDT  Two suspected Islamic State jihadists have been detained at Istanbul's Ataturk airport days after it was hit by suicide bombers, as Turkish authorities move to boost security at sensitive sites. Dogan news agency said the two suspects held late Sunday were Kyrgyz nationals, identifying them only by their initials, K.V. and F.M.I., aged 25 and 35. The pair were questioned by anti-terror police in Istanbul.
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| Texas accused of ignoring mentally disabled in nursing homes Posted: 03 Jul 2016 12:30 PM PDT  LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — It took more than 40 years for Leonard Barefield to finally get to choose where he lived.
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