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Senior Taliban commander among those killed in ISIS attack
on Kabul hospital
3 Nov, 2021 07:37
beside the military hospital in Kabul. © Reuters / Zohra Bensemra
A high-ranking Taliban military commander has been killed while repelling an Islamic State attack on Kabul’s main military hospital on Tuesday, the radical group, which now holds power in Afghanistan, has said.
The commander of the Kabul corps, Hamdullah Mokhlis, lost his life in a gunfight with Islamic State militants at Sardar Daud Khan Hospital. He became the most senior Taliban figure to have been killed since the group overran Kabul in mid-August amid the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
As soon as things got heated at the hospital, Mokhlis “immediately rushed to the scene,” a Taliban media official told AFP. “We tried to stop him, but he laughed.”
“Later we found out that he was martyred in the face-to-face fight at the hospital,” the official added.
Mokhlis was a member of the hardline Haqqani insurgent network and an officer in the Taliban’s elite Badri Corps special forces. He reportedly became one of the first senior Taliban officials to enter the abandoned presidential palace in Kabul back in August.
The attack on the hospital started with two explosions by suicide bombers near the entrance, with IS gunmen then trying to force their way inside the facility. There was panic among the doctors and patients, who tried locking themselves inside the rooms on the upper floors.
Taliban special forces arrived at the scene in a helicopter they’ve seized from the US-backed Afghan government, which was one of the first times they’ve used such hardware in their operations. A gunfight broke out in the courtyard, with all of the attackers being shot dead in around 15 minutes, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
At least 19 people were killed and dozens more injured in the incident, according to the officials. But some reports suggest that the death toll could be higher.
The Taliban’s hardline rivals, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), who intensified their activities in recent months, have taken responsibility for the attack, saying that it had been carried out by five of its members. IS had already targeted Kabul’s main military hospital back in 2017, killing more than 30 people.
It appears they like soft targets!
60 reported dead after attack on villagers in southwestern Niger
4 Nov, 2021 19:43
At least 60 people are reported to have been killed in what appears to have been an attack by jihadists affiliated with Islamic State in a remote area in the southwest of the country.
The incident occurred earlier this week in a remote region bordering Burkina Faso and Mali, but the news apparently emerged only recently. “Heavily armed” members of a local IS affiliate had attacked a local defense force known as the Vigilance Committees, news agencies reported on Thursday, citing Niger officials.
The group had been led by the mayor of the village of Banibangou, who is among the 60 dead. Nine people are still missing and 15 escaped the massacre, a local politician told AFP.
Zakari Karidjo, the deputy of the Banibangou county administration, described the incident as a “clash,” and said both sides had suffered losses. Marsadou Soumaila, an official in the neighboring county of Ouallam, confirmed the mayor’s death to Reuters.
Some reports say the attack occurred near Banibangou village, while others state that it was near the village of Adab-Dab, some 55km (32 miles) away. An AFP source said the militants had returned to Mali, where they had come from, taking the bodies of the dead IS fighters with them.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the incident. The region is one of the hotspots in the years-long violent conflict between the West African Sahel nations – assisted by foreign powers, including France – and a host of extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda and IS affiliates seeking a local foothold.
Extremists frequently launch attacks on local villages and, not including the victims of this week’s attack, have killed more than 530 people in southwest Niger this year alone, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a group that tracks political violence.
Knife-wielding man shot dead outside vaccine center in Madrid
5 Nov, 2021 16:01
Spanish police have shot and killed a man who arrived at a vaccine center brandishing a knife on Friday, reportedly threatening passersby before turning on cops, in the Madrid neighborhood of San Cristobal de los Angeles.
The assailant, described in local reports as a man of sub-Saharan origin, walked through the neighborhood on Friday morning before reaching the health center where people were queuing for Covid-19 vaccinations.
Eyewitnesses claimed that those outside had warned of the approaching knife-wielding man, and the doors of the facility were shut. Unable to enter, he then reportedly accosted passersby before being confronted by police, who opened fire after he attempted to attack one of the officers.
The police confirmed the incident, stating: “The man assaulted a police officer, who was forced to shoot at him. When the assault carried on, other officers also fired shots.”
The man died at the scene. Reports suggest one officer sustained an injury to the hand during the altercation.
In photos shared online, a heavy police presence can be seen in the area, and some streets are cordoned off. A white cloth was placed over the body of the deceased assailant, images showed.
A 35-year-old Sub-Saharan man is killed by the National Police near a health center in Madrid, Spain, Villaverde district, who threatened several passers-by with a large kitchen knife. pic.twitter.com/BKRtclrOWs
— Moises Lopez (@chapoisat) November 5, 2021
According to Spanish daily El Pais, little is known about the knife-wielding suspect. He is believed to have been 35 years old, and reportedly had a police record for having previously attempted to accost law enforcement agents. Some witnesses have suggested the man was homeless and suffering from mental illness.
Turkey arrests 7 for alleged ties to exiled cleric Ankara blames for coup
5 Nov, 2021 15:30
© AFP / Ozan Kose
At least seven people have been arrested by Turkish authorities, suspected of having connections to the self-exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of being behind the 2016 coup attempt.
The apprehensions made on Friday come after prosecutors in the capital issued arrest warrants for eight suspects, including five active-duty military personnel, as well as one retired and two dismissed sergeants.
The operation, carried out across four of the country's provinces, forms part of an ongoing inquiry by Ankara into members of the armed forces suspected of supporting Gulen. The Turkish government has branded the Gulen movement the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). The latest detainees are accused of communicating with supposed senior FETO members via landline telephones, according to Turkish authorities.
Ankara has blamed Gulen, an ally-turned-critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of being behind the 2016 power grab attempt that resulted in at least 250 deaths and over 2,000 injuries. The Muslim preacher, who has lived in the US since 1999, has denounced the attempted coup and refuted any accusation of involvement in it.
Friday's arrests are part of a recent chain of detentions against individuals who, Turkish authorities claim, have connections to the alleged coup organizers. Earlier this week, at least 43 people were taken into custody during raids spanning 40 of Turkey's provinces.
Last month, Ankara detained 81 suspects after ordering the arrest of 125 people, including 29 past workers of the Turkish Foreign Ministry who'd either been fired or suspended. Earlier in October, İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office arrested 97 people after a probe to find wanted active and former soldiers, as well as ex-military students, all allegedly linked to Gulen.
The Turkish government launched a major crackdown in the immediate aftermath of the attempted coup, arresting some 80,000 people to face trial over their supposed role in the failed power-grab. Some 150,000 civil servants, military personnel, members of the judiciary, and others, were fired or suspended from their posts, and over 20,000 people were dismissed from the Turkish army.
3 injured in knife attack in train in Germany,
detained attacker is of Arab origin
6 Nov, 2021 10:15
A knife attack occurred on Saturday morning on a train line connecting Regensburg and Nuremberg. It left three people injured, one of them seriously, according to local media.
The perpetrator was apprehended and identified as a 27-year-old man of Arab origin with a record of mental illness, the tabloid Bild reported.
Of course, all radicalized Muslims suffer from mental illness. (Search this blog for Dr. Wafa Sultan).
The attack happened around 9:30am local time, the newspaper said. The Intercity Express (ICE) train was carrying around 300 passengers at the time of the incident. It was moved to a station in the municipality of Seubersdorf, southeast of Nuremberg. Upper Palatinate district police are handling the investigation.
Police confirmed one arrest in the incident, but did not immediately confirm the number of victims or disclose their state.
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said the route between Nuremberg and Regensburg was temporarily closed.
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