It was early afternoon when we made a quiet exit from our hotel in Islamabad from the back door. 
 
We had an interview lined by with head of a Kashmiri terrorist group, Abdullah, whose real name is Ghulam Rasool. He had killed over a 100 people and was held in jail in Kashmir. But then he became unwell and was admitted in hospital from where he escaped. 
 
It was almost lunch time and we saw him finish his prayer. In the meanwhile, our equipment was checked and we were frisked into this small home in a poor neighbourhood. Lunch was served, a full chicken in each plate. I asked him what his ultimate goal was. When will he stop? He said that the day the whole world turned Islamic he would. I knew Ghulam Rasool was going to be doing what he is doing for the rest of his life, killing more people in what he believed was his work for his God. 
 
Impact of terrorism 
 
The sharp rise in terrorism around the globe has put the countries on edge, and it seems the more the governments are doing to tackle the menace the more the terrorists are getting bolder. Terrorism continues to remain unbeatable, at least for now. 
 
Terror claimed more than 32,600 lives in 2014, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2015. The index compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank, also showed a staggering 80 per cent increase in deaths caused by terrorism over the previous year. In the past one year, there have been 1,195 terrorist attacks across the globe, with Bangladesh cafe violence being the most recent one. From Pakistan to Nigeria, seven countries are locked in dangerous conflicts or full&shy;scale wars involving terrorism. 
 
What drives people to terror? 
 
Terrorist organisations may receive massive fundings from vested interests but it is surprising how they are able to deploy human resources at such sustainable levels. A few reasons can be found in the social, economic and political factors. A country has been at war for so long that the people there know nothing but only war as a way of life. 
 
Some terrorists come from poor economic backgrounds or in certain cases the would&shy; be terrorists are subjected to class differences or social discrimination leading them to join extremist organisations. The poor and illiterate, it is said, are easy to radicalise. 
 
However, in the case of the Dhaka cafe attack, there were terrorists from affluent backgrounds with good education who had joined hands with terror organisations such as the ISIS. Closer home, Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Muzaffar Wani, who was killed by security forces in Kashmir on Friday, belonged to a relatively well&shy;-off family. His father is a retired school principal, and Wani himself was a good student who secured 90 per cent in his class X examination in 2010. 
 
Effects of radicalisation 
 
The impact of radicalisation is so deep that it sometimes blurs blood ties. Twin brothers in Saudi Arabia recently killed their mother after she tried to stop them from joining Islamic State in Syria. The twins were arrested trying to flee across the border to Yemen. 
 
Is education a factor? 
 
Many people around the world have been surprised by the trend of educated people getting into terrorism. The question is what drives such educated individuals to extremist organisations? Is their religion playing a role in all this? Education, per se, has nothing to do with it. There is nothing to get surprised by the fact that most of the attackers in Bangladesh massacre were educated men. In the Nazi Germany, the perpetrators of holocaust were decently educated. In India also, there is the Godmen culture, especially among the Hindus. A large chunk of the so &shy;called godmen&rsquo;s followers often comes from the upper middle class and educated families. They have complete faith in the godmen they follow. So much so that the followers of one of the godmen have preserved his body with the belief that one day he would come alive. 
 
A psychologist&rsquo;s perspective 
 
Psychologist Dr Harish Shetty says: &ldquo;Man&rsquo;s search for meaning has been a perennial quest since mankind evolved. Many found meaning in harakiri, martyrdom and other culturally sanctioned &lsquo;suicide homicide&rsquo; complex during the last few centuries. The terminologies change depending from which side one views the act. Freedom fighters or terrorists are the descriptive denominators. 
 
In an era where peace and technology have overwhelmed religious doctrines, certain sections feel threatened and are rebelling against this sweeping change in the garb of religion.&rdquo; Globalisation, Dr Shetty says, is viewed as a religious doctrine or an ideology that undermines the control of powerful religious heads. &ldquo;A small section of people falls prey to this indoctrination and finds a new meaning in life. Freedom fighters kill the oppressor and the so&shy;called terrorists today suffer from the same core belief &mdash; kill the perceived enemy or those who are the extensions. 
 
So hit out at those who are enemies and die for the cause. Martyrdom is not new and death in war is the new intoxication, going down fighting is a new high by the dominant ideologies.&rdquo; &ldquo;Dying for such a cause may be viewed with disgust in the dominant ideologies. Meaning in life is a psychosocial pursuit and an altruistic desire...as Freud described...such killings may suffer from similar intrinsic psychosocial needs,&rdquo; Dr Shetty adds. 
 
Government&rsquo;s role 
 
Maybe the governments should spend more in researching and understanding the factors that attract the common citizens towards terrorism. They should take steps to reduce the number of people being influenced by extremist thoughts. Use of force or fighting a war, for that matter, may be required to ensure a nation&rsquo;s security but it is also important to find ways to stop people from going astray. 
 
Terrorists are just terrorists 
 
Religion may not be the reason but could merely be an effective tool to turn individuals into terrorists. On another trip to Lahore, I met Syed Salahuddin, the head of Hizbul Mujahideen, a Kashmiri&shy; led terrorism outfit. He said he had become a terrorist after his family was killed after he challenged a political party in elections and the police did not protect him and his family. 
 
Religion seems to be a common thread in many of the global wars today but we need to go past the usual paradigm and see how some individuals may be using Islam to kill people. For us, terrorists are just terrorists. And they have to be stopped. 
&nbsp;

Combating terror : Countries need to identify factors behind terrorism to take on the scourge effectively

It was early afternoon when we made a quiet exit from our hotel in Islamabad from the back door. We had an interview lined by with head of a Kashmiri terrorist group, Abdullah, whose real name is Ghulam Rasool. He had killed over a 100 people and was held in jail in Kashmir. But then he became unwell and was admitted in hospital from where he escaped. It was almost lunch time and we saw him finish his prayer. In the meanwhile, our equipment was checked and we were frisked into this small home in a poor neighbourhood. Lunch was served, a full chicken in each plate. I asked him what his ultimate goal was. When will he stop? He said that the day the whole world turned Islamic he would. I knew Ghulam Rasool was going to be doing what he is doing for the rest of his life, killing more people in what he believed was his work for his God. Impact of terrorism The sharp rise in terrorism around the globe has put the countries on edge, and it seems the more the governments are doing to tackle the menace the more the terrorists are getting bolder. Terrorism continues to remain unbeatable, at least for now. Terror claimed more than 32,600 lives in 2014, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2015. The index compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank, also showed a staggering 80 per cent increase in deaths caused by terrorism over the previous year. In the past one year, there have been 1,195 terrorist attacks across the globe, with Bangladesh cafe violence being the most recent one. From Pakistan to Nigeria, seven countries are locked in dangerous conflicts or fullscale wars involving terrorism. What drives people to terror? Terrorist organisations may receive massive fundings from vested interests but it is surprising how they are able to deploy human resources at such sustainable levels. A few reasons can be found in the social, economic and political factors. A country has been at war for so long that the people there know nothing but only war as a way of life. Some terrorists come from poor economic backgrounds or in certain cases the would be terrorists are subjected to class differences or social discrimination leading them to join extremist organisations. The poor and illiterate, it is said, are easy to radicalise. However, in the case of the Dhaka cafe attack, there were terrorists from affluent backgrounds with good education who had joined hands with terror organisations such as the ISIS. Closer home, Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Muzaffar Wani, who was killed by security forces in Kashmir on Friday, belonged to a relatively well-off family. His father is a retired school principal, and Wani himself was a good student who secured 90 per cent in his class X examination in 2010. Effects of radicalisation The impact of radicalisation is so deep that it sometimes blurs blood ties. Twin brothers in Saudi Arabia recently killed their mother after she tried to stop them from joining Islamic State in Syria. The twins were arrested trying to flee across the border to Yemen. Is education a factor? Many people around the world have been surprised by the trend of educated people getting into terrorism. The question is what drives such educated individuals to extremist organisations? Is their religion playing a role in all this? Education, per se, has nothing to do with it. There is nothing to get surprised by the fact that most of the attackers in Bangladesh massacre were educated men. In the Nazi Germany, the perpetrators of holocaust were decently educated. In India also, there is the Godmen culture, especially among the Hindus. A large chunk of the so called godmen’s followers often comes from the upper middle class and educated families. They have complete faith in the godmen they follow. So much so that the followers of one of the godmen have preserved his body with the belief that one day he would come alive. A psychologist’s perspective Psychologist Dr Harish Shetty says: “Man’s search for meaning has been a perennial quest since mankind evolved. Many found meaning in harakiri, martyrdom and other culturally sanctioned ‘suicide homicide’ complex during the last few centuries. The terminologies change depending from which side one views the act. Freedom fighters or terrorists are the descriptive denominators. In an era where peace and technology have overwhelmed religious doctrines, certain sections feel threatened and are rebelling against this sweeping change in the garb of religion.” Globalisation, Dr Shetty says, is viewed as a religious doctrine or an ideology that undermines the control of powerful religious heads. “A small section of people falls prey to this indoctrination and finds a new meaning in life. Freedom fighters kill the oppressor and the socalled terrorists today suffer from the same core belief — kill the perceived enemy or those who are the extensions. So hit out at those who are enemies and die for the cause. Martyrdom is not new and death in war is the new intoxication, going down fighting is a new high by the dominant ideologies.” “Dying for such a cause may be viewed with disgust in the dominant ideologies. Meaning in life is a psychosocial pursuit and an altruistic desire...as Freud described...such killings may suffer from similar intrinsic psychosocial needs,” Dr Shetty adds. Government’s role Maybe the governments should spend more in researching and understanding the factors that attract the common citizens towards terrorism. They should take steps to reduce the number of people being influenced by extremist thoughts. Use of force or fighting a war, for that matter, may be required to ensure a nation’s security but it is also important to find ways to stop people from going astray. Terrorists are just terrorists Religion may not be the reason but could merely be an effective tool to turn individuals into terrorists. On another trip to Lahore, I met Syed Salahuddin, the head of Hizbul Mujahideen, a Kashmiri led terrorism outfit. He said he had become a terrorist after his family was killed after he challenged a political party in elections and the police did not protect him and his family. Religion seems to be a common thread in many of the global wars today but we need to go past the usual paradigm and see how some individuals may be using Islam to kill people. For us, terrorists are just terrorists. And they have to be stopped.

Factors that drive people to take up arms

A top Islamic State group commander, Omar al-Shishani, has been killed in Iraq, the jihadist-linked Amaq agency said on Wednesday. 
 
The Pentagon announced in March that Shishani, known as Omar the Chechen, was believed to have died of injuries received in an air raid targeting his convoy in northeastern Syria, details at odds with Amaq&#39;s account. 
 
Citing a &quot;military source&quot;, Amaq said Shishani was killed &quot;in the town of Sharqat as he took part in repelling the military campaign on the city of Mosul&quot;, referring to the last IS-held city in Iraq. 
 
Iraqi forces are conducting operations to set the stage for a final push to Mosul, the country&#39;s second city that fell to IS in June 2014. 
 
Sharqat lies on the road north to Mosul, but Iraqi forces recently bypassed the area to recapture a key military base in the Qayyarah area farther north that the Pentagon said will be a &quot;springboard&quot; for the push toward the city. 
 
Amaq did not specify when Shishani was killed, but the loss of the commander is a blow to the jihadist group, which has suffered a string of setbacks in Iraq this year.&nbsp;In addition to Shishani, the US announced that it had killed IS deputy leader Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli in March. 
 
Shishani, a fierce, battle-hardened warlord with roots in Georgia and a thick red beard, was one of the most notorious faces of IS.&nbsp;Shishani, whose nom de guerre means &quot;Omar the Chechen&quot;, was one of the IS leaders most wanted by Washington, which had put a $5 million bounty on his head. 
 
His exact rank was unclear, but a US official had branded him as &quot;equivalent of the secretary of defence&quot; for the jihadist group. 
Shishani came from the former Soviet state of Georgia&#39;s Pankisi Gorge region, which is populated mainly by ethnic Chechens. 
 
He fought as a Chechen rebel against Russian forces before joining the Georgian military in 2006, and fought Russian forces again in Georgia in 2008. 
 
He later resurfaced in northern Syria as the commander of a group of foreign fighters, and became a senior leader within IS. 
 
IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014 but has since lost significant ground to Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes, training and other assistance. 
 
Baghdad declared victory in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, at the end of last month, leaving Mosul as the sole Iraqi city held by IS. 
 
The Sunni extremist group has responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians, particularly Shiites, and experts have warned there may be more bombings as the jihadists continue to lose ground. 
 
(AFP)

Omar al-Shishani was one of the IS leaders most wanted by Washington, which had a $5 million bounty on his head

A top Islamic State group commander, Omar al-Shishani, has been killed in Iraq, the jihadist-linked Amaq agency said on Wednesday. The Pentagon announced in March that Shishani, known as Omar the Chechen, was believed to have died of injuries received in an air raid targeting his convoy in northeastern Syria, details at odds with Amaq's account. Citing a "military source", Amaq said Shishani was killed "in the town of Sharqat as he took part in repelling the military campaign on the city of Mosul", referring to the last IS-held city in Iraq. Iraqi forces are conducting operations to set the stage for a final push to Mosul, the country's second city that fell to IS in June 2014. Sharqat lies on the road north to Mosul, but Iraqi forces recently bypassed the area to recapture a key military base in the Qayyarah area farther north that the Pentagon said will be a "springboard" for the push toward the city. Amaq did not specify when Shishani was killed, but the loss of the commander is a blow to the jihadist group, which has suffered a string of setbacks in Iraq this year. In addition to Shishani, the US announced that it had killed IS deputy leader Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli in March. Shishani, a fierce, battle-hardened warlord with roots in Georgia and a thick red beard, was one of the most notorious faces of IS. Shishani, whose nom de guerre means "Omar the Chechen", was one of the IS leaders most wanted by Washington, which had put a $5 million bounty on his head. His exact rank was unclear, but a US official had branded him as "equivalent of the secretary of defence" for the jihadist group. Shishani came from the former Soviet state of Georgia's Pankisi Gorge region, which is populated mainly by ethnic Chechens. He fought as a Chechen rebel against Russian forces before joining the Georgian military in 2006, and fought Russian forces again in Georgia in 2008. He later resurfaced in northern Syria as the commander of a group of foreign fighters, and became a senior leader within IS. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014 but has since lost significant ground to Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes, training and other assistance. Baghdad declared victory in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, at the end of last month, leaving Mosul as the sole Iraqi city held by IS. The Sunni extremist group has responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians, particularly Shiites, and experts have warned there may be more bombings as the jihadists continue to lose ground. (AFP)

Top Islamic State commander Shishani killed

At least seven were killed and 11 wounded north of Baghdad today when a suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives at a checkpoint, security and medical sources said, the second bombing in the district in two days. 
 
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in Rashidiya, but Islamic State has been regularly carrying out such bombings in the capital and other parts of Iraq, where it seized large swathes of territory in 2014. 
 
A similar attack in Rashidiya on Tuesday killed nine people. 
 
A blast in the central Karrada district on July 3 killed at least 292 people, making it one of the worst among the hundreds of suicide bombings carried out in Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago. 
 
The high death toll prompted a public outcry in Baghdad, with residents blaming the government for not sufficiently securing the capital. 
 
Islamic State has been turning increasingly to suicide bombings, which US and Iraqi officials have touted as proof that battlefield setbacks are weakening the jihadists. 
 
In a US-backed offensive, the Iraqi army retook the city of Ramadi from Islamic State this year, and more recently Fallujah, which the government said had been a launchpad for the group&#39;s Baghdad suicide bombings. 
 
But critics say a global uptick in suicide attacks attributed to the group suggests it may just be adapting and would survive. 
 
(Reuters)

The second bombing in the district in two days left 11 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives at a checkpoint

At least seven were killed and 11 wounded north of Baghdad today when a suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives at a checkpoint, security and medical sources said, the second bombing in the district in two days. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in Rashidiya, but Islamic State has been regularly carrying out such bombings in the capital and other parts of Iraq, where it seized large swathes of territory in 2014. A similar attack in Rashidiya on Tuesday killed nine people. A blast in the central Karrada district on July 3 killed at least 292 people, making it one of the worst among the hundreds of suicide bombings carried out in Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago. The high death toll prompted a public outcry in Baghdad, with residents blaming the government for not sufficiently securing the capital. Islamic State has been turning increasingly to suicide bombings, which US and Iraqi officials have touted as proof that battlefield setbacks are weakening the jihadists. In a US-backed offensive, the Iraqi army retook the city of Ramadi from Islamic State this year, and more recently Fallujah, which the government said had been a launchpad for the group's Baghdad suicide bombings. But critics say a global uptick in suicide attacks attributed to the group suggests it may just be adapting and would survive. (Reuters)

Car bomb kills seven in Baghdad

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today arrested two key members of the Hyderabad IS module which they had unearthed last month in India. 
 
&quot;Yasir Niamatullah, chief of Hyderabad module, and Athaullah Rehman, a motivator who raised funds, have been arrested by NIA from here,&quot; sources in Telangana Intelligence Department told PTI. 
 
&quot;They are being produced in court today,&quot; they said. 
 
The NIA on June 29 had arrested five Hyderabad-based persons on charges of their involvement in the terror module suspected to be linked to ISIS and conspiring to carry out bomb attacks. 
 
On July 1, they were remanded in police custody for 12 days. 
 
The five - Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani alias Ibbu, Habeeb Mohammed alias Sir, Mohammed Ilyas Yazdani, Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Amoodi and Muzaffar Hussain Rizwan - were arrested following a series of searches conducted at 10 locations in Old City area in southern Hyderabad city, with the assistance of Hyderabad Police. 
 
In its remand report submitted to the court earlier, the agency had said that the five accused had acquired weapons and explosive material to carry out violent terrorist attacks and were in touch with ISIS. 
 
Following its prior investigation, on June 22 the NIA had lodged an FIR for &quot;criminal conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India&quot; by collecting weapons and explosive materials by targeting public places, religious sites and sensitive government buildings in various parts of India. 
 
According to the agency, the gang was preparing improvised explosive devices for carrying out blasts, and was being guided by an online handler, suspected to be based in Iraq/Syria. 
 
Along with the explosive materials, the NIA had recovered two semi-automatic pistols with ammunition, an air gun with telescopic sight and shooting practice target boards, a large number of digital gadgets including six laptops, about 40 mobile phones, 32 SIM cards, and a large number of hard disks, memory cards, pen drives and tabs during its search. 
 
(PTI)

Yasir Niamatullah, chief of Hyderabad module, and Athaullah Rehman are being produced in court today

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today arrested two key members of the Hyderabad IS module which they had unearthed last month in India. "Yasir Niamatullah, chief of Hyderabad module, and Athaullah Rehman, a motivator who raised funds, have been arrested by NIA from here," sources in Telangana Intelligence Department told PTI. "They are being produced in court today," they said. The NIA on June 29 had arrested five Hyderabad-based persons on charges of their involvement in the terror module suspected to be linked to ISIS and conspiring to carry out bomb attacks. On July 1, they were remanded in police custody for 12 days. The five - Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani alias Ibbu, Habeeb Mohammed alias Sir, Mohammed Ilyas Yazdani, Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Amoodi and Muzaffar Hussain Rizwan - were arrested following a series of searches conducted at 10 locations in Old City area in southern Hyderabad city, with the assistance of Hyderabad Police. In its remand report submitted to the court earlier, the agency had said that the five accused had acquired weapons and explosive material to carry out violent terrorist attacks and were in touch with ISIS. Following its prior investigation, on June 22 the NIA had lodged an FIR for "criminal conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India" by collecting weapons and explosive materials by targeting public places, religious sites and sensitive government buildings in various parts of India. According to the agency, the gang was preparing improvised explosive devices for carrying out blasts, and was being guided by an online handler, suspected to be based in Iraq/Syria. Along with the explosive materials, the NIA had recovered two semi-automatic pistols with ammunition, an air gun with telescopic sight and shooting practice target boards, a large number of digital gadgets including six laptops, about 40 mobile phones, 32 SIM cards, and a large number of hard disks, memory cards, pen drives and tabs during its search. (PTI)

Indian sleuths arrest two key members of IS module from Hyderabad

An Australian court today convicted Sydney man Hamdi Al Qudsi of recruiting seven young men to travel overseas and fight alongside Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria, a spokeswoman for the court said. 
 
Al Qudsi, 42, was found guilty by the New South Wales state Supreme Court in Sydney of aiding the men to fight with extremist groups in 2013, the spokeswoman told Reuters. 
 
&quot;The charges were give money/goods to promote/support foreign hostile acts,&quot; she said. Each of the seven charges carries a 10 year prison sentence. Al Qudsi is yet to be sentenced. 
 
Prosecutors alleged that Al Qudsi made arrangements for the men to travel to Syria in 2013 for the purpose of fighting alongside groups listed by the Australian government as terrorist organisations. 
 
Under tough new security powers passed in 2014, Australians face up to a decade in prison for overseas travel to areas declared off limits, which includes the province of Raqqa in Syria, a key strategic hub for Islamic State militants. 
 
A copy of the indictment provided to Reuters lists seven men that Al Qudsi recruited to fight in Syria. Two of those men - Tyler Casey and Caner Temel - were killed in Syria, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. 
 
Two other men listed in the indictment, Muhammed Abdul-Karim Musleh and Mehmet Biber, have since returned, the ABC said. 
 
About 100 people have left Australia for Syria to fight alongside organisations such as Islamic State, Australia&#39;s Immigration Minister said earlier this year. 
 
Australia, a staunch US ally, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown radicals since 2014 and authorities say they have thwarted a number of plots. 
 
There have been several &quot;lone wolf&quot; assaults, including a 2014 cafe siege in Sydney that left two hostages and the gunman dead. Also in 2014, police shot dead a Melbourne teenager after he stabbed two counter-terrorism officers. 
 
In 2015, a 15-year-old boy fired on an accountant at a police headquarters in a Sydney suburb and was then killed in a gunfight with police. 
 
(Reuters)

Hamdi Al Qudsi made arrangements for seven young men to travel to Syria in 2013 to fight with IS, and gets 10 years in jail for each recruit

An Australian court today convicted Sydney man Hamdi Al Qudsi of recruiting seven young men to travel overseas and fight alongside Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria, a spokeswoman for the court said. Al Qudsi, 42, was found guilty by the New South Wales state Supreme Court in Sydney of aiding the men to fight with extremist groups in 2013, the spokeswoman told Reuters. "The charges were give money/goods to promote/support foreign hostile acts," she said. Each of the seven charges carries a 10 year prison sentence. Al Qudsi is yet to be sentenced. Prosecutors alleged that Al Qudsi made arrangements for the men to travel to Syria in 2013 for the purpose of fighting alongside groups listed by the Australian government as terrorist organisations. Under tough new security powers passed in 2014, Australians face up to a decade in prison for overseas travel to areas declared off limits, which includes the province of Raqqa in Syria, a key strategic hub for Islamic State militants. A copy of the indictment provided to Reuters lists seven men that Al Qudsi recruited to fight in Syria. Two of those men - Tyler Casey and Caner Temel - were killed in Syria, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported. Two other men listed in the indictment, Muhammed Abdul-Karim Musleh and Mehmet Biber, have since returned, the ABC said. About 100 people have left Australia for Syria to fight alongside organisations such as Islamic State, Australia's Immigration Minister said earlier this year. Australia, a staunch US ally, has been on heightened alert for attacks by home-grown radicals since 2014 and authorities say they have thwarted a number of plots. There have been several "lone wolf" assaults, including a 2014 cafe siege in Sydney that left two hostages and the gunman dead. Also in 2014, police shot dead a Melbourne teenager after he stabbed two counter-terrorism officers. In 2015, a 15-year-old boy fired on an accountant at a police headquarters in a Sydney suburb and was then killed in a gunfight with police. (Reuters)

Australian convicted of recruiting foreign fighters for Islamic State

At least nine people were killed and 32 wounded on Tuesday when a car packed with explosives was detonated in a district just north of Baghdad, security and medical sources said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in Rashidiya, but Islamic State regularly carries out such bombings in the capital and other parts of Iraq, where it seized large swathes of territory in 2014.

Baghdad is on high alert for attacks after a blast in the central Karrada district on July 3 killed at least 292 people, making it one of the deadliest bombings in Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago.

Islamic State has turned increasingly to ad hoc attacks, which US&nbsp;and Iraqi officials have touted as proof that battlefield setbacks are weakening the jihadists. But critics say a global uptick in suicide attacks attributed to the group suggests it may adapt and survive. 
 
(Reuters)

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast

At least nine people were killed and 32 wounded on Tuesday when a car packed with explosives was detonated in a district just north of Baghdad, security and medical sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in Rashidiya, but Islamic State regularly carries out such bombings in the capital and other parts of Iraq, where it seized large swathes of territory in 2014. Baghdad is on high alert for attacks after a blast in the central Karrada district on July 3 killed at least 292 people, making it one of the deadliest bombings in Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago. Islamic State has turned increasingly to ad hoc attacks, which US and Iraqi officials have touted as proof that battlefield setbacks are weakening the jihadists. But critics say a global uptick in suicide attacks attributed to the group suggests it may adapt and survive. (Reuters)

Car bomb kills nine north of Baghdad, say sources

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter held taks in Baghdad today over the fight against the Islamic State group and the strategy to recapture Iraq&#39;s second city Mosul from the jihadists. 
 
Carter met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defence Minister Khalid al-Obeidi, two days after Iraq announced the recapture of a base south of Mosul seen as an important step toward the eventual battle for the city. 
 
Carter&#39;s unannounced visit is&nbsp;his fourth to Iraq since beginning his job in February 2015, which&nbsp;comes two days after Iraqi forces captured an airbase to the south of Mosul that is seen as an important step toward the eventual battle for the country&#39;s second city, which has been under IS control since June 2014. 
 
IS losing ground in Syria, Iraq; Carter wants to highlight successes&nbsp; 
 
IS also holds territory in neighbouring Syria, but has lost significant ground in both countries, and Carter wants to highlight successes, even as the jihadists have struck back with devastating attacks in Iraq and abroad. 
 
The Sunni extremists have carried out bloody attacks against civilians as they lose ground, including a bombing in Baghdad that killed 292 people this month, one of the deadliest to ever hit the country. 
 
&quot;Let me begin... by expressing the condolences of myself and the United States for the terrorist attacks against the people of Iraq in recent weeks,&quot; Carter told Abadi. 
 
&quot;You have our sympathy but also it further strengthens our resolve to help in the defeat of (IS), which all of our societies need because all of our societies are subject to attacks.&quot;&quot;I also want to congratulate you on the string of successes that the Iraqi security forces have had,&quot; said Carter. 
 
The Qayyarah airbase, which Abadi announced Saturday had been recaptured, is located 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul and can serve as a launchpad for future operations to recapture the city. 
 
&#39;Ultimate goal is recapture of Iraqi territory&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Ahead of his meetings, Carter told journalists that he would discuss the next moves in the war against the jihadists. 
 
&quot;What I&#39;ll be discussing with Prime Minister Abadi and our commanders there are the next plays in the campaign, which involve the collapse and control over Mosul,&quot; Carter said aboard a military plane. 
 
The ultimate goal, he added, was &quot;the recapture of all of Iraqi territory by the Iraqi security forces, but of course Mosul is the biggest part of that.&quot; 
 
US defence officials say the campaign`s first &quot;10 plays&quot; have been successfully completed in the US-led counter-IS campaign in Iraq and Syria. 
 
These steps include the recapture of several important areas across the two countries, including Ramadi in Iraq and Al-Shadadi, a town in northeastern Syria previously considered a strategic IS stronghold.&nbsp; 
 
Pentagon has announced a series a measures to speed up war&nbsp; 
 
Carter and President Barack Obama have been criticised for the pace of the campaign, which began in autumn 2014 and got off to a slow start, particularly in war-torn Syria, where the United States had few assets on the ground to provide targeting information.The Pentagon has announced a series of measures to speed up the war, including a revised mission to train anti-IS rebels in northern Syria and extra advisers for Iraqi forces. 
 
Coupled with coalition air support, the results have seen the IS group losing roughly half its territory in Iraq and about 20 percent of its Syria claim, the Pentagon said. 
 
But the jihadists have struck back against civilians as they lost ground. 
 
On July 3, IS carried out the devastating bombing targeting shoppers in Baghdad that killed 292, many of whom were burned alive, sparking widespread anger among Iraqis, some of whom have accused the government of not doing enough to protect them. 
 
Four days later, the jihadists struck a Shiite shrine north the capital, leaving another 40 dead. 
 
Carter was also to meet with US troops, of whom there are now about 4,000 in Iraq, mainly to train local forces. 
 
The Pentagon chief will also phone Massud Barzani, the de facto president of Iraq`s Kurdistan region. 
 
The United States has pledged $415 million to help Kurdish peshmerga fighters as they join the fight for Mosul, moving in from the north. 
 
 
(AFP)

Ashton Carter's visit come 2 days after Iraq announced recapture of a base south of Mosul, seen as an important step

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter held taks in Baghdad today over the fight against the Islamic State group and the strategy to recapture Iraq's second city Mosul from the jihadists. Carter met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defence Minister Khalid al-Obeidi, two days after Iraq announced the recapture of a base south of Mosul seen as an important step toward the eventual battle for the city. Carter's unannounced visit is his fourth to Iraq since beginning his job in February 2015, which comes two days after Iraqi forces captured an airbase to the south of Mosul that is seen as an important step toward the eventual battle for the country's second city, which has been under IS control since June 2014. IS losing ground in Syria, Iraq; Carter wants to highlight successes IS also holds territory in neighbouring Syria, but has lost significant ground in both countries, and Carter wants to highlight successes, even as the jihadists have struck back with devastating attacks in Iraq and abroad. The Sunni extremists have carried out bloody attacks against civilians as they lose ground, including a bombing in Baghdad that killed 292 people this month, one of the deadliest to ever hit the country. "Let me begin... by expressing the condolences of myself and the United States for the terrorist attacks against the people of Iraq in recent weeks," Carter told Abadi. "You have our sympathy but also it further strengthens our resolve to help in the defeat of (IS), which all of our societies need because all of our societies are subject to attacks.""I also want to congratulate you on the string of successes that the Iraqi security forces have had," said Carter. The Qayyarah airbase, which Abadi announced Saturday had been recaptured, is located 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul and can serve as a launchpad for future operations to recapture the city. 'Ultimate goal is recapture of Iraqi territory' Ahead of his meetings, Carter told journalists that he would discuss the next moves in the war against the jihadists. "What I'll be discussing with Prime Minister Abadi and our commanders there are the next plays in the campaign, which involve the collapse and control over Mosul," Carter said aboard a military plane. The ultimate goal, he added, was "the recapture of all of Iraqi territory by the Iraqi security forces, but of course Mosul is the biggest part of that." US defence officials say the campaign`s first "10 plays" have been successfully completed in the US-led counter-IS campaign in Iraq and Syria. These steps include the recapture of several important areas across the two countries, including Ramadi in Iraq and Al-Shadadi, a town in northeastern Syria previously considered a strategic IS stronghold. Pentagon has announced a series a measures to speed up war Carter and President Barack Obama have been criticised for the pace of the campaign, which began in autumn 2014 and got off to a slow start, particularly in war-torn Syria, where the United States had few assets on the ground to provide targeting information.The Pentagon has announced a series of measures to speed up the war, including a revised mission to train anti-IS rebels in northern Syria and extra advisers for Iraqi forces. Coupled with coalition air support, the results have seen the IS group losing roughly half its territory in Iraq and about 20 percent of its Syria claim, the Pentagon said. But the jihadists have struck back against civilians as they lost ground. On July 3, IS carried out the devastating bombing targeting shoppers in Baghdad that killed 292, many of whom were burned alive, sparking widespread anger among Iraqis, some of whom have accused the government of not doing enough to protect them. Four days later, the jihadists struck a Shiite shrine north the capital, leaving another 40 dead. Carter was also to meet with US troops, of whom there are now about 4,000 in Iraq, mainly to train local forces. The Pentagon chief will also phone Massud Barzani, the de facto president of Iraq`s Kurdistan region. The United States has pledged $415 million to help Kurdish peshmerga fighters as they join the fight for Mosul, moving in from the north. (AFP)

Pentagon chief visits Baghdad to step up fight against Islamic State

Gunmen kidnapped three Indonesian tugboat crew off Malaysia&#39;s eastern state of Sabah, police said today, the latest in a string of abductions in a region noted for kidnappings by Islamist militants. 
 
It was not immediately clear whether the men were seized by Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to Islamic State (IS) that is responsible for recent beheadings of western hostages and notorious for the extortion of millions of dollars in ransoms. 
 
The tugboat, with a crew of seven, was in waters off the east coast of Sabah on Borneo island, about 8 nautical miles from shore, regional marine police said, when it was attacked by armed men in a white boat late on Saturday. 
 
&quot;The suspects inquired who had their passports with them, and the three who did were taken into their boat, while the four who did not were left behind,&quot; marine police said in a media statement. 
 
The five armed abductors spoke in Malay and the local Suluk dialect, the police added. Police in Sabah are expected to hold a news conference later on Sunday. 
 
In Jakarta, the Indonesian foreign ministry said it had no information yet on the abductions. 
 
The Abu Sayyaf militant group has beheaded two Canadian nationals recently after its ransom deadlines expired. It is still holding men from Japan, the Netherlands and Norway. 
 
(Reuters)

It was not immediately clear whether the men were seized by Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to Islamic State

Gunmen kidnapped three Indonesian tugboat crew off Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah, police said today, the latest in a string of abductions in a region noted for kidnappings by Islamist militants. It was not immediately clear whether the men were seized by Abu Sayyaf, a group linked to Islamic State (IS) that is responsible for recent beheadings of western hostages and notorious for the extortion of millions of dollars in ransoms. The tugboat, with a crew of seven, was in waters off the east coast of Sabah on Borneo island, about 8 nautical miles from shore, regional marine police said, when it was attacked by armed men in a white boat late on Saturday. "The suspects inquired who had their passports with them, and the three who did were taken into their boat, while the four who did not were left behind," marine police said in a media statement. The five armed abductors spoke in Malay and the local Suluk dialect, the police added. Police in Sabah are expected to hold a news conference later on Sunday. In Jakarta, the Indonesian foreign ministry said it had no information yet on the abductions. The Abu Sayyaf militant group has beheaded two Canadian nationals recently after its ransom deadlines expired. It is still holding men from Japan, the Netherlands and Norway. (Reuters)

Gunmen abduct 3 Indonesians off Malaysian state of Sabah

At least 15 men from India&#39;s southern state of Kerala are suspected to have joined the powerful Islamic State, fear their family members. 
 
The youths have been missing since July 8 from their home town Kasaragod. 
 
Family members said they were informed of their children&#39;s likely attachment with the militant organisation by one of their friends. 
 
They have written to state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asking him to investigate the matter. 
 
&quot;We are ready to take him back after proper procedure and verification by the police, otherwise&hellip;going to some foreign land to join some militant organisation&hellip; we don&#39;t need him here,&quot; said the father of one of the missing youths, Hamlin. 
 
Two other missing youths have been identified as Hafesudheen Theke Koleth and Azees Hussain. 
 
Islamic State has struggled to win over recruits in India, which is home to the world&#39;s third-largest Muslim population. 
 
Indian police arrested 29 men last year for establishing bases to recruit men to the Islamist militant group. All the men were charged with conspiracy to wage war against the state. 
 
A handful of Indians are also suspected of having travelled to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State, where the group is fighting to install an Islamic caliphate. 
 
(Reuters)

Family members said they were told their children might have joined the militant goup by one of their friends.

At least 15 men from India's southern state of Kerala are suspected to have joined the powerful Islamic State, fear their family members. The youths have been missing since July 8 from their home town Kasaragod. Family members said they were informed of their children's likely attachment with the militant organisation by one of their friends. They have written to state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asking him to investigate the matter. "We are ready to take him back after proper procedure and verification by the police, otherwise…going to some foreign land to join some militant organisation… we don't need him here," said the father of one of the missing youths, Hamlin. Two other missing youths have been identified as Hafesudheen Theke Koleth and Azees Hussain. Islamic State has struggled to win over recruits in India, which is home to the world's third-largest Muslim population. Indian police arrested 29 men last year for establishing bases to recruit men to the Islamist militant group. All the men were charged with conspiracy to wage war against the state. A handful of Indians are also suspected of having travelled to Iraq and Syria to join Islamic State, where the group is fighting to install an Islamic caliphate. (Reuters)

Families fear 15 missing Indian youths might have joined IS

Air strikes by US-led coalition warplanes and artillery fire from Turkey killed eight Islamic State fighters in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency cited the Turkish military as saying today. 
 
Ten Islamic State targets were hit in the strikes, which also destroyed one building used by the militants as a base, the agency said. 
 
It said Turkish army howitzers fired on the militants as they were preparing to open fire on Turkey on Saturday from the areas of Baragitah, Tel Ahmar and Shabaniye in northern Syria. 
 
Turkey and the coalition have carried out regular strikes against Islamic State in the area in recent months after rocket attacks by the militants on the Turkish border town of Kilis. 
 
Kilis, just across the frontier from an Islamic State-controlled region of Syria, has been hit by rockets more than 70 times this year. More than 20 people have been killed. 
 
(Reuters)

Ten IS targets were hit in the strikes, which also destroyed a building used by the militants as a base, Anadolu Agency reported

Air strikes by US-led coalition warplanes and artillery fire from Turkey killed eight Islamic State fighters in northern Syria, state-run Anadolu Agency cited the Turkish military as saying today. Ten Islamic State targets were hit in the strikes, which also destroyed one building used by the militants as a base, the agency said. It said Turkish army howitzers fired on the militants as they were preparing to open fire on Turkey on Saturday from the areas of Baragitah, Tel Ahmar and Shabaniye in northern Syria. Turkey and the coalition have carried out regular strikes against Islamic State in the area in recent months after rocket attacks by the militants on the Turkish border town of Kilis. Kilis, just across the frontier from an Islamic State-controlled region of Syria, has been hit by rockets more than 70 times this year. More than 20 people have been killed. (Reuters)

US-led coalition air strikes, Turkish artillery fire kill 8 Islamic State militants

French President Francois Hollande called on Saturday for international action against an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, warning that the recent losses sustained by the Islamic State group could embolden other jihadist groups. 
 
&quot;Daesh (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State) is in retreat, that is beyond dispute,&quot; Hollande said after a meeting with the leaders of the United States, Germany, Britain, Italy and Ukraine on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Warsaw. 
 
But, Hollande added, &quot;we must also avoid a situation whereby as Daesh becomes weaker, other groups become stronger.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
Hollande singled out Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front as particularly standing to benefit from the US-led military campaign against its arch-rival the Islamic State group. 
 
Faced with a barrage of airstrikes and ground offensives by local forces, IS has lost territory in both Syria and Iraq in recent months. 
 
&quot;We must coordinate among ourselves to continue actions against Daesh but also take effective action against Al-Nusra,&quot; Hollande said, directing his appeal at Russia and the US. 
 
On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone call to &quot;intensify&quot; military coordination between their two countries in Syria. 
 
Russia had in May proposed joint air strikes with the US against jihadist targets in Syria - a suggestion that was rebuffed by Washington. 
 
The White House reported that the two leaders, in their call this week, &quot;confirmed their commitment to defeating ISIL (IS) and the Al-Nusra Front&quot;. 
 
The two groups are excluded from a broader truce brokered by Moscow and Washington in February.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)

'We must also avoid a situation whereby as IS becomes weaker, other groups become stronger,' says the French President

French President Francois Hollande called on Saturday for international action against an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, warning that the recent losses sustained by the Islamic State group could embolden other jihadist groups. "Daesh (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State) is in retreat, that is beyond dispute," Hollande said after a meeting with the leaders of the United States, Germany, Britain, Italy and Ukraine on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Warsaw. But, Hollande added, "we must also avoid a situation whereby as Daesh becomes weaker, other groups become stronger." Hollande singled out Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front as particularly standing to benefit from the US-led military campaign against its arch-rival the Islamic State group. Faced with a barrage of airstrikes and ground offensives by local forces, IS has lost territory in both Syria and Iraq in recent months. "We must coordinate among ourselves to continue actions against Daesh but also take effective action against Al-Nusra," Hollande said, directing his appeal at Russia and the US. On Wednesday, US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone call to "intensify" military coordination between their two countries in Syria. Russia had in May proposed joint air strikes with the US against jihadist targets in Syria - a suggestion that was rebuffed by Washington. The White House reported that the two leaders, in their call this week, "confirmed their commitment to defeating ISIL (IS) and the Al-Nusra Front". The two groups are excluded from a broader truce brokered by Moscow and Washington in February. (AFP)

Hollande calls for military action against Syrian Qaeda affiliate

Islamic State (IS) lost an area the size of Ireland,&nbsp;a quarter of its territory,&nbsp;to hostile forces in the last 18 months in Iraq and Syria and is likely to further step up attacks on civilians in coming months, a leading research firm&nbsp;Information handling Services (IHS)&nbsp;said in a report today.

The territory controlled by the ultra-hardline Sunni group shrank from 90,800 sq km (35,000 square miles) in January 2015, six months after it declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, to 68,300 sq km (26,370 square miles), the research firm said.

This has led the group to step up attacks on civilian targets in the Middle East and in Europe and this is likely to intensify, IHS stated.

&quot;As the Islamic State&#39;s caliphate shrinks and it becomes increasingly clear that its governance project is failing, the group is re-prioritising insurgency,&quot; said Columb Strack, senior analyst at IHS and lead analyst for the IHS Conflict Monitor.

&quot;As a result, we unfortunately expect an increase in mass casualty attacks and sabotage of economic infrastructure, across Iraq and Syria, and further afield, including Europe,&quot; &nbsp;he added.&nbsp; 
 
IS lost control of stronghold in&nbsp;Falluja, Ramadi&nbsp;

The Iraqi military&#39;s recapture of Falluja, an Islamic State stronghold just west of Baghdad, last month has led the insurgents to step up bombings on Shi&#39;ite Muslim targets.

Nearly 300 people died when an Islamic State suicide bomber struck in a busy shopping district in Baghdad a week ago, in one of the worst such attacks by the group to date.

Islamic State lost control of the city of Ramadi at the end of last year, another key stronghold for the group which captured large swathes of Iraq in 2014. The army is now gearing up to retake Mosul, the largest city in Iraq&#39;s north and Islamic State&#39;s de facto capital.

In Syria, the militants lost ground this year to both Russian and Iranian-backed forces supporting President Bashar al-Assad and to the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.

In February the SDF captured the town of al Shadadi, a major logistics hub for the militants, and in March Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes drove Islamic State out of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra and surrounding areas.

An SDF advance is underway to retake areas north of Islamic State&#39;s de facto capital in Syria, Raqqa. 
 
(Reuters)

This has led the group to step up attacks on civilian targets in the Middle East and in Europe, according to a leading research firm

Islamic State (IS) lost an area the size of Ireland, a quarter of its territory, to hostile forces in the last 18 months in Iraq and Syria and is likely to further step up attacks on civilians in coming months, a leading research firm Information handling Services (IHS) said in a report today. The territory controlled by the ultra-hardline Sunni group shrank from 90,800 sq km (35,000 square miles) in January 2015, six months after it declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, to 68,300 sq km (26,370 square miles), the research firm said. This has led the group to step up attacks on civilian targets in the Middle East and in Europe and this is likely to intensify, IHS stated. "As the Islamic State's caliphate shrinks and it becomes increasingly clear that its governance project is failing, the group is re-prioritising insurgency," said Columb Strack, senior analyst at IHS and lead analyst for the IHS Conflict Monitor. "As a result, we unfortunately expect an increase in mass casualty attacks and sabotage of economic infrastructure, across Iraq and Syria, and further afield, including Europe," he added. IS lost control of stronghold in Falluja, Ramadi The Iraqi military's recapture of Falluja, an Islamic State stronghold just west of Baghdad, last month has led the insurgents to step up bombings on Shi'ite Muslim targets. Nearly 300 people died when an Islamic State suicide bomber struck in a busy shopping district in Baghdad a week ago, in one of the worst such attacks by the group to date. Islamic State lost control of the city of Ramadi at the end of last year, another key stronghold for the group which captured large swathes of Iraq in 2014. The army is now gearing up to retake Mosul, the largest city in Iraq's north and Islamic State's de facto capital. In Syria, the militants lost ground this year to both Russian and Iranian-backed forces supporting President Bashar al-Assad and to the US-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance. In February the SDF captured the town of al Shadadi, a major logistics hub for the militants, and in March Syrian and allied forces backed by Russian air strikes drove Islamic State out of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra and surrounding areas. An SDF advance is underway to retake areas north of Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, Raqqa. (Reuters)

IS lost quarter of its territory in Syria, Iraq in 18 months, says research firm

NATO leaders on Saturday agreed to deploy sophisticated surveillance aircraft to support the US-led fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said. 
 
Stoltenberg said a summit of the 28 NATO leaders in Warsaw had formally approved a plan for the alliance&#39;s AWACS planes to fly over international airspace and help the US-led coalition. 
 
&quot;We will provide AWACS support and the plan is to have them to flying over international airspace and Turkey and that will allow us to look into airspace in Iraq and Syria,&quot; Stoltenberg told a news conference. 
 
The planes are one of the few concrete assets that NATO has, with most of its military hardware belonging to individual member states. 
 
AWACS are aircraft with powerful radars that allow them to monitor airspace for hundreds of kilometres (miles) around. They can also be converted into command posts to coordinate bombing raids and other air operations. 
 
The Warsaw summit closing statement said that &quot;NATO AWACS aircraft will be made available to support the Counter-ISIL Coalition.&quot; 
 
In May, NATO said the planes would not be directly involved in monitoring jihadists, but would instead fill in for US and allied aircraft that would be re-tasked to gather intelligence over IS hotspots. 
 
Several European NATO members have been wary of becoming too involved in the bloody fight against IS but pressure has grown after deadly terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. 
 
In Warsaw, NATO also agreed to take further steps to boost counter-terorism efforts in countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Stoltenberg said. 
 
It would deploy a team to Baghdad to start a new training scheme in Iraq, which is battling IS jihadists. 
 
&quot;To the south we see failed and failing states. And millions left homeless and hopeless by terrorist groups like ISIL.&rdquo; Stoltenberg said. 
 
The alliance will also start providing support for Tunisian special forces and set up an intelligence &lsquo;Fusion Centre&rsquo; in Tunisia. 
 
NATO will further launch a maritime security operation in the Mediterranean to help deal with the migration crisis and the chaos in the waters off Libya. 
 
(AFP)

A plan for the alliance's AWACS planes to fly over international airspace and help the US-led coalition has been approved

NATO leaders on Saturday agreed to deploy sophisticated surveillance aircraft to support the US-led fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg said a summit of the 28 NATO leaders in Warsaw had formally approved a plan for the alliance's AWACS planes to fly over international airspace and help the US-led coalition. "We will provide AWACS support and the plan is to have them to flying over international airspace and Turkey and that will allow us to look into airspace in Iraq and Syria," Stoltenberg told a news conference. The planes are one of the few concrete assets that NATO has, with most of its military hardware belonging to individual member states. AWACS are aircraft with powerful radars that allow them to monitor airspace for hundreds of kilometres (miles) around. They can also be converted into command posts to coordinate bombing raids and other air operations. The Warsaw summit closing statement said that "NATO AWACS aircraft will be made available to support the Counter-ISIL Coalition." In May, NATO said the planes would not be directly involved in monitoring jihadists, but would instead fill in for US and allied aircraft that would be re-tasked to gather intelligence over IS hotspots. Several European NATO members have been wary of becoming too involved in the bloody fight against IS but pressure has grown after deadly terror attacks in Paris and Brussels. In Warsaw, NATO also agreed to take further steps to boost counter-terorism efforts in countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Stoltenberg said. It would deploy a team to Baghdad to start a new training scheme in Iraq, which is battling IS jihadists. "To the south we see failed and failing states. And millions left homeless and hopeless by terrorist groups like ISIL.” Stoltenberg said. The alliance will also start providing support for Tunisian special forces and set up an intelligence ‘Fusion Centre’ in Tunisia. NATO will further launch a maritime security operation in the Mediterranean to help deal with the migration crisis and the chaos in the waters off Libya. (AFP)

NATO to use surveillance planes against IS

President Barack Obama&#39;s decision to withdraw roughly 1,400 US troops from Afghanistan won&#39;t adversely impact America&#39;s mission there, a top general said before arriving in Kabul on Friday, adding that some jobs could be done from abroad. 
 
Obama on Wednesday shelved his plans to cut the US force nearly in half by year&#39;s end, from 9,800 to 5,500. He opted instead for a more limited withdrawal to roughly 8,400 troops, noting that Afghan forces still needed US support battling the Taliban insurgency after nearly 15 years of war. 
 
In his first comments since Obama&#39;s announcement, General Joseph Votel, the head of the US military&#39;s Central Command, played down any impact of the looming troop withdrawal even as he acknowledged Afghan forces were suffering heavy casualties. 
 
A recent Pentagon report to Congress said casualties among Afghan forces rose 27 per cent from January 1 to November 15 last year. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s difficult. They are taking a lot of casualties. That is a concern. We&#39;ll have to pay attention to that,&quot; Votel told a small group of reporters traveling with him to Afghanistan.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;But I don&#39;t think the reductions that we are taking are going to impact the principal missions that we are doing, particularly with respect to the Afghan security forces,&quot; he added.&nbsp; 
 
Taliban forces now hold more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since the 2001 US-led invasion, according to recent UN estimates. 
 
The Islamic State group has also established a small presence in Afghanistan. 
 
Republican critics of Obama questioned why, given Afghanistan&#39;s security concerns, he was still intent on cutting the force at all. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain said it was difficult to discern &quot;any strategic rationale&quot; for the cut. 
 
Votel noted that Obama&#39;s decision to keep 8,400 troops in the country was welcomed by allies, who are expected to broadly reaffirm their commitments to Afghanistan at a NATO summit on Warsaw on Friday and Saturday. 
 
&quot;It sends a very hopeful message here for the coalition and I think it will encourage our partners to continue to contribute,&quot; Votel said. 
 
Votel suggested the drawdown might take place gradually over coming months, with some support for the US forces in Afghanistan being drawn from outside the country. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re going to achieve those reductions by moving some capabilities out that can be conducted over the horizon - that don&rsquo;t necessarily need to be done in Afghanistan - to support the force,&quot; he said, without elaborating.&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;

According to recent UN estimates, Taliban forces now hold more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since the 2001 US-led invasion

President Barack Obama's decision to withdraw roughly 1,400 US troops from Afghanistan won't adversely impact America's mission there, a top general said before arriving in Kabul on Friday, adding that some jobs could be done from abroad. Obama on Wednesday shelved his plans to cut the US force nearly in half by year's end, from 9,800 to 5,500. He opted instead for a more limited withdrawal to roughly 8,400 troops, noting that Afghan forces still needed US support battling the Taliban insurgency after nearly 15 years of war. In his first comments since Obama's announcement, General Joseph Votel, the head of the US military's Central Command, played down any impact of the looming troop withdrawal even as he acknowledged Afghan forces were suffering heavy casualties. A recent Pentagon report to Congress said casualties among Afghan forces rose 27 per cent from January 1 to November 15 last year. "It's difficult. They are taking a lot of casualties. That is a concern. We'll have to pay attention to that," Votel told a small group of reporters traveling with him to Afghanistan. "But I don't think the reductions that we are taking are going to impact the principal missions that we are doing, particularly with respect to the Afghan security forces," he added. Taliban forces now hold more territory in Afghanistan than at any time since the 2001 US-led invasion, according to recent UN estimates. The Islamic State group has also established a small presence in Afghanistan. Republican critics of Obama questioned why, given Afghanistan's security concerns, he was still intent on cutting the force at all. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain said it was difficult to discern "any strategic rationale" for the cut. Votel noted that Obama's decision to keep 8,400 troops in the country was welcomed by allies, who are expected to broadly reaffirm their commitments to Afghanistan at a NATO summit on Warsaw on Friday and Saturday. "It sends a very hopeful message here for the coalition and I think it will encourage our partners to continue to contribute," Votel said. Votel suggested the drawdown might take place gradually over coming months, with some support for the US forces in Afghanistan being drawn from outside the country. "We're going to achieve those reductions by moving some capabilities out that can be conducted over the horizon - that don’t necessarily need to be done in Afghanistan - to support the force," he said, without elaborating. (Reuters)

'US troop cut won't impact principal missions in Afghanistan'

A Baghdad bombing claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group killed at least 250 people, officials said, raising the toll of what was already one of the deadliest attacks in Iraq. 
 
A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle in Baghdad`s Karrada district early on Sunday as it teemed with shoppers ahead of the holiday marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, sparking infernos in nearby buildings. 
 
Health Minister Adila Hamoud told AFP that the bombing killed 250 people and wounded 200. 
 
A police colonel and an interior ministry official both gave even higher death tolls for the attack. 
 
Hamoud said that DNA testing would be required to identify more than half of the bodies and that the process was expected to take from 15 to 45 days, meaning that relatives of the missing may have to wait weeks to learn the fates of their loved ones. 
 
The blast sparked widespread anger among Iraqis, some of whom have accused the government of not doing enough to protect them. 
 
It has also overshadowed what would normally be a joyful holiday, instead turning it into a time of mourning and sadness. 
 
IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant territory from the jihadists. 
 
In response to the battlefield setbacks, the group has hit back against civilians, and experts have warned there may be more bombings as the jihadists continue to lose ground. 
 
(AFP)

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle in Baghdad`s Karrada district early on Sunday

A Baghdad bombing claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group killed at least 250 people, officials said, raising the toll of what was already one of the deadliest attacks in Iraq. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle in Baghdad`s Karrada district early on Sunday as it teemed with shoppers ahead of the holiday marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, sparking infernos in nearby buildings. Health Minister Adila Hamoud told AFP that the bombing killed 250 people and wounded 200. A police colonel and an interior ministry official both gave even higher death tolls for the attack. Hamoud said that DNA testing would be required to identify more than half of the bodies and that the process was expected to take from 15 to 45 days, meaning that relatives of the missing may have to wait weeks to learn the fates of their loved ones. The blast sparked widespread anger among Iraqis, some of whom have accused the government of not doing enough to protect them. It has also overshadowed what would normally be a joyful holiday, instead turning it into a time of mourning and sadness. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant territory from the jihadists. In response to the battlefield setbacks, the group has hit back against civilians, and experts have warned there may be more bombings as the jihadists continue to lose ground. (AFP)

Baghdad blast death toll rises to 250

The Syrian army today said it was observing a 72-hour ceasefire across the country coinciding with the festival marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. 
 
&quot;A &#39;regime of silence&#39; is applied across all territory of the Syrian Arab Republic for 72 hours from 1:00 am on July 6 to midnight on July 8,&quot; the army said in a statement republished by official media. 
 
The statement did not specify whether the ceasefire extended to military action against jihadists such as the Islamic State (IS) group or the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front. 
 
A ceasefire between regime forces and non-jihadist rebel groups was announced by Russia and the United States in late February but has mostly collapsed amid repeated violations. 
 
There was no immediate indication whether rebel forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad&#39;s regime would abide by the new truce. 
 
The ceasefire coincides with the three-day Eid ul-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan, when devout Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. 
 
Assad joined Eid prayers at a mosque in third city Homs today in a rare public appearance outside the capital Damascus. 
 
State television broadcast footage of the president joining worshippers at the Al-Safa mosque in Homs, which is mainly under government control except for a besieged rebel-held neighbourhood on the city&#39;s outskirts. 
 
Previous attempts to implement ceasefires in Syria have repeatedly failed, as have diplomatic efforts to end a five-year civil war that has killed more than 280,000 people and forced millions from their homes. 
 
Shelling reported in Aleppo 
 
Several temporary truces have been announced in recent months for second city Aleppo, scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the war, but have fallen apart. 
 
Aleppo, which was Syria&#39;s commercial and manufacturing hub before the civil war erupted, is divided between a rebel-held east and regime-controlled west. 
 
Eastern districts have faced heavy bombardment including air strikes from regime forces, while rebels regularly fire rockets into the west. 
 
Despite the ceasefire announcement, Aleppo&#39;s eastern areas came under fire today morning, according to residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. 
 
In the eastern Al-Mashad district a civilian was killed and several wounded when artillery fire fell near a mosque hosting Eid prayers, the Observatory said. 
 
&quot;Shells have been falling on the neighbourhood since early this morning,&quot; resident Ahmad Nassif told AFP. 
 
&quot;I had planned to visit family and friends, to bring my children out to play, but we decided to stay inside the house in case the shelling resumes,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;I hope things will calm down a bit during Eid, not for me but for my children.&quot; 
 
Syria&#39;s conflict began five years ago with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations and has evolved into a complex multi-front war. 
 
IS emerged from the chaos of the war, seizing control of large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, committing widespread atrocities in areas under its control, and organising and inspiring jihadist attacks across the Middle East and in Western cities. 
 
Washington has backed rebel forces in Syria and Moscow is supporting Assad, but the rise of IS has seen efforts focus on defeating the jihadists. 
 
Russia and the United States launched a major attempt last year to bring about peace talks between Assad and rebel forces, but the negotiations faltered as the partial truce announced in February fell apart. 
 
(AFP)

The truce coincides with the three-day Eid ul-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramzan

The Syrian army today said it was observing a 72-hour ceasefire across the country coinciding with the festival marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. "A 'regime of silence' is applied across all territory of the Syrian Arab Republic for 72 hours from 1:00 am on July 6 to midnight on July 8," the army said in a statement republished by official media. The statement did not specify whether the ceasefire extended to military action against jihadists such as the Islamic State (IS) group or the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front. A ceasefire between regime forces and non-jihadist rebel groups was announced by Russia and the United States in late February but has mostly collapsed amid repeated violations. There was no immediate indication whether rebel forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad's regime would abide by the new truce. The ceasefire coincides with the three-day Eid ul-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan, when devout Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. Assad joined Eid prayers at a mosque in third city Homs today in a rare public appearance outside the capital Damascus. State television broadcast footage of the president joining worshippers at the Al-Safa mosque in Homs, which is mainly under government control except for a besieged rebel-held neighbourhood on the city's outskirts. Previous attempts to implement ceasefires in Syria have repeatedly failed, as have diplomatic efforts to end a five-year civil war that has killed more than 280,000 people and forced millions from their homes. Shelling reported in Aleppo Several temporary truces have been announced in recent months for second city Aleppo, scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the war, but have fallen apart. Aleppo, which was Syria's commercial and manufacturing hub before the civil war erupted, is divided between a rebel-held east and regime-controlled west. Eastern districts have faced heavy bombardment including air strikes from regime forces, while rebels regularly fire rockets into the west. Despite the ceasefire announcement, Aleppo's eastern areas came under fire today morning, according to residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. In the eastern Al-Mashad district a civilian was killed and several wounded when artillery fire fell near a mosque hosting Eid prayers, the Observatory said. "Shells have been falling on the neighbourhood since early this morning," resident Ahmad Nassif told AFP. "I had planned to visit family and friends, to bring my children out to play, but we decided to stay inside the house in case the shelling resumes," he said. "I hope things will calm down a bit during Eid, not for me but for my children." Syria's conflict began five years ago with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations and has evolved into a complex multi-front war. IS emerged from the chaos of the war, seizing control of large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, committing widespread atrocities in areas under its control, and organising and inspiring jihadist attacks across the Middle East and in Western cities. Washington has backed rebel forces in Syria and Moscow is supporting Assad, but the rise of IS has seen efforts focus on defeating the jihadists. Russia and the United States launched a major attempt last year to bring about peace talks between Assad and rebel forces, but the negotiations faltered as the partial truce announced in February fell apart. (AFP)

Syrian army declares 72-hour nationwide ceasefire

Iraq&#39;s interior minister resigned on Tuesday and said a deputy would take over his responsibilities, a few days after the deadliest of many car bombings in Baghdad since the 2003 US-led invasion.&nbsp; 
 
Mohammed Ghabban made the announcement at a news conference in Baghdad, a video of which was posted on his Facebook page. His resignation will be official only if Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi approves it. Abadi&#39;s office had no immediate comment. 
 
The death toll from a massive suicide bombing in Baghdad&#39;s central shopping district of Karrada on Saturday has reached 250, Iraq&#39;s health ministry said on Tuesday. 
 
It was the worst single car bomb attack in Iraq since US forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago and deepened the anger of many Iraqis over the weak performance of the security apparatus. 
 
Islamic State militants, who government forces are trying to eject from large swathes of northern and western territory seized in 2014, claimed responsibility for the bombing. 
 
The attack showed Islamic State (IS) remains capable of ad-hoc attacks causing major loss of life despite losing considerable ground on the battlefield, most recently the city of Falluja, an hour&#39;s drive west of the capital. 
 
The interior minister said that the explosive-packed vehicle came from the eastern province of Diyala, and blamed a lack of communication between multiple forces in charge of the capital&#39;s security. 
 
Ghabban said in an interview last month that a recent spate of IS bombings in Baghdad would not end unless &quot;disorder&quot; plaguing Iraq&#39;s security apparatus was rectified. 
 
He said then that security forces outside his control - including units reporting to two counter-terrorism agencies, two defence ministry directorates and regional security commands - overlap with his ministry&#39;s own counter-intelligence efforts. 
 
(Reuters)

The move comes after a suicide bombing killed 250, making it the deadliest of many car bombings since the 2003 US-led invasion

Iraq's interior minister resigned on Tuesday and said a deputy would take over his responsibilities, a few days after the deadliest of many car bombings in Baghdad since the 2003 US-led invasion. Mohammed Ghabban made the announcement at a news conference in Baghdad, a video of which was posted on his Facebook page. His resignation will be official only if Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi approves it. Abadi's office had no immediate comment. The death toll from a massive suicide bombing in Baghdad's central shopping district of Karrada on Saturday has reached 250, Iraq's health ministry said on Tuesday. It was the worst single car bomb attack in Iraq since US forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago and deepened the anger of many Iraqis over the weak performance of the security apparatus. Islamic State militants, who government forces are trying to eject from large swathes of northern and western territory seized in 2014, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The attack showed Islamic State (IS) remains capable of ad-hoc attacks causing major loss of life despite losing considerable ground on the battlefield, most recently the city of Falluja, an hour's drive west of the capital. The interior minister said that the explosive-packed vehicle came from the eastern province of Diyala, and blamed a lack of communication between multiple forces in charge of the capital's security. Ghabban said in an interview last month that a recent spate of IS bombings in Baghdad would not end unless "disorder" plaguing Iraq's security apparatus was rectified. He said then that security forces outside his control - including units reporting to two counter-terrorism agencies, two defence ministry directorates and regional security commands - overlap with his ministry's own counter-intelligence efforts. (Reuters)

Iraq's interior minister resigns after Baghdad bombing

A Turkish court jailed 17 suspects pending trial today in connection with last week&#39;s suicide bombing at Istanbul&#39;s main airport that killed 45 people and wounded hundreds, state media said. 
 
Eleven are foreigners among the arrested suspects, bringing the number of those remanded in custody over the attack to 30 after 13 were sent to jail on Sunday, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. 
 
The latest 17 to be held were accused of &quot;membership of an armed terrorist organisation&quot;, the private Dogan news agency said. 
 
Officials believe last Tuesday&#39;s triple suicide bombing at Istanbul Ataturk airport, the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings this year in Turkey, was carried out by the Islamic State terror outfit. 
 
Three attackers opened fire to create panic outside the airport before two of them got inside and blew themselves up. The third militant detonated his explosives outside at the entrance to the international arrivals terminal. 
 
Russian nationals have been identified as two of the suspected bombers, Anadolu reported last week. Turkish officials have not commented on the report, although one official had said the attackers were Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals. 
 
(Reuters)

The suspects have been accused of being members of an armed terrorist organisation. In total, 30 remanded in custody over the attack

A Turkish court jailed 17 suspects pending trial today in connection with last week's suicide bombing at Istanbul's main airport that killed 45 people and wounded hundreds, state media said. Eleven are foreigners among the arrested suspects, bringing the number of those remanded in custody over the attack to 30 after 13 were sent to jail on Sunday, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The latest 17 to be held were accused of "membership of an armed terrorist organisation", the private Dogan news agency said. Officials believe last Tuesday's triple suicide bombing at Istanbul Ataturk airport, the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings this year in Turkey, was carried out by the Islamic State terror outfit. Three attackers opened fire to create panic outside the airport before two of them got inside and blew themselves up. The third militant detonated his explosives outside at the entrance to the international arrivals terminal. Russian nationals have been identified as two of the suspected bombers, Anadolu reported last week. Turkish officials have not commented on the report, although one official had said the attackers were Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals. (Reuters)

17 jailed over triple suicide bombing at Istanbul's Ataturk airport

The Afghan Taliban today condemned a deadly suicide bombing at Islam`s second holiest site in the Saudi city of Medina, describing it as &quot;an act of enmity and hatred&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
Four people were killed in the bombing outside the Prophet`s Mosque on Monday, the same day as an attack outside a minority shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, and another near the US consulate in the western city of Jeddah.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) &nbsp;which has been shocked by this gruesome act condemns this incident in the strongest of terms and considers it an act of enmity and hatred towards Islamic rituals,&quot; the militant group said in an emailed statement.&nbsp; 
 
There were no claims of responsibility for the bombings, but the Islamic State group had urged its supporters to carry out attacks during Ramzan. 
 
The Taliban, who were ousted from power by a US-led invasion in late 2001, have themselves been repeatedly blamed by the UN for deliberately targeting civilians in the war-torn country.&nbsp; 
 
As many as 600 civilians were killed and 1,343 were injured in the first three months of 2016, according to a UN report in April, with the Taliban responsible for six out of every 10 casualties.&nbsp; 
 
Monday`s suicide bombing received wide condemnation from across the Muslim world, with Shiite power Iran calling for Muslim unity following the attacks in its Sunni-dominated regional rival. 
 
Afghanistan`s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also condemned the attacks in Saudi Arabia in a tweet today, expressing his sympathies to the people and government of Saudi Arabia. 
 
(AFP) 
 
&nbsp;

Four people were killed in the attack outside the Prophet`s Mosque on Monday

The Afghan Taliban today condemned a deadly suicide bombing at Islam`s second holiest site in the Saudi city of Medina, describing it as "an act of enmity and hatred". Four people were killed in the bombing outside the Prophet`s Mosque on Monday, the same day as an attack outside a minority shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, and another near the US consulate in the western city of Jeddah. "The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) which has been shocked by this gruesome act condemns this incident in the strongest of terms and considers it an act of enmity and hatred towards Islamic rituals," the militant group said in an emailed statement. There were no claims of responsibility for the bombings, but the Islamic State group had urged its supporters to carry out attacks during Ramzan. The Taliban, who were ousted from power by a US-led invasion in late 2001, have themselves been repeatedly blamed by the UN for deliberately targeting civilians in the war-torn country. As many as 600 civilians were killed and 1,343 were injured in the first three months of 2016, according to a UN report in April, with the Taliban responsible for six out of every 10 casualties. Monday`s suicide bombing received wide condemnation from across the Muslim world, with Shiite power Iran calling for Muslim unity following the attacks in its Sunni-dominated regional rival. Afghanistan`s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah also condemned the attacks in Saudi Arabia in a tweet today, expressing his sympathies to the people and government of Saudi Arabia. (AFP)

Afghan Taliban condemn Medina bombing

Until late 2014, Nibras Islam appeared to acquaintances to be a typical student: fun-loving, in and out of love, and keen on sport, especially soccer. Women found him handsome. 
 
On a &quot;confessions&quot; Facebook page for Monash University students, one anonymous admirer gushed in a post on October 11, that year: &quot;Nibras Islam!! You are cute. But very hard to spot. Tell me when can I see you. Your smile just makes my day.&quot; 
 
On Friday night, police suspect Nibras was among at least six gunmen who attacked an upscale restaurant in his hometown Dhaka and brutally murdered 20 people, most of them foreigners. 
 
Police in Malaysia said that at least two of the militants had attended the Kuala Lumpur campus of Australia&#39;s prestigious Monash University, although they did not name them. 
 
They and four other gunmen were killed by security forces after a 12-hour siege, while a seventh suspected attacker is in police custody, Bangladesh police said. 
 
The attack, claimed by Islamic State, is an alarming development for a nation that, long used to gritty street violence fanned by political tension between secularists and Islamists, is suddenly facing a far more sophisticated threat. 
 
As investigators gather details about the militants, a profile is emerging of a band of educated youths from privileged backgrounds who had turned to radical Islamism only recently. 
 
One was the son of a mid-ranking leader of the country&#39;s ruling party, police said. 
 
It is testing the long-held belief that poverty and lack of education are the main causes for militancy taking hold in South Asia. 
 
&quot;Earlier the people who were radicalised used to be poorer and educated in quasi-madrassas,&quot; said Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, a Bangladesh expert at Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. &quot;These attackers are people from affluent backgrounds, liberal backgrounds.&quot; 
 
Masudur Rahman, a deputy police commissioner in Dhaka, said that the attackers were &quot;educated and rich&quot; and, somewhere along the way, &quot;brainwashed&quot;. 
 
It is still not clear when and how these young men - three of whom police said were younger than 22 - were radicalised. 
 
But interviews with friends and acquaintances of Nibras and some of the other suspected attackers, as well as a review of their social media activity, offer early glimpses into how they started to change. 
 
A student who knew Nibras from North South University, a private college in Dhaka where he went before moving to Malaysia, said he ran into him at a cafe in January and was surprised by the elaborate version of the &quot;Salaam&quot; greeting he used. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s usually just &ndash; &#39;hey, salaam, how you doing man?&#39; But Nibras said the full version ... His approach that day seemed totally different,&quot; said the student, who requested anonymity. 
 
&quot;I used to pray often in university, and I never saw him during prayer times at the prayer room.&quot; 
 
Privileged background 
 
The annual fee for a bachelor&#39;s course at Monash, a college with sprawling grounds and state-of-the-art sports facilities on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, is nearly $9,000, at least six times the average income in Bangladesh. 
 
A person who knew Nibras at Monash said he was pursuing an undergraduate degree in business. This person, who did not want to be identified, described him as someone who would hang out with friends and do what they did. 
 
He loved taking photographs, especially of himself, the person said, so much so that his friends would tease him about it. 
 
A scan of social media shows Nibras was crazy about a Bollywood actress, supported Liverpool soccer club and took selfies in cafes with friends. 
 
He also had a girlfriend, whom he broke up with in 2014, the person who knew him at Monash said. On Twitter, where he put his age as 22, Nibras at one point tweeted mournfully about a broken relationship. 
 
&quot;You don&#39;t need me anymore. Be happy with him. Everyone is better then (sic) me. You know where to find me,&quot; he wrote. 
 
Then he vanished from the campus sometime last year. 
 
It is not clear why he left, but the person who knew him said his friends thought it was because he didn&#39;t enjoy his stay at Monash and decided to pursue his education closer to home and family. 
 
He started to withdraw from social media, stopping activity on sites such as Snapchat and Facebook. His Instagram account is still active. 
 
Nibras followed only ten Twitter accounts, one of which was @ShamiWitness, an influential handle run by Islamic State propagandist Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who was arrested in the Indian city of Bangalore last year. 
 
He liked a tweet by Anjem Choudary, one of Britain&#39;s most high-profile Islamist preachers, that was critical of France and its allies and was posted in January, 2015, shortly after the deadly militant attack on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. 
 
Two months before that, he had tweeted: &quot;Goodbye for good&quot;. 
 
(Reuters )

Police suspected Nibras Islam, a student of Australia's Monash University in Kuala Lumpur, to be one of the six gunmen

Until late 2014, Nibras Islam appeared to acquaintances to be a typical student: fun-loving, in and out of love, and keen on sport, especially soccer. Women found him handsome. On a "confessions" Facebook page for Monash University students, one anonymous admirer gushed in a post on October 11, that year: "Nibras Islam!! You are cute. But very hard to spot. Tell me when can I see you. Your smile just makes my day." On Friday night, police suspect Nibras was among at least six gunmen who attacked an upscale restaurant in his hometown Dhaka and brutally murdered 20 people, most of them foreigners. Police in Malaysia said that at least two of the militants had attended the Kuala Lumpur campus of Australia's prestigious Monash University, although they did not name them. They and four other gunmen were killed by security forces after a 12-hour siege, while a seventh suspected attacker is in police custody, Bangladesh police said. The attack, claimed by Islamic State, is an alarming development for a nation that, long used to gritty street violence fanned by political tension between secularists and Islamists, is suddenly facing a far more sophisticated threat. As investigators gather details about the militants, a profile is emerging of a band of educated youths from privileged backgrounds who had turned to radical Islamism only recently. One was the son of a mid-ranking leader of the country's ruling party, police said. It is testing the long-held belief that poverty and lack of education are the main causes for militancy taking hold in South Asia. "Earlier the people who were radicalised used to be poorer and educated in quasi-madrassas," said Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, a Bangladesh expert at Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. "These attackers are people from affluent backgrounds, liberal backgrounds." Masudur Rahman, a deputy police commissioner in Dhaka, said that the attackers were "educated and rich" and, somewhere along the way, "brainwashed". It is still not clear when and how these young men - three of whom police said were younger than 22 - were radicalised. But interviews with friends and acquaintances of Nibras and some of the other suspected attackers, as well as a review of their social media activity, offer early glimpses into how they started to change. A student who knew Nibras from North South University, a private college in Dhaka where he went before moving to Malaysia, said he ran into him at a cafe in January and was surprised by the elaborate version of the "Salaam" greeting he used. "It's usually just – 'hey, salaam, how you doing man?' But Nibras said the full version ... His approach that day seemed totally different," said the student, who requested anonymity. "I used to pray often in university, and I never saw him during prayer times at the prayer room." Privileged background The annual fee for a bachelor's course at Monash, a college with sprawling grounds and state-of-the-art sports facilities on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, is nearly $9,000, at least six times the average income in Bangladesh. A person who knew Nibras at Monash said he was pursuing an undergraduate degree in business. This person, who did not want to be identified, described him as someone who would hang out with friends and do what they did. He loved taking photographs, especially of himself, the person said, so much so that his friends would tease him about it. A scan of social media shows Nibras was crazy about a Bollywood actress, supported Liverpool soccer club and took selfies in cafes with friends. He also had a girlfriend, whom he broke up with in 2014, the person who knew him at Monash said. On Twitter, where he put his age as 22, Nibras at one point tweeted mournfully about a broken relationship. "You don't need me anymore. Be happy with him. Everyone is better then (sic) me. You know where to find me," he wrote. Then he vanished from the campus sometime last year. It is not clear why he left, but the person who knew him said his friends thought it was because he didn't enjoy his stay at Monash and decided to pursue his education closer to home and family. He started to withdraw from social media, stopping activity on sites such as Snapchat and Facebook. His Instagram account is still active. Nibras followed only ten Twitter accounts, one of which was @ShamiWitness, an influential handle run by Islamic State propagandist Mehdi Masroor Biswas, who was arrested in the Indian city of Bangalore last year. He liked a tweet by Anjem Choudary, one of Britain's most high-profile Islamist preachers, that was critical of France and its allies and was posted in January, 2015, shortly after the deadly militant attack on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. Two months before that, he had tweeted: "Goodbye for good". (Reuters )

Heartbreak, selfies and soccer: the life of a Dhaka cafe killer

Two suspected Islamic State jihadists have been detained at Istanbul&#39;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, KV and FMI, aged 25 and 35 respectively. 
 
Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names. 
 
The pair were questioned by anti-terror police in Istanbul. It was not clear whether they had been leaving or arriving at the airport. 
 
Their detention came as 13 suspects, including three foreigners, were charged Sunday over the June 28 gun and suicide bomb assault at the airport that killed 45 people including 19 foreigners. 
 
Officials believe the Islamic State group was behind the attack, the worst in a series to hit Turkey&#39;s biggest city this year. 
 
In total police have detained 29 people &quot;including foreigners&quot; in connection with the airport assault, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said. 
 
Yildirim said Monday that police were on high alert and had boosted their presence at the airport and other sensitive Istanbul sites including metro stations and the Marmaray rail tunnel. 
 
A team of 80 special forces troops have been patrolling Ataturk airport, one of Europe&#39;s busiest hubs, since Sunday. 
 
Last week&#39;s carnage &quot;followed a new model&quot; of attack in Turkey, Yildirim said, noting that the bombers had first sprayed passengers with bullets, allowing them to get inside the terminal before blowing themselves up. 
 
Of more than 200 people injured, 47 are still in hospital. 
 
Authorities believe the attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national. 
 
State news agency Anadolu has named two of them as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, without giving their nationalities. 
 
Central Asia&#39;s former Soviet republics have been a major source of foreign jihadists travelling to fight with IS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria. 
 
Turkish media have identified the strike&#39;s organiser as Akhmed Chatayev, the Chechen leader of an IS cell in Istanbul who allegedly masterminded two other deadly attacks that killed tourists in the city. 
 
Turkey has been rocked by a series of attacks over the past year, blamed on both IS jihadists and Kurdish rebels. 
 
(AFP)

Turkey has been rocked by a series of attacks over the past year, blamed on both IS jihadists and Kurdish rebels

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, KV and FMI, aged 25 and 35 respectively. Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names. The pair were questioned by anti-terror police in Istanbul. It was not clear whether they had been leaving or arriving at the airport. Their detention came as 13 suspects, including three foreigners, were charged Sunday over the June 28 gun and suicide bomb assault at the airport that killed 45 people including 19 foreigners. Officials believe the Islamic State group was behind the attack, the worst in a series to hit Turkey's biggest city this year. In total police have detained 29 people "including foreigners" in connection with the airport assault, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said. Yildirim said Monday that police were on high alert and had boosted their presence at the airport and other sensitive Istanbul sites including metro stations and the Marmaray rail tunnel. A team of 80 special forces troops have been patrolling Ataturk airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs, since Sunday. Last week's carnage "followed a new model" of attack in Turkey, Yildirim said, noting that the bombers had first sprayed passengers with bullets, allowing them to get inside the terminal before blowing themselves up. Of more than 200 people injured, 47 are still in hospital. Authorities believe the attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national. State news agency Anadolu has named two of them as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, without giving their nationalities. Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been a major source of foreign jihadists travelling to fight with IS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria. Turkish media have identified the strike's organiser as Akhmed Chatayev, the Chechen leader of an IS cell in Istanbul who allegedly masterminded two other deadly attacks that killed tourists in the city. Turkey has been rocked by a series of attacks over the past year, blamed on both IS jihadists and Kurdish rebels. (AFP)

IS suspects held at Istanbul airport days after attack

The death toll from a suicide bombing in a Baghdad shopping district has risen to over 150, 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. 
 
The toll in Karrada stood at 151 killed and 200 wounded by midday on Monday, according to police and medical sources. Rescuers and families were still looking for 35 missing people. 
 
Islamic State claimed the attack, saying it was a suicide bombing. Another explosion struck in the same night, when a roadside bomb blew up in popular market of al-Shaab, a Shi&#39;ite district in north Baghdad, killing two people. 
 
The attacks cast a shadow over victory statements made last month by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi&#39;s government, after Iraqi forces dislodged Islamic State from Falluja, the stronghold of the ultra-hardline Sunni insurgents near Baghdad. 
 
Government officials ordered the offensive on Falluja in May after a series of deadly bombings in Shi&#39;ite areas of Baghdad that they said originated from Falluja, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital. 
 
&quot;Abadi has to have a meeting with the heads of national security, intelligence, the interior ministry and all sides responsible for security and ask them just one question: How can we infiltrate these groups?&quot; said Abdul Kareem Khalaf, a former police Major General who advises the Netherlands-based European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies think tank. 
 
In a sign of public outrage at the failure of the security services, Abadi was given an angry reception on Sunday when he toured Karrada, the district where he grew up, with residents throwing stones, empty buckets and even slippers at his convoy in gestures of contempt. 
 
He ordered new measures to protect Baghdad, starting with the withdrawal of fake bomb detectors that police have continued to use despite a scandal that broke out in 2011 about their sale to Iraq under his predecessor, Nuri al-Maliki. 
 
The hand-held devices were initially developed to find lost golf balls, and the British businessman who sold them to Iraq for $40 million was jailed in Britain in 2013. 
 
Abadi ordered that the fake devices be replaced by efficient detectors at the entrances to Baghdad and Iraq&#39;s provinces. 
 
Karrada, a largely Shi&#39;ite district with a small Christian community and a few Sunni mosques, was busy at the time of the blast as people were eating out and shopping late during Ramadan, which ends this week with the Eid al-Fitr festival. 
 
Falluja was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. Abadi said the next target of the Iraqi forces is Mosul, the de facto capital of the militants and the largest city under their control in both Iraq and Syria. 
 
(Reuters)

Residents expressed outrage at the failure of the security services by throwing stones, empty buckets and even slippers at PM Abadi's convoy

The death toll from a suicide bombing in a Baghdad shopping district has risen to over 150, 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. The toll in Karrada stood at 151 killed and 200 wounded by midday on Monday, according to police and medical sources. Rescuers and families were still looking for 35 missing people. Islamic State claimed the attack, saying it was a suicide bombing. Another explosion struck in the same night, when a roadside bomb blew up in popular market of al-Shaab, a Shi'ite district in north Baghdad, killing two people. The attacks cast a shadow over victory statements made last month by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's government, after Iraqi forces dislodged Islamic State from Falluja, the stronghold of the ultra-hardline Sunni insurgents near Baghdad. Government officials ordered the offensive on Falluja in May after a series of deadly bombings in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad that they said originated from Falluja, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the capital. "Abadi has to have a meeting with the heads of national security, intelligence, the interior ministry and all sides responsible for security and ask them just one question: How can we infiltrate these groups?" said Abdul Kareem Khalaf, a former police Major General who advises the Netherlands-based European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies think tank. In a sign of public outrage at the failure of the security services, Abadi was given an angry reception on Sunday when he toured Karrada, the district where he grew up, with residents throwing stones, empty buckets and even slippers at his convoy in gestures of contempt. He ordered new measures to protect Baghdad, starting with the withdrawal of fake bomb detectors that police have continued to use despite a scandal that broke out in 2011 about their sale to Iraq under his predecessor, Nuri al-Maliki. The hand-held devices were initially developed to find lost golf balls, and the British businessman who sold them to Iraq for $40 million was jailed in Britain in 2013. Abadi ordered that the fake devices be replaced by efficient detectors at the entrances to Baghdad and Iraq's provinces. Karrada, a largely Shi'ite district with a small Christian community and a few Sunni mosques, was busy at the time of the blast as people were eating out and shopping late during Ramadan, which ends this week with the Eid al-Fitr festival. Falluja was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. Abadi said the next target of the Iraqi forces is Mosul, the de facto capital of the militants and the largest city under their control in both Iraq and Syria. (Reuters)

Iraqis want crackdown on 'sleeper cells' after suicide attack in Baghdad

Turkey has proposed cooperating with Moscow to combat Islamic State in Syria, suggesting it could open its Incirlik Air Base to Russia, comments that highlighted a revival in ties strained by Turkey&#39;s shooting down of a Russian warplane last year. 
 
Moscow pledged to rebuild relations after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over the shooting down of the aircraft, with the loss of the pilot, near the Syrian frontier. Moscow had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts. 
 
&quot;We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh. We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh,&quot; Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview on state broadcaster TRT Haber on Sunday, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. 
 
&quot;Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy.&quot; 
 
While both Turkey and Russia recognise the threat of Islamic State, they are on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, raising questions about the viability of Russian use of Incirlik. 
 
Turkey has been one of the most steadfast opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran. 
 
Turkey&#39;s NATO partners may also be wary of Russian use of the base, which is located five miles north of the Turkish city of Adana near the Syrian border. 
 
Incirlik hosts aircraft of the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Qatar involved in the US-led air campaign against Islamic State. 
 
(Reuters)

While both Turkey and Russia recognise the threat of Islamic State, they are on opposite sides of the Syrian conflict

Turkey has proposed cooperating with Moscow to combat Islamic State in Syria, suggesting it could open its Incirlik Air Base to Russia, comments that highlighted a revival in ties strained by Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane last year. Moscow pledged to rebuild relations after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over the shooting down of the aircraft, with the loss of the pilot, near the Syrian frontier. Moscow had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts. "We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh. We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview on state broadcaster TRT Haber on Sunday, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. "Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy." While both Turkey and Russia recognise the threat of Islamic State, they are on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, raising questions about the viability of Russian use of Incirlik. Turkey has been one of the most steadfast opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran. Turkey's NATO partners may also be wary of Russian use of the base, which is located five miles north of the Turkish city of Adana near the Syrian border. Incirlik hosts aircraft of the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Qatar involved in the US-led air campaign against Islamic State. (Reuters)

Turkey proposes cooperation with Russia in fighting IS: Foreign minister

Malaysian authorities on Monday confirmed that the Islamic State (IS) was responsible for a grenade attack on a nightspot last week, which is believed to be the first successful attempt in the country by the militant group. 
 
Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said two men have been arrested in connection with the attack, and that they received direct instructions from Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a known Malaysian IS fighter. 
 
&quot;The two of those arrested had received instructions from Muhammad Wanndy, who had commanded them to carry out attacks in Malaysia, on our government leaders, top police officials and judges. These three groups are considered as threatening to IS activities,&quot; Khalid said at a news conference. 
 
Police are hunting for two more people believed to have been directly involved in the nightclub attack, Khalid added. 
 
Police had on June 28 ruled out terrorism as a motive for the pre-dawn attack, which took place as customers were watching a live screening of the Euro football tournament. 
 
Investigators initially said that a business rivalry, or a targeted attack on someone in the bar, were the more likely motives, but were forced to reassess their position a day later after an IS claim of responsibility was posted on Facebook. 
 
Khalid said police also arrested 13 others, including two low-ranking police officers, in a counter-terrorism crackdown in the aftermath of the grenade attack. 
 
Khalid said those detained during the crackdown had all received instructions to carry out attacks on top officials &quot;and also entertainment centres, which they consider un-Islamic&quot;. 
 
All those detained, including the two linked directly to the attack, are Malaysians. 
 
The IS recently released a video of its fighters from Southeast Asia calling on its supporters to stay home and unify under one umbrella group to launch attacks in the region. 
 
(Reuters)

Two have been arrested for last week's attack which is believed to be the first successful attempt in the country by IS

Malaysian authorities on Monday confirmed that the Islamic State (IS) was responsible for a grenade attack on a nightspot last week, which is believed to be the first successful attempt in the country by the militant group. Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said two men have been arrested in connection with the attack, and that they received direct instructions from Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a known Malaysian IS fighter. "The two of those arrested had received instructions from Muhammad Wanndy, who had commanded them to carry out attacks in Malaysia, on our government leaders, top police officials and judges. These three groups are considered as threatening to IS activities," Khalid said at a news conference. Police are hunting for two more people believed to have been directly involved in the nightclub attack, Khalid added. Police had on June 28 ruled out terrorism as a motive for the pre-dawn attack, which took place as customers were watching a live screening of the Euro football tournament. Investigators initially said that a business rivalry, or a targeted attack on someone in the bar, were the more likely motives, but were forced to reassess their position a day later after an IS claim of responsibility was posted on Facebook. Khalid said police also arrested 13 others, including two low-ranking police officers, in a counter-terrorism crackdown in the aftermath of the grenade attack. Khalid said those detained during the crackdown had all received instructions to carry out attacks on top officials "and also entertainment centres, which they consider un-Islamic". All those detained, including the two linked directly to the attack, are Malaysians. The IS recently released a video of its fighters from Southeast Asia calling on its supporters to stay home and unify under one umbrella group to launch attacks in the region. (Reuters)

Malaysian police confirm IS link to nightclub grenade attack

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani on Monday morning. 
 
The 12-hour-long hostage crisis had ended on Saturday morning after a two hour assault by commandos, leading to the death of six gunmen and capturing one alive. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night. 
 
Two senior police officers, Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages. 
 
While Salauddin was laid to rest at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka, Robiul was buried at her village home in Manikganj. Meanwhile, security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place. 
 
In the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka,&nbsp;US secretary of state John Kerry had also called the Bangladeshi Prime Minister and offered her assistance from American law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. State department spokesperson John Kirby said that the secretary on Sunday encouraged Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate US assistance in this regard.&nbsp; 
 
(ANI)&nbsp;

Security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital in the wake of the terror attack

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani on Monday morning. The 12-hour-long hostage crisis had ended on Saturday morning after a two hour assault by commandos, leading to the death of six gunmen and capturing one alive. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night. Two senior police officers, Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages. While Salauddin was laid to rest at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka, Robiul was buried at her village home in Manikganj. Meanwhile, security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place. In the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka, US secretary of state John Kerry had also called the Bangladeshi Prime Minister and offered her assistance from American law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. State department spokesperson John Kirby said that the secretary on Sunday encouraged Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate US assistance in this regard. (ANI)

Bangladesh PM pays tribute to victims of Dhaka cafe siege

Kuwaiti security authorities have broken up three Islamic State cells plotting &quot;terror&quot; attacks in the oil-rich Gulf state, the interior ministry said today. 
 
Five Kuwaiti nationals were arrested, including a policeman and a woman, who all confessed to plotting attacks against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry target, the ministry said in a statement. 
 
All members of the three cells also confessed to being members of the Islamic State jihadist group. 
 
Kuwaiti police are still looking for a Gulf man and an Asian who assisted one of the cells, the ministry said. 
 
The action against the Islamist cells comes a year after an IS-linked Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite mosque, killing 26 worshippers in the worst attack in Kuwait. 
 
A court sentenced one man to death and jailed eight others for assisting the Saudi bomber. 
 
Among those arrested in the latest police action was 18-year old Talal Raja who confessed to have been plotting a suicide attack against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry installation by the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramzan on Tuesday, the ministry said. 
 
The second cell consisted of a mother and son who were arrested in Syria in the IS-controlled Riga and brought back to Kuwait, the ministry said. It provided no details of how they were arrested. 
 
The 28-year old son had cut short his petroleum engineering study in Britain to join the IS after his younger brother was killed while fighting for the group in Iraq, the ministry said. 
 
The third cell comprised of two Kuwaitis, one of them a policeman, who were seized along with two Klashnikov rifles and ammunition. The pair confessed to plotting attacks in the country, the ministry said. 
 
In November last year, Kuwaiti police busted an international cell led by a Lebanese man that was sending air defence systems and funds to the Islamic State group. 
 
Several suspected IS members and sympathisers were tried in the Gulf emirate for a suicide bombing last month claimed by the group. 
 
(AFP)

Five Kuwaiti nationals, including a policeman and woman, were arrested after they apparently confessed to being members IS

Kuwaiti security authorities have broken up three Islamic State cells plotting "terror" attacks in the oil-rich Gulf state, the interior ministry said today. Five Kuwaiti nationals were arrested, including a policeman and a woman, who all confessed to plotting attacks against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry target, the ministry said in a statement. All members of the three cells also confessed to being members of the Islamic State jihadist group. Kuwaiti police are still looking for a Gulf man and an Asian who assisted one of the cells, the ministry said. The action against the Islamist cells comes a year after an IS-linked Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite mosque, killing 26 worshippers in the worst attack in Kuwait. A court sentenced one man to death and jailed eight others for assisting the Saudi bomber. Among those arrested in the latest police action was 18-year old Talal Raja who confessed to have been plotting a suicide attack against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry installation by the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramzan on Tuesday, the ministry said. The second cell consisted of a mother and son who were arrested in Syria in the IS-controlled Riga and brought back to Kuwait, the ministry said. It provided no details of how they were arrested. The 28-year old son had cut short his petroleum engineering study in Britain to join the IS after his younger brother was killed while fighting for the group in Iraq, the ministry said. The third cell comprised of two Kuwaitis, one of them a policeman, who were seized along with two Klashnikov rifles and ammunition. The pair confessed to plotting attacks in the country, the ministry said. In November last year, Kuwaiti police busted an international cell led by a Lebanese man that was sending air defence systems and funds to the Islamic State group. Several suspected IS members and sympathisers were tried in the Gulf emirate for a suicide bombing last month claimed by the group. (AFP)

Kuwait busts 3 IS cells plotting attacks

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said she was determined to eradicate terrorism in Bangladesh after security forces stormed into a cafe where Islamist extremists had taken dozens of diners hostage. 
 
&quot;It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don&#39;t have any religion,&quot; she said in a televised speech. 
 
&quot;People must resist these terrorists. My government is determined to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh,&quot; she added.&nbsp; 
 
The Bangladesh cafe hostage siege finally ended on Saturday after a bloody fight between commandos and militants. 
 
&quot;We have been able to save 13 people, six gunmen have been killed,&quot; the PM said and added, &quot;All security agencies did a great job.&quot; 
 
Eight to nine gunmen had attacked the upscale cafe Holey Artisan in the diplomatic area of Dhaka late on Friday and had been holding about 20 hostages, including foreigners. 
 
The security forces launched an offensive to end the hostage crisis at the restaurant today morning, reports the Daily Star.The assailants, believed to be carrying assault rifles and grenades, exchanged sporadic gun fire with police outside for several hours after the attack, which began around 9 pm on Friday.&nbsp; 
 
(Agencies)&nbsp;

The Bangladeshi Prime Minister says she is determined to eradicate terrorism from her country

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said she was determined to eradicate terrorism in Bangladesh after security forces stormed into a cafe where Islamist extremists had taken dozens of diners hostage. "It was an extremely heinous act. What kind of Muslims are these people? They don't have any religion," she said in a televised speech. "People must resist these terrorists. My government is determined to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh," she added. The Bangladesh cafe hostage siege finally ended on Saturday after a bloody fight between commandos and militants. "We have been able to save 13 people, six gunmen have been killed," the PM said and added, "All security agencies did a great job." Eight to nine gunmen had attacked the upscale cafe Holey Artisan in the diplomatic area of Dhaka late on Friday and had been holding about 20 hostages, including foreigners. The security forces launched an offensive to end the hostage crisis at the restaurant today morning, reports the Daily Star.The assailants, believed to be carrying assault rifles and grenades, exchanged sporadic gun fire with police outside for several hours after the attack, which began around 9 pm on Friday. (Agencies)

'What kind of Muslims are these people?' asks Hasina

Early in June, a man walked into the Dhaka premises of the Ramakrishna Mission, a Hindu centre for spirituality and learning in the Bangladesh capital, and delivered a handwritten note warning of an attack by Islamic State. 
 
Days later, armed policemen were sitting inside the mission&#39;s compound among orange-robed monks, the gates outside were closed and fewer people than normal showed up at a medical clinic it runs for the neighbourhood. 
 
&quot;We are monks, we will live and die here, but people with families are worried,&quot; Swami Shivananda, a priest managing the administration of the mission, said of the country&#39;s Hindu community, which accounts for 10 per cent of the population. 
 
Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for the killings of more than 30 people since early last year, in an escalation of militant violence targeting liberals, atheists, foreigners, gays and religious minorities. 
 
They have shocked the largely moderate Muslim country of 160 million people and heightened fears that Bangladesh, once hailed as the next Asian tiger economy with its huge garment industry, could lose out to more stable competitors in the region. 
 
Unlike some security experts, Bangladesh authorities say the two international jihadi movements are not directly involved in the murders, many of which were carried out with machetes. 
 
But, as the police at the Hindu mission attest, the danger is real, and counter-terrorism officials warn it could get worse with one local militant group adopting al Qaeda&#39;s methods and calling on the expertise of a former army major implicated in a failed 2011 coup. 
 
Deadly rivalry&nbsp; 
 
Security officials say two local militant groups, Ansar-al-Islam and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, are behind the killings. 
 
Of the two, Ansar, which pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, has emerged as the most organised and dangerous, they say, while Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is seen as a looser organisation that claims it represents Islamic State but has no proven links to it. 
 
&quot;By now we have a clear idea of the organisational structure, command and control and methods of operations of Ansar-al-Islam,&quot; Monirul Islam, chief of Bangladesh&#39;s counter-terrorism police, told Reuters in a recent interview. 
 
&quot;They follow the ideology of al Qaeda, their operational leaders are mostly educated men, (from a) middle class background. They declare their allegiance to al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and, through it, to Ayman al-Zawahri,&quot; he said, referring to al Qaeda&#39;s global leader. 
 
According to Thomas Joscelyn, senior editor at The Long War Journal that tracks jihadi groups worldwide, there was evidence of more direct links between Bangladesh and al Qaeda, and he warned the Islamist militant threat had been underestimated. 
 
&quot;We now have competition between al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Bangladesh, which means that the jihadist pool is deep enough for both organizations to operate in the country.&quot; 
 
In May, 2015, AQIS leader Asim Umar claimed responsibility for the murder of Avijit Roy, a US citizen and blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh that February. US officials said at the time they were unable to confirm the claim. 
 
Initially, Ansar struck bloggers and publishers critical of radical Islam, then university teachers, including one who asked a woman student to remove her veil in class. 
 
In April, it said it murdered two gay rights activists, saying they were promoting anti-Islamic activities, police said. 
 
Mysterious ex-officer 
 
Also worrying for authorities is the apparent rise within Ansar&#39;s ranks of former army Major Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque, who went into hiding after the military accused him of involvement in a plot to overthrow the government in 2011. 
 
&quot;We have a suspicion that the ex-major is one of their leaders,&quot; said counter-terrorism chief Islam. &quot;He is in hiding. We know his capability. If he is involved, it is a strength for Ansar-al-Islam.&quot; 
 
Zia, as intelligence agencies call him, was from the engineer corps and trained in special operations. 
 
His would be the first known case of a Bangladesh military officer switching sides to join a militant group, although it has happened elsewhere. 
 
A military spokesman said Zia had been dismissed from service five years ago, but added that he was not in a position to speak about Zia&#39;s activities since then. 
 
Zia&#39;s involvement with Ansar was first mentioned by the head of its predecessor group following his capture in 2013, two police officials said. 
 
Zia was helping in the training of the fighters, motivating them to carry out jihad against &quot;anti-Islam&quot; forces and also taught bomb-making skills, one official briefed on the interrogation report said. 
 
Reuters could not independently verify the police claims. 
 
At the same time, Islamic State has said it was behind the killings of Hindus, Buddhists and members of minority Muslim sects, which have accelerated in recent weeks. 
 
Security officials tie those deaths to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a home grown group inspired by Islamic State&#39;s vision of a caliphate. 
 
Police official Islam said authorities had found computer evidence that Bangladesh-origin foreign fighters, some in Syria, were claiming attacks on behalf of Islamic State as soon as they occurred. 
 
But he said there was no evidence of operational ties with the Middle East-based movement. 
 
(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

They follow the ideology of al Qaeda and their operational leaders are mostly educated men from the middle class

Early in June, a man walked into the Dhaka premises of the Ramakrishna Mission, a Hindu centre for spirituality and learning in the Bangladesh capital, and delivered a handwritten note warning of an attack by Islamic State. Days later, armed policemen were sitting inside the mission's compound among orange-robed monks, the gates outside were closed and fewer people than normal showed up at a medical clinic it runs for the neighbourhood. "We are monks, we will live and die here, but people with families are worried," Swami Shivananda, a priest managing the administration of the mission, said of the country's Hindu community, which accounts for 10 per cent of the population. Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for the killings of more than 30 people since early last year, in an escalation of militant violence targeting liberals, atheists, foreigners, gays and religious minorities. They have shocked the largely moderate Muslim country of 160 million people and heightened fears that Bangladesh, once hailed as the next Asian tiger economy with its huge garment industry, could lose out to more stable competitors in the region. Unlike some security experts, Bangladesh authorities say the two international jihadi movements are not directly involved in the murders, many of which were carried out with machetes. But, as the police at the Hindu mission attest, the danger is real, and counter-terrorism officials warn it could get worse with one local militant group adopting al Qaeda's methods and calling on the expertise of a former army major implicated in a failed 2011 coup. Deadly rivalry Security officials say two local militant groups, Ansar-al-Islam and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, are behind the killings. Of the two, Ansar, which pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, has emerged as the most organised and dangerous, they say, while Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen is seen as a looser organisation that claims it represents Islamic State but has no proven links to it. "By now we have a clear idea of the organisational structure, command and control and methods of operations of Ansar-al-Islam," Monirul Islam, chief of Bangladesh's counter-terrorism police, told Reuters in a recent interview. "They follow the ideology of al Qaeda, their operational leaders are mostly educated men, (from a) middle class background. They declare their allegiance to al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and, through it, to Ayman al-Zawahri," he said, referring to al Qaeda's global leader. According to Thomas Joscelyn, senior editor at The Long War Journal that tracks jihadi groups worldwide, there was evidence of more direct links between Bangladesh and al Qaeda, and he warned the Islamist militant threat had been underestimated. "We now have competition between al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Bangladesh, which means that the jihadist pool is deep enough for both organizations to operate in the country." In May, 2015, AQIS leader Asim Umar claimed responsibility for the murder of Avijit Roy, a US citizen and blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh that February. US officials said at the time they were unable to confirm the claim. Initially, Ansar struck bloggers and publishers critical of radical Islam, then university teachers, including one who asked a woman student to remove her veil in class. In April, it said it murdered two gay rights activists, saying they were promoting anti-Islamic activities, police said. Mysterious ex-officer Also worrying for authorities is the apparent rise within Ansar's ranks of former army Major Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque, who went into hiding after the military accused him of involvement in a plot to overthrow the government in 2011. "We have a suspicion that the ex-major is one of their leaders," said counter-terrorism chief Islam. "He is in hiding. We know his capability. If he is involved, it is a strength for Ansar-al-Islam." Zia, as intelligence agencies call him, was from the engineer corps and trained in special operations. His would be the first known case of a Bangladesh military officer switching sides to join a militant group, although it has happened elsewhere. A military spokesman said Zia had been dismissed from service five years ago, but added that he was not in a position to speak about Zia's activities since then. Zia's involvement with Ansar was first mentioned by the head of its predecessor group following his capture in 2013, two police officials said. Zia was helping in the training of the fighters, motivating them to carry out jihad against "anti-Islam" forces and also taught bomb-making skills, one official briefed on the interrogation report said. Reuters could not independently verify the police claims. At the same time, Islamic State has said it was behind the killings of Hindus, Buddhists and members of minority Muslim sects, which have accelerated in recent weeks. Security officials tie those deaths to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, a home grown group inspired by Islamic State's vision of a caliphate. Police official Islam said authorities had found computer evidence that Bangladesh-origin foreign fighters, some in Syria, were claiming attacks on behalf of Islamic State as soon as they occurred. But he said there was no evidence of operational ties with the Middle East-based movement. (Reuters)

Home-grown militants and former army officer behind attacks on Bangladeshi minorities, say police

Turkish police carried out raids against suspected Islamic State cells in Istanbul and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir today, the state-run Anadolu agency said, two days after a triple suicide bombing killed 42 people at Istanbul airport. 
 
Turkish authorities and US officials believe Islamic State was responsible for Tuesday night&#39;s gun and bomb attack on Europe&#39;s third-busiest airport, the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in Turkey this year. 
 
Counter-terrorism police led by special forces officers carried out raids in several low-income neighbourhoods of Istanbul,&nbsp;including Pendik, Basaksehir and Sultanbeyli,&nbsp;&nbsp;Anadolu said, without citing its sources. 
 
It was not immediately clear if the raids were directly linked to the attack on Ataturk airport. 
 
Nine suspected militants, thought to have been in contact with Islamic State members in Syria, were meanwhile detained in the dawn raids in four districts of Izmir, the news agency said. It said they were accused of financing, recruiting and providing logistical support to the Sunni hard-line group. 
 
Three bombers opened fire to create panic outside Istanbul airport on Tuesday, before two of them got inside and blew themselves up. The third detonated his explosives at the entrance. Two hundred thirty-nine people were wounded. 
 
Turkey is part of a US-led military coalition against Islamic State and home to about 3 million refugees from the five-year civil war in neighbouring Syria. 
 
Islamic State has established a self-declared caliphate on swathes of both Syria and Iraq and declared war on all non-Muslims and all Muslims who do not accept its ultra-hardline vision of Sunni Islam. It has claimed responsibility for similar bombing and gun attacks in Belgium and France in the past year. 
 
(Reuters)

Nine suspected militants thought to have links with IS in Syria were detained in raids in four districts of Izmir, Anadolu agency reported

Turkish police carried out raids against suspected Islamic State cells in Istanbul and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir today, the state-run Anadolu agency said, two days after a triple suicide bombing killed 42 people at Istanbul airport. Turkish authorities and US officials believe Islamic State was responsible for Tuesday night's gun and bomb attack on Europe's third-busiest airport, the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in Turkey this year. Counter-terrorism police led by special forces officers carried out raids in several low-income neighbourhoods of Istanbul, including Pendik, Basaksehir and Sultanbeyli, Anadolu said, without citing its sources. It was not immediately clear if the raids were directly linked to the attack on Ataturk airport. Nine suspected militants, thought to have been in contact with Islamic State members in Syria, were meanwhile detained in the dawn raids in four districts of Izmir, the news agency said. It said they were accused of financing, recruiting and providing logistical support to the Sunni hard-line group. Three bombers opened fire to create panic outside Istanbul airport on Tuesday, before two of them got inside and blew themselves up. The third detonated his explosives at the entrance. Two hundred thirty-nine people were wounded. Turkey is part of a US-led military coalition against Islamic State and home to about 3 million refugees from the five-year civil war in neighbouring Syria. Islamic State has established a self-declared caliphate on swathes of both Syria and Iraq and declared war on all non-Muslims and all Muslims who do not accept its ultra-hardline vision of Sunni Islam. It has claimed responsibility for similar bombing and gun attacks in Belgium and France in the past year. (Reuters)

Turkish police raid suspected Islamic State cells in Istanbul, Izmir

A Tunisian killed in the Istanbul airport attack blamed on the Islamic State group was in Turkey to secure the release of his son detained for joining the jihadists, diplomats said on Wednesday. 
 
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim quickly pointed the finger at IS over Tuesday&#39;s attack, which killed 43 and wounded 239, although no group has claimed responsibility. 
 
One of the dead was a Tunisian identified as Fathi Bayoudh, a doctor who had reportedly been in Turkey for several weeks in an attempt to repatriate his son. 
 
Bayoudh&#39;s son was accused of having joined IS in Syria, a foreign ministry source was quoted as saying by Tunisia&#39;s private Mosaique FM radio station. 
 
After months of travelling back and forth between Tunisia and Turkey, Bayoudh had finally managed to persuade his son to return home with him, an anonymous government source told AFP. 
 
A defence ministry source in Tunis said Bayoudh was at Ataturk airport to meet his wife when the triple suicide attack struck. 
 
The head of consular affairs at Tunis&#39; foreign ministry, Faycal Ben Mustapha, told AFP the Tunisian consulate in Istanbul had been in contact &quot;with the Bayoudh family since December&quot;. 
 
&quot;It was to do with their son. We don&#39;t know exactly what he did, but he went to Iraq and then Syria and ended up in detention in Turkey,&quot; he said. 
 
A defence ministry spokesman confirmed a Tunisian who was in Turkey on private business had been killed in Tuesday&#39;s attack. 
 
The Islamic State group has carried out a string of bomb attacks across Turkey since last year. 
 
Tunisia has also been the victim of attacks claimed by IS, and it is thought that thousands of Tunisians have travelled to join jihadist organisations in Syria, Iraq, and neighbouring Libya. 
 
(AFP)

After months of travelling back and forth, Dr Fatih Bayoudh had finally persuaded his son to return home with him

A Tunisian killed in the Istanbul airport attack blamed on the Islamic State group was in Turkey to secure the release of his son detained for joining the jihadists, diplomats said on Wednesday. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim quickly pointed the finger at IS over Tuesday's attack, which killed 43 and wounded 239, although no group has claimed responsibility. One of the dead was a Tunisian identified as Fathi Bayoudh, a doctor who had reportedly been in Turkey for several weeks in an attempt to repatriate his son. Bayoudh's son was accused of having joined IS in Syria, a foreign ministry source was quoted as saying by Tunisia's private Mosaique FM radio station. After months of travelling back and forth between Tunisia and Turkey, Bayoudh had finally managed to persuade his son to return home with him, an anonymous government source told AFP. A defence ministry source in Tunis said Bayoudh was at Ataturk airport to meet his wife when the triple suicide attack struck. The head of consular affairs at Tunis' foreign ministry, Faycal Ben Mustapha, told AFP the Tunisian consulate in Istanbul had been in contact "with the Bayoudh family since December". "It was to do with their son. We don't know exactly what he did, but he went to Iraq and then Syria and ended up in detention in Turkey," he said. A defence ministry spokesman confirmed a Tunisian who was in Turkey on private business had been killed in Tuesday's attack. The Islamic State group has carried out a string of bomb attacks across Turkey since last year. Tunisia has also been the victim of attacks claimed by IS, and it is thought that thousands of Tunisians have travelled to join jihadist organisations in Syria, Iraq, and neighbouring Libya. (AFP)

Tunisian man was in Turkey to free son held for joining IS, was killed in Istanbul airport attack

Passengers who had witnessed the multiple suicide bombs and gunshots that rocked Turkey&#39;s largest airport in Istanbul on Tuesday night recounted the deadly attack to China Central Television (CCTV). 
 
Ataturk airport partially opened early today morning. 
 
Several witnesses recalled what happened during the moments of chaos during a bombing attack that, according to Turkish officials, caused 36 deaths and wounded 150 others. 
 
&quot;I was waiting for my boarding pass at the counter of Turkish Airlines when I heard the first gunshot. And many passengers looked in the direction of the gunshot sound, and began to run for safety after the second gunshot. I threw all my belongings to the ground and lay down following the others. After arriving at a safe place, we found many people already there - the elderly, kids and passengers from different countries. Then we heard more gunshots and a blast, the only blast we heard. After about 10 minutes, the airport staff came and brought us to an emergency shelter or something like that. It was kind of like a dining room but drinking water and quilts were all transferred there for emergency use. We stayed there for about one-and-a half hour before getting out. We saw a lot of blood on the way out. There were shards of broken glass from the foreign currency exchange counter and bodies on the ground as well,&quot; said a witness from China. 
 
&quot;We were queuing up in the terminal when the first gunshot came. We didn&#39;t think much at first, but saw many people running towards our direction. We all lay down at once and saw someone entering the terminal, firing, and the police fired as well. Then the first blast occurred and the second blast was only three meters away from us,&quot; said another Chinese witness. 
 
A third witness corroborated the many accounts of two explosions along with gunshots, and said that after a few minutes, he was led to a basement, where he and others stayed for about an hour. 
 
Police manning a checkpoint at the airport&rsquo;s international terminal shot at two of the attackers as they approached, a Turkish official said, adding that a third bomber detonated explosives in the nearby parking lot. 
 
Turkey&rsquo;s Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, blamed the Islamic State group for the assault, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility. 
 
All three bombers were killed. 
 
(Reuters)

A Chinese passenger recounted seeing a 'lot of blood... shards of glass from the foreign currency exchange counter and bodies on the ground'

Passengers who had witnessed the multiple suicide bombs and gunshots that rocked Turkey's largest airport in Istanbul on Tuesday night recounted the deadly attack to China Central Television (CCTV). Ataturk airport partially opened early today morning. Several witnesses recalled what happened during the moments of chaos during a bombing attack that, according to Turkish officials, caused 36 deaths and wounded 150 others. "I was waiting for my boarding pass at the counter of Turkish Airlines when I heard the first gunshot. And many passengers looked in the direction of the gunshot sound, and began to run for safety after the second gunshot. I threw all my belongings to the ground and lay down following the others. After arriving at a safe place, we found many people already there - the elderly, kids and passengers from different countries. Then we heard more gunshots and a blast, the only blast we heard. After about 10 minutes, the airport staff came and brought us to an emergency shelter or something like that. It was kind of like a dining room but drinking water and quilts were all transferred there for emergency use. We stayed there for about one-and-a half hour before getting out. We saw a lot of blood on the way out. There were shards of broken glass from the foreign currency exchange counter and bodies on the ground as well," said a witness from China. "We were queuing up in the terminal when the first gunshot came. We didn't think much at first, but saw many people running towards our direction. We all lay down at once and saw someone entering the terminal, firing, and the police fired as well. Then the first blast occurred and the second blast was only three meters away from us," said another Chinese witness. A third witness corroborated the many accounts of two explosions along with gunshots, and said that after a few minutes, he was led to a basement, where he and others stayed for about an hour. Police manning a checkpoint at the airport’s international terminal shot at two of the attackers as they approached, a Turkish official said, adding that a third bomber detonated explosives in the nearby parking lot. Turkey’s Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, blamed the Islamic State group for the assault, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility. All three bombers were killed. (Reuters)

Second blast was just 3 metres from us: Chinese witnesses recount Ataturk airport attack in Istanbul

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