Sunday, January 17, 2016

From Yemen to Afghanistan to Malaysia: Muslim suicide bombings galore

Suicide bomber kills 14 at tribal gathering in Afghan city
(AFP) Fourteen people were killed Sunday when a suicide bomber struck a gathering of tribal elders at a prominent politician's home in Jalalabad, the second deadly attack in the eastern Afghan city in less than a week.

The Taliban denied responsibility for the bombing, which also left 13 people wounded on the eve of a second round of four-country negotiations aimed at restarting peace talks with the insurgents.

The carnage came during a "jirga", an assembly of tribal leaders, at the home of politician Obaiduallah Shinwari, who escaped unscathed.

"Fourteen people were killed and 13 others injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives in the house of Shinwari," said Najibullah Kamawal, the health director of Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, which was littered with pieces of human flesh, sandals and charred debris.

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Suicide Bomber Targets Police Chief in Yemen's Aden, Kills 7
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the police chief's house in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Sunday, killing seven civilians and security forces in a failed assassination attempt after militants killed two other security officials elsewhere in the country.

Police Chief Shallal Shayei survived a similar assassination attempt last month, as did the governor of the province earlier this month. Aden's previous governor was killed in an attack claimed by a local Islamic State affiliate.

Ambulances raced to the police chief's house after the explosion, which could be heard across the city, witnesses said. Officials said an armored vehicle blocked the suicide car bomber meters from the gates of the house. Seven people were killed and 12 injured after the explosion ripped through a bus that was passing by.

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Detained Malaysian was hours away from suicide attack
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian man was detained just hours before planning to blow himself up at an entertainment venue in Kuala Lumpur, a government official said Sunday, after authorities raised the alert level following bombings in neighboring Indonesia.

The 28-year-old Malaysian was detained Friday at a monorail station in Kuala Lumpur, said national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar. He said the man confessed he planned to blow himself up in an attack after receiving orders from members of the Islamic State group in Syria.

A government official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to release information, said Sunday that the man is an insurance salesman from northeast Terengganu state.

The official told The Associated Press he was detained just hours before his planned suicide attack at an entertainment outlet, either a karaoke bar or a pub.

Khalid said in a statement that the man also had been hanging Islamic State flags in several Malaysian states to oppose the government's crackdown on the militant group within the country. Khalid tweeted that "weapons and IS documents" were seized when the man was detained.

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