The Religion of peace is having a very busy weekend
Perhaps their definition of 'peace' is different from ours?
..
UN says at least 110 killed in suspected Boko Haram attack in Nigeria
where many victims were beheaded
29 Nov 2020 15:25
The funeral of those killed in suspected Boko Haram in Nigeria’s Borno state. © Reuters
The death toll in a suspected Boko Haram attack on farmers in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday has reached at least 110, a UN humanitarian coordinator in the country said, urging the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
“At least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others wounded in this attack,” Edward Kallon, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, said in a statement.
The incident was the “most violent direct attack against innocent civilians” in the country in 2020, Kallon pointed out. The perpetrators of this “heinous and senseless” act must be brought to justice, he added.
A group of armed men on motorcycles ambushed the farmers as they went into the rice fields to gather the harvest on Saturday. The bodies of 43 farmers have been recovered after the massacre, with around 30 of them being beheaded. The security forces have been searching the area for those missing.
“Several women” have also been kidnapped by the militants, with Kallon calling for their safe and swift release.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the tactics of the insurgents resembled those used by Islamic State-affiliate Boko Haram, which is responsible for thousands of civilian deaths in Nigeria over the past decade.
The burial ceremony for the 43 victims took place in Zabarmari village on Sunday, attended by hundreds of mourners and Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum.
The bodies were wrapped in white burial shrouds and placed on wooden pallets as the priests led prayers for those killed. During his speech, Zulum called upon the federal government to recruit more security personnel to protect the local farmers, who found themselves “in a very difficult situation.”
“On one side, they stay at home they may be killed by hunger and starvation, on the other, they go out to their farmlands and risk getting killed by the insurgents,” he pointed out.
There’s been a sharp spike in food prices in Nigeria recently caused by flooding, the closure of borders and the activities of militants in agricultural areas.
Borno State
Car bomb kills 30 troops at Afghan base
29 Nov, 2020 08:05
Afghan security forces © Reuters / Mohammad Ismail
At least 30 security personnel were killed and more than 20 injured when a suicide car bomb hit a military base in Afghanistan early on Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks against the country’s forces in months.
The incident occurred in the main city of the eastern province of Ghazni, which has been plagued by fighting between government troops and Taliban militants.
The provincial hospital in Ghazni has received 30 bodies and 24 wounded, according to its director, Baz Mohammad Hemat. “All of them are security personnel,” he said. The governor’s office also confirmed the attack.
A suicide bomber detonated “a Humvee vehicle, which was full of explosives,” a security source told local Tolo News website.
Afghan commandos were reportedly among those stationed at the compound.
No group has so far taken responsibility for the attack.
2nd Suicide bomb
Another suicide attack took place in Qalat, the capital of the southern Zabul Province, early on Sunday. The explosion left three civilians killed and at least 23 others wounded, including four in critical condition, Tolo News reported.
The target of the attack was most likely the head of Zabul’s provincial council, Ata Jan Haqbayan. An attempt to blow up the car in which he had been travelling was made shortly after the official left home for work. Haqbayan escaped with light injuries.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Besides the Taliban, Islamic State has also been active in the country, targeting both security personnel and civilians.
The suicide bombings in Ghazni and Qalat come as US-brokered peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban have stalled.
ISIS claims responsibility for rocket attack on Iraqi oil refinery
29 Nov, 2020 19:35
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that set an oil refinery in northern Iraq on fire. The refinery was previously put out of action by IS during the caliphate’s Iraqi campaign.
Two rockets struck the Siniya refinery on Sunday afternoon, hitting a fuel storage depot and setting the facility ablaze, Reuters reported. Shortly afterwards, Islamic State took responsibility for the attack.
There were no casualties reported, but the blaze halted production at the site.
Production was only restarted at Siniya in 2017, after the facility was damaged by IS militants in their post-2013 expansion across much of Iraq and Syria. A small refinery, Siniya had an output of 20,000 barrels per day before its destruction, a fraction of the 310,000 put out by the nearby Baiji refinery, which is Iraq’s largest. Baiji was also destroyed and looted by IS militants in 2015.
Since the recapture of both facilities by Iraqi security forces, the terrorist group has nevertheless continued to launch sporadic attacks on the two refineries. A bomb blast in 2018 killed one Siniya worker and wounded 11 others, while IS fighters killed three government-backed militia fighters in Baiji that same year. Multiple gun battles have since broken out between IS militants and pro-government forces in the villages surrounding the refineries.
Not quite 100% obliterated!
IS’s expansion was halted by the Iraqi and Syrian governments, as well as the Russian military, Kurdish fighters, Iranian-backed militias, and a US bombing campaign. Though the group has lost all of its territorial gains and is – in the words of US President Donald Trump – “100 percent obliterated,” IS’ adherents continue to periodically launch attacks throughout the Middle East, with a roadside bombing and gun assault near Baiji killing at least six Iraqi security officials and four civilians earlier this month.
Siniya, Iraq
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