Recently in suicide bombing Category

Small boats with large warheads. Call it "Operation Death Dinghy." "U.S. Navy: Iran prepares suicide bomb boats in Gulf," from Reuters, February 12:

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Iran has built up its naval forces in the Gulf and prepared boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the U.S. Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region said on Sunday.

Iran has made a series of threats in recent weeks to disrupt shipping in the Gulf or strike U.S. forces in retaliation if its oil trade is shut down by sanctions, or if its disputed nuclear programme comes under attack.

"They have increased the number of submarines ... they increased the number of fast attack craft," Vice Admiral Mark Fox told reporters. "Some of the small boats have been outfitted with a large warhead that could be used as a suicide explosive device. The Iranians have a large mine inventory."

"We have watched with interest their development of long range rockets and short, medium and long range ballistic missiles and of course ... the development of their nuclear programme," Fox, who heads the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said at a briefing on the fleet's base in the Gulf state of Bahrain.

Iran now has 10 small submarines, he said.

Military experts say the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet patrolling the Gulf - which always has at least one giant supercarrier accompanied by scores of jets and a fleet of frigates and destroyers - is overwhelmingly more powerful than Iran's navy.

But ever since al Qaeda suicide bombers in a small boat killed 17 sailors on board the destroyer U.S.S. Cole in a port in Yemen in 1996, Washington has been wary of the vulnerability of its huge battleships to bomb attacks by small enemy craft.

Asked whether the U.S. Navy was prepared for an attack or other trouble in the Gulf, Fox said: "We are very vigilant, we have built a wide range of options to give the president and we are ready... What if it happened tonight? We are ready today."

Iranian officials have threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet to the Gulf through which nearly all of the Middle East's oil sails.

Asked if he took Iran's threats seriously, Fox Said: "Could they make like extremely difficult for us? Yes they could. If we did nothing and they were able to operate without being inhibited, yeah they could close it, but I can't see that we would ever be in that position."

He added that diplomacy should be given priority in resolving the tension.

"So when you hear discussion about all this overheated rhetoric from Iran we really believe that the best way to handle this is with diplomacy... I am absolutely convinced that is the way to go. It is our job to be prepared. We are vigilant."

Contacts between the U.S. Navy and Iranian craft in the Gulf region were routine, Fox said, referring to cases where his sailors helped Iranian ships that were in distress or threatened by pirates.

In addition to commanding the Fifth Fleet, Fox is also the commander of a multinational naval task force charged with ensuring Gulf shipping routes stay open. Although most of its firepower is American, the task force also includes other Western countries and the Gulf Arab states.

Where's the outrage? Imagine if this effort and ingenuity had been put toward something constructive over the past 10 years. But you don't get 72 virgins for building roads and sewers. "Civilian deaths in Afghanistan at highest level in a decade," by Ben Farmer for the Telegraph, February 4:

The number of civilians killed in the conflict rose eight per cent last year to reach 3,021 – with more than three-quarters caused by attacks from the Taliban-led insurgency.

The findings that on average more than eight Afghans a day are being killed are at odds with Nato assessments that violence is falling.

Deaths from suicide attacks rose more than 80 per cent to 431 over the year.

The number of suicide attacks did not rise, but "the nature of these attacks changed, becoming more complex, sometimes involving multiple suicide bombers, and designed to yield greater numbers of dead and injured civilians" the report found.

The worst was an attack outside a Kabul shrine in December that killed at least 56 and wounded 195 when a bomber detonated in a crowd of Shia worshippers celebrating the Ashura holiday. That attack was claimed by Pakistan-based militants.

The biggest single killer of civilians was homemade landmines often dug into roads, tracks and paths to target Nato or Afghan troops, but detonating indiscriminately.

The United Nations said on average 23 such bombs were found or blew up each day, killing 967 civilians during the year.

Numbers of civilians killed by Nato troops or by Hamid Karzai's forces fell slightly to 410.

Taliban leaders last year repeatedly called on their fighters to do more to protect civilians and threatened punishment to those who failed.

Such pronouncements have had little effect on the bloodshed, however.

"The continued high rate of civilian casualties by anti-government elements suggests that statements and proclamations alone neither resulted in improved protection of civilians nor minimised civilian casualties," the UN report said.

Women and children were increasingly caught up in the violence, accounting for 30 per cent of deaths in the last half of the year....

Abdisalan Taqabalahullaah shows his gratitude for the country that took him in, gave him a home, and kept him safe while jihad warfare wracked his homeland. "Somali militants post tape of 'US suicide bomber,'" by Abdi Guled and Katharine Houreld AP, October 30 (thanks to Kenneth):

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - An al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group on Sunday posted a tape allegedly made by an American citizen who blew himself up during an attack on an African Union base in Somalia's capital that left at least 10 people dead.

The young man, who would be at least the fourth American to become a suicide bomber in Somalia, urges other young people not to "just chill all day" and instead fight nonbelievers around the world.

The website Somalimemo.net, often used by the al-Shabab militia, said Somali-American bomber Abdisalan Taqabalahullaah had emigrated to the U.S. when he was 2 years old.

It was not possible to verify the claims and the U.S. Embassy was not able to comment. U.S. authorities estimate that at least 20 American passport holders have joined the insurgents in Somalia. At least three of them became suicide bombers.

The young man had an American accent and mixed Muslim terminology with American slang as he urged Muslims to carry out attacks against non-Muslims around the world.

"My brothers and sisters, do jihad in America, do jihad in Canada, do jihad in England, anywhere in Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in China, in Australia," the voice said. "Anywhere you find (unbelievers), fight them and be firm against them.

"Today jihad is what is most important thing for the Muslim ummah," he said, using a word for the Islamic community. "It is not important that you, you know, you you become a doctor or you become, you know, uh, some sort of engineer."

"We have to believe in Allah and die as Muslims ... Brainstorm," the youth said. "Don't, don't just sit around and, you know, be, be be a couch potato and you know, you know, just like, you know, just chill all day, you know. It doesn't, it doesn't, it will not benefit you, it will not benefit yourself, or the Muslims."...

This clown lived in America from the age of two. We are always told that Muslims in America are peaceful and reject violent jihad and the beliefs of Al-Qaeda and its allies. So how did Abdisalan Taqabalahullaah end up misunderstanding Islam so drastically? Did he attend a mosque in the U.S.? If so, which one? What is being taught there? Does anyone know? Does anyone care?

The attacker was from the Taliban. You know, the group whose leader the Secretary of State just invited to negotiations, saying that his involvement was crucial for the prospects for peace. More fruit of the Obama Administration's fantasy-based policymaking regarding Islam: "13 Americans Said to Be Among Killed in Kabul Attack," by Rod Nordland and Sharifullah Sahak for the New York Times, October 29 (thanks to Bill):

KABUL, Afghanistan — At least 13 American soldiers were among more than 20 people killed when a Taliban suicide car bomber attacked an armored NATO shuttle bus in Kabul on Saturday, a Western military official confirmed.

It was the worst loss of life among American troops in the capital in several years.

The attack on the bus, known as a Rhino because of its heavy armor, took place in front of the American University on a route often traveled by military trainers from NATO bases in downtown Kabul to the Kabul Military Training Center. At least eight civilians were reported among the dead, including three Afghan police officers and two children.

A military dog was also killed, the military official said.

That will please the followers of the man who "ordered the killing of dogs," such that his followers "would send (men) in Medina and its corners and we did not spare any dog that we did not kill, so much so that we killed the dog that accompanied the wet she-camel belonging to the people of the desert." -- Sahih Muslim 3811

A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility, saying that a suicide bomber named Abdul Rahman Hazarbos drove a truck with 1,500 pounds of explosives into a bus carrying foreign military trainers, killing all aboard. He claimed 25 NATO soldiers were killed in all.

Apparently these suicide bombing sleeper cells have somehow gotten the crazy idea that the Qur'an's promise of Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111) meant that Paradise was promised to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah. And note that no Islamic "moderate" group is lifting a finger to disabuse them of that notion.

"200 suicide bombers 'planning attacks in UK,'" by Sean Rayment in the Telegraph, October 8 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

At least 200 potential terrorists are actively planning suicide attacks while living freely in Britain, intelligence chiefs have warned ministers.

A senior intelligence source has revealed that the figure is a "conservative" estimate of the threat facing the country from UK-based Islamist suicide bombers.

The would-be killers are among 2,000 extremists who the security services have said are based in Britain and actively planning terrorist activity of some kind.

The figures are contained within a secret government report on the "enduring terrorist threat" facing the UK from al-Qaeda and affiliated organisations, The Sunday Telegraph has been told.

While the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki may have left al-Qaeda without a charismatic leader, both the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and the Security Service, MI5, believe the organisation remains as dangerous as ever.

Of course. This is because it is based on a belief-system, not centered around a charismatic personality.

The warning comes as Britain begins preparations for next year's 2012 Olympic Games, which has been described by MI5 as the biggest security operation in the country's history.

But senior sources believe that rather than targeting Olympic venues, where security will be extremely high, terrorists will be tempted to attack areas where crowds are likely to congregate such as train stations and public events.

If terrorists were to mount an attack in Britain of the kind seen in other countries, by packing a single explosive vest with hundreds of ball bearings then detonating it in a crowded enclosed area such as a station terminus at rush hour, they could kill up to 120 people according to one explosives expert.

The 200 British residents thought to be planning suicide attacks, either within the UK or overseas, represent one in 10 of the wider group of 2,000 terrorist plotters.

The intelligence source added that suicide bombers would only be stopped by either a "chance encounter" or by an intelligence-led investigation. But he added that if a terrorist cell was properly organised and secure there was very little the authorities could do to prevent an attack....

In using deception to lure Rabbani to his death, this Muslim was imitating Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, who once took offense to Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf, a poet who had mocked him, and asked his followers: "Who is willing to kill Ka'b bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His Apostle?" One of the Muslims, Muhammad bin Maslama answered, "O Allah's Apostle! Would you like that I kill him?" When Muhammad said that he would, Muhammad bin Maslama said, "Then allow me to say a (false) thing (i.e. to deceive Kab)." Muhammad responded: "You may say it." Muhammad bin Maslama duly lied to Ka'b, luring him into his trap, and murdered him. (Bukhari, volume 5, book 59, number 369)

Of course, Muhammad also famously said, "War is deceit."

More on this story. War Is Deceit Update: "Afghan president: Rabbani's killer staged a ruse," by Amir Shah and Deb Reichmann for the Associated Press, September 22 (thanks to Bill):

KABUL, Afghanistan—The suicide bomber who killed Afghanistan's former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani​, gained access to him by presenting officials beforehand with an audio recording of a purported Taliban peace offer, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday....

The assassin, who hid a bomb in his turban, killed the 70-year-old former Afghan leader Tuesday at his home in Kabul.

Karzai said that before he left for New York last weekend, one of his advisers, Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, told him that the Taliban had a message for the Afghan peace council. Stanekzai is a top peace council official who was wounded in the attack that killed Rabbani.

"Stanekzai brought me a message that someone had come from the Taliban movement and brought with them an audio CD in which there was a message from a Taliban representative," Karzai said.

The president said he listened to the audio before leaving to attend the U.N. General Assembly. The voice on the recording spoke respectfully about Rabbani, he said. "There were a couple of questions and suggestions mentioned regarding peace."

Karzai said he then talked with Rabbani, who rushed back home from a trip to Iran to listen to the recording.

"It was not a peace message. It was a trick," said Karzai, speaking at a podium set up in a courtyard of the presidential palace. "The messenger was the killer."

Shafiqullah Tahiri, a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service, said officials believe Rabbani's killing had been planned for four months and that the Afghan Taliban's governing council known as the Quetta Shura, named after the city in Pakistan, was behind the assassination....

Rahmatullah Wahidyar, a member of the peace council who had brought the bomber to Rabbani's house, told reporters that when the attacker entered the room, Rabbani stood up and went to hug him.

"There was a bang," Wahidyar told reporters at a news conference held by the intelligence service. "I have small fractures on my face and right side."

Shortly after Karzai's remarks, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker pledged support from the United States and international community for Afghan peace efforts, and called Rabbani's killing a "brutal murder."...

He also said that Rabbani's death "raises very serious questions" as to whether the Taliban and those who support them have any real interest in reconciling with the Afghan government.

No kidding, really?

This suicide attacker must have been reading Islamophobic literature misrepresenting his peaceful religion.

Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update. "Suicide bombing near Pakistani mosque kills 11," from Deutsche Presse Agentur, August 31 (thanks to Twostellas):

Islamabad - A car suicide bombing on Wednesday killed at least 11 people and injured 21 in south-west Pakistan, police said.

The attack took place in the parking lot of a mosque when hundreds of Shia Muslims were leaving after Eid al Fitr prayers for the end of Ramadan in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

'The attacker wanted to ram the explosive-laden car into Eid Gah (the mosque) but the explosion occurred in the parking lot,' city police chief Ahsan Mehboob said, adding that due to 'tight security' around the mosque the attacker could not get beyond the car park....

Hundreds of people have died in the clashes between minority Shia and majority Sunni Muslims across Pakistan in recent years.

"The first blast occurred when officers attempted to detain a suspected militant in the Chechen capital of Grozny." See, if only the officers weren't so "Islamophobic" as to interfere with the activities of the glorious mujahedin, none of this would have happened. Will the Islamophobia never end? "Russian report: 7 dead in 2 blasts in Chechnya," from CNN, August 30 (thanks to Kenneth):

(CNN) -- Two blasts -- the second coming after police and passersby had gathered at the site of the first -- killed seven people and wounded 18 Tuesday evening in the Russian republic of Chechnya, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

The state-run agency said the first blast occurred when officers attempted to detain a suspected militant in the Chechen capital of Grozny. About 30 minutes after that explosion, a second blast hit the same area after people had gathered there, RIA Novosti said....

Rebels in Chechnya started out fighting for independence in the 1990s, but in recent years the fight has been aimed more at imposing Islamist rule and asserting their authority in the area.

The standard of living in the southwestern republic is poor compared with the rest of Russia. Unemployment is rampant and infant mortality is high. In addition, the Chechen population of about 1 million is mostly made up of Sunni Muslims, who maintain a distinctly separate cultural and linguistic identity from Russian Orthodox Christians.

Note CNN's spin: this is all about poverty, not jihad. That's why you see so many Haitian suicide bombers.

Islam is "a faith known for its diversity," says Barack Obama, and this proves it. Women, too, can lay claim to the Qur'an's guarantee of Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111).

"Female suicide bomber hits Pakistan, seven dead," from Channel News Asia, August 11 (thanks to Twostellas):

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A female suicide attacker and a handcart bomb targeted Pakistani police on Thursday, killing seven people in the first deadly attacks to hit the northwest during Ramadan, officials said.

The city of Peshawar, where the bombs struck, is on the frontline of a Taliban insurgency and borders Pakistan's lawless tribal belt that Washington calls the global headquarters of Al-Qaeda.

It was only the third time police have confirmed a woman suicide attacker in the nuclear-armed country of 167 million where Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked bombers have killed 4,500 people since 2007, destabilising the government.

Dozens were wounded in Thursday's attacks, carried out several hours apart in the Lahori Gate area of Peshawar, a teeming city of 2.5 million, targeting first a police van and secondly a police checkpost.

"This was a female suicide bomber aged around 17 or 18 who threw a hand grenade on the police checkpost, 20 metres away from the site of the first blast, and then blew herself up," police official Shafqat Malik told AFP....

In late June, the Pakistani Taliban claimed for the first time that a married Uzbek couple carried out a suicide attack on a police station that killed 10 officers and threatened further husband-and-wife bombings....

US officials have accused Pakistani intelligence of playing a double game with extremists, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, in order to exert influence in Afghanistan and offset the might of arch-rival India.

Washington's pressure on Islamabad to launch a decisive military campaign in North Waziristan, as Pakistan has conducted elsewhere in the tribal belt, has so far been ignored.

What a surprise.

"Please, please, do not imitate this cartoon -- the OIC will pull our plug"

You'd think he wouldn't have to ask. You'd think their righteous outrage over the above greasily Islamophobic Muhammad cartoon would have had them already on this job.

"Afghan president asks clerics to campaign against turban bombs," by Mirwais Harooni for Reuters, August 9 (thanks to Ima):

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked the country's religious elders to use their influence to sway Islamist insurgents not to use turbans to hide suicide bombs in a bid to halt the deadly new tactic before it becomes more widespread.

Two separate turban bombings last month killed the mayor of the southern city of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, and a senior cleric in the city, raising questions about how to guard against this new ploy without causing religious offence.

Suicide bombers in Afghanistan and Pakistan have also used women's burqas to disguise themselves.

Karzai recently met with members of ulema councils -- influential bodies of clerics that regulate religious issues -- from around the country to discuss the issue, said Siyamak Herawi, a spokesman for Karzai.

"From our point of view, by misusing Islamic values (the insurgents) want to draw a bad picture of Islam for the people of the world," Herawi said.

No worries. It is only greasy Islamophobes who do that. The Taliban can do whatever they want in the name of Islam, and if any Western non-Muslim reports on it, it will be his fault for stirring up "hate," not the Taliban's.

He said Karzai asked the clerics to launch a campaign to convince insurgents not to use turbans and other religious attire to carry out suicide bombings, not to target mosques and to make them aware that suicide was un-Islamic.

The fact that he mentioned the idea that suicide is un-Islamic in connection with jihad/martyrdom bombings makes me think his words were more for Western consumption than for his fellow Muslims in Afghanistan. The Taliban and other perpetrators of jihad/martyrdom suicide attacks have for years maintained that they're not suicide at all, but acts of martyrdom, and so the Islamic prohibition against suicide simply doesn't apply, but rather the Qur'an's guarantee of Paradise for those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111).

Guards at some government ministries in Kabul are now asking men to remove their turbans for security checks.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the Islamist group had never hidden a bomb in a turban....

While it did claim the killing of Kandahar mayor Ghulam Haidar two weeks later, Mujahid said the bomb had not been hidden in a turban.

"If using a turban is an Islamic, respectful and cultural issue, then why did Karzai put it on the head of many foreign generals in the past years?" Mujahid shot back.

Religion is at the core of the group's ideology and they have in the past denied any role in attacks on religious sites, even when they appear to further their military strategy.

Which religion, Reuters?

But targeting funerals and mosques is a tactic that has been used before in other parts of the country, and insurgent networks are the only groups fighting in Afghanistan that use suicide bombers.

Who targets mosques, Reuters?

I am pleased to say that my friend and colleague Pamela Geller has a new book out -- a much-needed book on how grassroots activists can fight Islamic supremacism in their own communities. I have seen an advance copy, and it is a terrific book. Here is the info from over at Atlas Shrugs:

Stop the Islamization of America: A veteran freedom fighter pens groundbreaking guide to defending our nation

An insightful and innovative new book offers the fruit of a veteran national activist’s years of experience fighting back against Islamic supremacist efforts to erode our freedoms.

In Stop the Islamization of America, renowned activist Pamela Geller offers the fruit of her experience as the national leader of the fight against the Ground Zero mega-mosque and of numerous other initiatives to defend freedom against the encroachment of Islamic law. She offers practical, tested, effective guidance on how freedom lovers can stop jihadist initiatives in local communities.

Stop the Islamization of America will be released by WND Books on September 6. It comes at a time when Islamic supremacists are demanding ever more accommodation of Islamic principles and practices, and growing ever more aggressive in eroding our freedoms – with politically correct public officials only too happy to oblige them. This book offers proven ways for Americans to fight back – lawfully, peacefully, and effectively.

Stop the Islamization of America is a much-needed wake-up call about a sinister agenda that could do nothing less than destroy the United States – with instructions about how we can, and must, work now to defend our nation and our civilization.

Author Pamela Geller is the founder, editor and publisher of Atlas Shrugs.com and executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop Islamization of America (SIOA). She is author of the acclaimed book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America with Robert Spencer, foreword by Ambassador John Bolton, (Simon & Schuster). Cliff Kincaid of Accuracy In Media declared The Post-American Presidency “the best book on Barack Obama and I’ve read them all.”

Geller is also a regular columnist for World Net Daily, Andrew Breitbart's Big Government and Big Journalism, the American Thinker, and other publications.

After leading the fight against the Ground Zero Mosque in 2010, Geller received the Annie Taylor Award for Courage from the David Horowitz Freedom Center. She has been profiled on 60 Minutes and in the New York Times, and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, ABC, CNN, the Sean Hannity Show, the Bill O’Reilly Show, Geraldo, the Mike Huckabee show, and many other programs.

Advance copies of Stop the Islamization of America have been received enthusiastically by some of the nation’s leading freedom fighters:

“The First Amendment’s free-speech guarantee is central to America’s character and our fundamental liberties. Equally important, and stemming from the same philosophical roots, is the Amendment’s twinned protection of religious freedom and its prohibition of establishing religion. These pillars of liberty are under attack around the world, and even here in America. If you want to preserve the Constitution, read this book.” -- John R. Bolton, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations.

“Americans are searching for ways to get involved in stopping the encroachment of Shariah law on the US Constitution and the takeover of our nation by the Muslim Brotherhood. Pamela Geller provides practical steps for every American to get involved in stopping the attack on our nation by the forces of evil. I hope that every concerned American reads and heeds this book.” -- Lt. General Jerry Boykin, former United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, and author of Never Surrender: A Soldier’s Journey to The Crossroads of Faith and Freedom.

"This book fills an urgent need. Pamela Geller has brought together all her experience fighting the stealth jihad and Islamization to create the first practical guide to stopping the spread of Sharia and Islamic supremacism in America. Every patriot, everyone who loves the freedom we enjoy in America, must get this book and use it to equip themselves for the great struggle that lies ahead.” – Dr. Wafa Sultan, former Muslim and author, A God Who Hates

“Among Westerners dedicated to human rights, freedom of speech and religion, Geller is a forceful and courageous voice, providing in this powerful book a democratic defense to fight the stealth jihadist threat against civilization.” – Bat Ye’or, eminent historian, author of eight books, including Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis; Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide; The Decline of Eastern Christianity: From Jihad to Dhimmitude; and The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam

“Only Pamela Geller could have written this book. She has stood on the front lines against Islamic supremacism and Sharia encroachment with unparalleled courage and insight, formulating unique and innovative strategies to put the enemies of freedom on the defensive and fight effectively for human rights. The wisdom she has gleaned from her experience is all here, making this an essential handbook for every freedom fighter.” -- Robert Spencer, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad

Reinforcing Islamophobic stereotypes

Will the Islamophobia never end? "Kandahar mayor killed by suicide bomber with explosives in turban," by Jon Boone in the Guardian, July 27 (thanks to Bill):

Afghan insurgents appeared to continue their assassination campaign against key public figures on Wednesday with the killing of the mayor of Kandahar.

Ghulam Haider Hamidi was targeted by a suicide bomber who got into the municipality compound in Kandahar City with explosives concealed under his turban. The technique was first used earlier this month in a mosque in the city during a memorial service for Ahmed Wali Karzai, a regional strongman and half-brother of the president.

Abdul Manan, a municipality employee, said the mayor had emerged from his office into the garden, where he made a call on his mobile phone.

The assassin grabbed him and detonated the bomb.

"I rushed outside and saw the mayor was lying still on the ground," said Manan. "Another headless body was next to him and the mayor had deep wounds on his face and chest.''

The death of Hamidi will raise further concerns about whether military gains by the US military in the Kandahar region, particularly in districts adjoining the city, will be undermined by the remorseless killing of top public figures....

Surely there will be protests all over the Islamic world over this desecration of a mosque, right? "Turban suicide bomber kills Afghan cleric, 3 others," by Ismail Sameem for Reuters, July 14 (thanks to Ima):

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide attacker who appears to have concealed his explosives inside a turban killed a senior cleric and at least three other people on Thursday at a funeral service for the assassinated brother of the Afghan president in southern Kandahar city.

At least 15 people were also wounded in the midday attack at the city's Red Mosque, the Interior Ministry said. Cabinet ministers and relatives of President Hamid Karzai had been among the mourners, but escaped unscathed.

The attack came just two days after a trusted family associate killed Ahmad Wali Karzai, probably the most powerful and controversial man in southern Afghanistan, at his home.

His death has created a dangerous power vacuum in Kandahar, that some fear could spark a wave of greater violence in an already volatile city. Kandahar was the site of over half of all targeted killings in Afghanistan between April and June.

A weeping Karzai buried his brother on Wednesday and moved swiftly to give another brother a key tribal role left vacant, in an apparent attempt to pre-empt political infighting.

President Karzai had returned to Kabul after the burial so was not at the service, his spokesman Waheed Omer said. Omer added that the bomber appeared to have hidden the explosives in his turban.

"Four people, including a child were martyred. Among the dead was the head of the provincial Ulema Council, Hikmatullah Hikmat," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. An Ulema Council is a body of clerics that regulates religious issues....

The Taliban could not immediately be reached for comment on the Kandahar attack.

Religion is at the core of their ideology and they have in the past denied any role in attacks on religious sites, even when they appear to further their military strategy....

Which religion, Reuters?

Seeking the promise of paradise to those who "slay and are slain" for Allah (Qur'an 9:111). This sort of thing will become more common as the Americans leave, of course, but there really wasn't anything that the Americans could ultimately have done to prevent it anyway. The idea of a stable, prosperous, Western-style free republic in Afghanistan was from the beginning a pipe dream, and it was inevitable that those who tried to implement this dream would run up against the buzz-saw of Sharia.

"Afghanistan's Intercontinental Hotel Under Attack by Suicide Bombers," from FoxNews.com, June 28:

The popular Intercontinental hotel in Kabul has come under a suicide bombing attack Tuesday, a U.S. official told Fox News. The attack is still ongoing.

Afghanistan news agency TOLOnews is reporting at least 10 people have been killed. That number has yet to be independently confirmed.

Up to six suicide bombers are believed to have attacked the hotel, Afghan police tell Fox News. Multiple explosions have been heard at the hotel.

The popular Intercontinental hotel in Kabul has come under a suicide bombing attack, a U.S. official told Fox News. The attack is still ongoing....

"It's an attack on the Intercontinental Hotel. There are several gunmen shooting," Kabul criminal investigations chief Mohammad Zahir told AFP....

Azizullah, an Afghan police officer who uses only one name, told The Associated Press at the scene that at least one bomber entered the hotel Tuesday night and detonated a vest of explosives.

Jawid, a guest at the hotel, says the attack occurred as many people were having dinner in the hotel restaurant. He says he heard gunfire throughout the several story building.

"I was running with my family," he said. "There was shooting. The restaurant was full with guests."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to The Associated Press....

Maybe this is why the TSA was so suspicious of Jean Weber. "Suicide bomber in wheelchair kills two in Iraq," from AFP, June 26 (thanks to Zulu):

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber in a wheelchair attacked a police station north of Baghdad on Sunday, killing two people and wounding 17, nine of them policemen, officials said.

“A suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest at the entrance to a police station, killing two civilians and wounding 17 people, including nine policemen in Tarmiyah,” a town north of Baghdad, an interior ministry official said. A defence ministry official confirmed the report.

“The suicide bomber came up to the entrance in a wheelchair,” said Colonel Tawfiq Ahmed al-Jenabi, chief of the town’s police, who added he did not know if the attacker was genuinely handicapped....

When the promise of the virgins of Paradise is not enough, these scoundrels resort to kidnapping and booby-trapping children. "Girl, nine, used as human bomb," from the Independent, June 20 (thanks to S. J.):

A girl of nine has told how she escaped Pakistani terrorists who tried to use her as a human bomb.

Sohana Jawed said she was kidnapped on her way to school in Peshawar, and forced to wear a remotely-controlled suicide jacket. But she escaped her captors as they prepared to send her towards a paramilitary checkpoint.

Sohana, wearing her a blue and white school uniform, recounted her ordeal during a news conference with police in Lower Dir district. Militants in Pakistan have often used young boys to carry out attacks, but the use of young girls is rare....

Reconstruction is un-Islamic. "Afghanistan: Twin blasts hit western city of Herat," from the BBC, May 30 (thanks to Jaladhi):

At least five people were killed and about 30 wounded after twin bomb blasts struck the Afghan city of Herat.

The fatalities occurred after a roadside bomb in the centre of the city, which is not far from the western border with Iran.

In the second assault, a suicide bomber attacked the Nato-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) base on the outskirts of the city.

The Taliban recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks in Afghanistan....

At least two suicide bombers were said to have attacked the compound, while a number of insurgents tried to get inside....

The BBC's Quentin Somerville says Herat - a relatively peaceful city - is due to be soon handed to Afghan control, and so the attack is quite significant....

Hospital jihad by a representative of the "best of people" (Qur'an 3:110). "Suicide bomber kills at least 6 in Kabul hospital," by Hamid Shalizi for Reuters, May 21 (thanks to Ima):

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least six people and wounded 23 more at a military hospital in a heavily-guarded area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The bomber struck at 12:30 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EDT) in the cafeteria of the hospital where medical students were eating lunch, said Mohammad Zahir, head of the police crime investigation unit. He added the dead were students.

The hospital is located in a high-security area near the U.S. embassy and where several other foreign embassies and international organizations operate.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an emailed statement that the group had sent two suicide bombers into the hospital and killed many. The Taliban launched a long-awaited "spring offensive" last month....

Islamic supremacism was long dormant in the Central Asian former Soviet republics. But that is changing now. "Kazakhstan: Suicide bomber targets Kazakh state security building," from AKI, May 17 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

May 17, Aktyubinsk (AKI) - A suicide bomber blew himself up on Tuesday outside a regional security building in the western Kazakh city of Aktyubinsk, a police source said, cited by RIA Novosti news agency.

Only the bomber was killed in the attack, according to RIA Novosti....

Terrorist attacks are rare in the Central Asian state, which has been ruled by the former Soviet-era leader Nursultan Nazarbayev since independence in 1991.

Possibly in revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden. I hadn't realized that Iraqi policemen had killed him. "Iraq suicide car bombing kills at least 21 police," from Radio Netherlands, May 5 (thanks to Twostellas):

A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-filled car at a police station south of Baghdad, killing 21 policemen on Thursday, as Iraqi forces braced for Al-Qaeda revenge attacks after Osama bin Laden's death.

The attack, which also wounded at least 75 policemen, was the worst in Iraq in more than a month, and pushed security chiefs to install new checkpoints, tighten access to key roads and restrict movement between provinces.

The bombing left a two-metre (six-foot) crater and badly damaged the police station in the centre of the mainly Shiite city of Hilla, capital of Babil province, in addition to several nearby houses and shops, just days after US special forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan.

"The suicide bomber took advantage of the police station's guards changing shifts to attack," said Haidar al-Zazour, head of the Babil provincial council security committee.

"He managed to drive through the main gate and blew up his vehicle four metres (12 feet) inside the station's perimeter."...

Will Muslims worldwide protest this desecration of the mosque? What do you think?

Sunni-Shi'ite Jihad Update: "10 killed in Iraq mosque suicide attack," by Ali al-Tuwaijri for AFP, April 28 (thanks to Twostellas):

A suicide bomber killed 10 people as he blew himself up inside a Shiite mosque in central Iraq on Thursday, as nationwide violence left 16 dead, including senior police and army officers....

In Thursday's deadliest attack, a suicide attacker detonated his payload amid a crowd of worshippers inside the Imam al-Hussein mosque in Baladruz, around 75 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, according to a colonel in the provincial security command.

At least 10 people were killed in the attack, according to the colonel and a doctor in Baladruz hospital, both of whom declined to be identified....

The Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda's front group in the country, posted a statement on the Internet jihadist forum Honein last week, claiming to have carried out 62 "operations" between the start of March and April 5.

Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Qur'an 9:111).

"Blast kills 14 in Marrakesh cafe," from AFP, April 28 (thanks to Block Ness):

MARRAKESH, Morocco (AFP) – A powerful blast ripped through a cafe in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh on Thursday, killing 11 foreigners and three Moroccans in what authorities suspect was the work of a suicide bomber.

"According to the information I have, it could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber," an official in the regional governor's office told AFP.

"We found nails in one of the bodies," added the official, who was in a hospital where some of the bodies were taken.

And an interior ministry official said that indications pointed to a terror attack on the Argana cafe in the main square of Marrakesh, a favourite haunt of foreign tourists.

But there were contradictory reports on exactly how the blast occurred.

One witness who was inside the cafe but escaped unscathed said: "An individual entered, ordered an orange juice and a few minutes later blew himself up."

But another witness, quoted by several Moroccan radio stations, said the bomber dropped a suitcase and immediately walked out of the cafe....

Last January, Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui said 27 suspected terrorists recently arrested in the country's south had ties to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an Al-Qaeda-linked regional offshoot, and to Europe-based. [sic] ...

Cherkaoui then said the network had planned bank robberies in Casablanca and Rabat "to finance its terrorist actions."

And his ministry said the network was led by "a Moroccan national who is a member of AQIM and who wanted to create a rear base in the country for terror attacks."

Paradise is guaranteed in the Qur'an to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111), so can any "moderate Muslim" explain how the Taliban is misinterpreting the Book of Peace in this regard?

"Revelations of a failed teenager suicide bomber," from Radio Australia News, April 20:

A teenage would-be suicide bomber who survived his failed attack has spoken about his experience.

The 14-year-old gave unprecedented insight into the motivations of suicide bombers, who tend to be young males.

The boy was seriously injured after his suicide vest failed to properly explode outside a shrine in Pakistan's Punjab province.

He says he was recruited by the Taliban, which promised him paradise after he died.

"Taliban used to stop us as we went to school and told us there was no point studying," he said.

"They said nothing's better than paradise and you can earn that by killing non-believers."

"They prayed all the time and read the Koran so I thought they were good people."

"My heart told me to go and train with them."

As we have seen in the case of Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar and many others, any Muslim believer can read the Qur'an and decide that he has a responsibility to wage jihad warfare against unbelievers. There is simply no way to make sure that that will not happen, even if it only happens once in a great while, because of the Qur'an's many plain exhortations to do just that.

More on this story. "Indonesia attack shows 'individual jihad' trend: ICG," from AFP, April 19:

A suicide attack at a mosque in an Indonesian police station last week fits a pattern of "individual jihad" aimed at local targets by small groups of extremists, a think-tank said on Tuesday.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) said a trend was emerging that favoured targeted killings over indiscriminate bombings, local over foreign targets and individual or small group action over more hierarchical organisations.

In a new report entitled "Indonesian Jihadism: Small Groups, Big Plans", the Brussels-based ICG said the two approaches were complementary.

Larger jihadi organisations have the networks and funds to support religious outreach by radicals espousing extremist principles through the media and religious study sessions, the report said.

Groups like regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and hardline Islamic group Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT) are placing greater focus on local "enemies" seen as "oppressors", including the police, Christians and the minority Islamic sect Ahmadiyah....

Local resident Mohammed Syarif, 32, detonated explosives strapped to his body at a mosque inside a police station in Cirebon, West Java province, on Friday as worshippers began their prayers, killing himself instantly and injuring 30 others.

Police are still investigating his motives and links with terror groups. The attack was the first suicide bombing inside a mosque in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation of 240 million people.

Last month, bombs hidden in a hollowed-out books were sent to several addresses including those of liberal Muslim figures and a counter-terrorism official, but no one was killed....

But this is the same guy whose father said had called him an "infidel." So take this with a grain of salt or two. "Suspected Bomber 'Not a Devout Muslim,' Wife Says," by Farouk Arnaz for the Jakarta Globe, April 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

For Sri Maliha, the questions surrounding her husband’s alleged transformation into a suicide bomber and the consequences of his deadly actions hang as heavy as the soon-to-be-born child in her belly.

Speaking on Sunday, Maliha said it was difficult to accept that her husband had blown himself up in a packed Cirebon mosque last week.

“I hope it is not him. Somehow I believe that he will come home as he had promised me,” she said while fighting back tears.

Police announced on Sunday that DNA testing had confirmed that her husband, 31-year-old Muchamad Syarif, was the bomber and sole fatality in the suicide blast that injured scores.

Maliha, 26, recounted the last time she saw her husband.

“On that day, April 3, before he left, he only said to me, ‘I will go for a while, but I will be by your side and pick you up when you are giving birth,’” she said....

“He was a good husband who sometimes led the prayer as an imam. But he was not a devout Muslim, I guess. He never conducted sunnah fasting or sunnah prayers,” Maliha said, referring to optional fasting and praying.

“He did not graduate from an Islamic boarding school or have a jihad [holy war] book collection. He was just like an ordinary man that socialized with people.”...

"O ye who believe! take not for protectors your fathers and your brothers if they love infidelity above Faith: if any of you do so, they do wrong. Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline: or the dwellings in which ye delight, are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause, then wait until Allah brings about His decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious." -- Qur'an 9:23-24

The mainstream Qur'an commentator Ibn Kathir explains: “Allah commands shunning the disbelievers, even if they are one’s parents or children, and prohibits taking them as supporters if they choose disbelief instead of faith.” Another renowned Islamic authority, Ibn Juzayy, notes that Qur'an 9:24, with its warning that one should value nothing in this life higher than Allah, is “a threat to anyone who prefers his family, property or home to emigration and jihad.” "Emigration" to infidel lands in order to spread Islam, that is.

"Suspected suicide bomber called father infidel," from The Jakarta Post, April 18 (thanks to Twostellas):

Abdul Gafur, father of suspected suicide bomber Muchammad Syarif, said Monday his son had labeled him an infidel.

“When I gave him advice he called me infidel. I told him to pray more, but he said I gave him too much advice, as if heaven was in my hands,” Gafur said Monday, quoted by tribunnews.com.

Gafur said Syarif was known to have been very stubborn in his religious views, especially after he had joined a hardliner group in 2009.

Syarif had also said the Indonesian Criminal Code was mostly inherited from Dutch laws, which was made by “infidels”.

He said the Indonesian Criminal Code should instead be based on Islamic law, since the majority of the Indonesian people were Muslim.

Syarif was the suspected suicide bomber involved in an attack on the Cirebon Police mosque on Friday. He was killed in the explosion, which also injured around 25 people.

Paradise is guaranteed in the Qur'an to those who "kill and are killed" for Allah (9:111), so it is hard to sustain the claim that suicide bombing is un-Islamic.

"‘400 Pak bombers training,’" by Azhar Masood for Arab News, April 9 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

ISLAMABAD: A teenager arrested as an accomplice to Pakistan’s deadliest suicide bombing of the year has said that up to 400 suicide bombers are being groomed to wage carnage in the nuclear-armed nation.

Umar Fidayee, 14, said the would-be bombers were being trained in North Waziristan.

He made the remarks in an interview aired Friday from his hospital bedside, where he is being treated after detonating a hand grenade in the April 4 attack that killed 50 people at a 13th-century Sufi shrine.

Fidayee said: “I was blindfolded by my captors and brought to Dera Ghazi Khan to attack the shrine.”

He said he was a schoolboy and was taken to Waziristan by force.

According to AFP, police arrested Fidayee as an alleged accomplice and said they removed his own suicide vest, which he failed to detonate in a crowd of hundreds in Dera Ghazi Khan just minutes after two other bombers blew themselves up....

“Three hundred and fifty to 400 would-be suicide bombers are getting training in Mir Ali in North Waziristan,” he said in the interview broadcast by Pakistani television channels Samaa, Express, ARY and Geo.

“I was trained for two months and saw many boys being trained there,” he said, going on to appeal on Pakistanis to “please forgive me.” He said: “God has given me a new life but I am sad that we killed innocent people, innocent children.” Fidayee said he was initially recruited on the understanding that he would be smuggled into Afghanistan to kill non-Muslims.

“But they brought me here to Dera Ghazi Khan. I told them ‘there is no kafir (non-believer) here’,” he said. “They told me these people are worse than kafirs,” Fidayee said.

Exposing an apparently disturbing recruitment at the gates of an ordinary school in North Waziristan, the teenager claimed a man he identified as Qari Zafar convinced him to begin a life of militancy, AFP reported.

“He told me that all this education is useless and said ‘become a fighter and you will go to heaven’,” Umar told the reporters....

“A man called Ayyaz gave us the suicide jackets on April 3 (the day of the attack). At 4 or 5 p.m. we visited the Sakhi Sarwar shrine and he told us each where to carry out our attacks,” Umar said....

In a message to other potential suicide bombers, he said: “Please refuse to carry suicide attacks. Such attacks are forbidden in Islam.”

Jihad against infrastructure. "Suicide bombers kill 20 in Afghanistan's southeast," by Elyas Wahdat for Reuters, March 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Three suicide bombers killed 20 people in an attack on a construction firm in a restive province in southeastern Afghanistan, government officials said on Monday, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for the assault....

The attackers forced their way into the company's compound in the Bermel district of volatile Paktika province on Sunday night after killing a security guard, and then detonated a truck laden with explosives, the Interior Ministry said.

"As a result, 20 employees of the construction company were killed and 50 others were injured," it said in a statement.

Mohebullah Sameem, governor of Paktika, earlier put the death toll from the attack at 13.

He said the dead and wounded included employees of the firm and other civilians. Construction crews and others working on infrastructure projects are frequently targeted by insurgents....

This is, of course, the mainstream media. This is the mainstream media that celebrates and lauds people like Feisal Abdul Rauf, Daisy Khan, and Sharif El-Gamal. So this is no surprise. It also is yet another indication of how the American action against Libya is aiding the jihadists there.

"CNN Oddly Celebrates Hero Libyan Suicide Bomber," by Josh Clark at How Stuff Works, March 25 (thanks to Ray):

So I like to think it’s pretty tough to disgust me. But a piece last night on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on CNN managed to come pretty close. The piece in question, which has been thoroughly buried, meaning I can’t dig it up, was a human interest segment on a suicide bomber in Libya. The weird thing, it was done in the same way Western media approaches stories on American troops who jump on grenades to save the rest of their platoon or a the normal guy who loses his life rescuing a kid from a burning building. Except, as I’ve said, this was a suicide bomber.

What made him courageous rather than despicably zealous, as suicide bombers are customarily portrayed in the West, was that this guy, Ahmed Al Mehdi, a 49-year-old oil worker, packed his car full of explosives and drove it as fast as he can into a guard barrier for the interests that Americans are rooting for — namely freedom, namely oil.

The reporter interviewed the man’s children, his wife, and sat with them. They caught up with his best friend, who carried what was left of Al Mehdi from the site of his martyrdom. In the piece, he was called a number of times a “hero.”

From the transcripts:

“This is where Al Medhi Zu (ph) gave his life. It’s the old military barracks here in Benghazi. It’s pretty much demolished today. But on February 19, rebel fighters had surrounded it, and they were facing heavy fire power. They were trying to get inside these military barracks. They couldn’t. They needed something to shift their momentum.

What Ah Mehdi did was pack his car full of plastic car fuel containers and cooking gas cylinders. And witnesses say he parked his car right over there where the SUV is and prayed and read the Koran for about 30 minutes, and then he sped towards the main gate where he blew himself and his car up.”...

Malik Jalal Sarhadi Qatkhel of the North Waziristan Peace Committee (remember, Islam is the Religion of Peace™!) says that suicide attacks are permitted against Americans as part of this jihad. Yet still we don't see any of the Vast Majority of Peaceful Muslims journeying to North Waziristan to correct this widespread misunderstanding of Islam. Where are Honest Ibe Hooper and Boy Reza Aslan when you need them?

"North Waziristan elders declare jihad against US as revenge for drone attacks," from ANI, March 19:

A jirga of tribal elders from Pakistan's North Waziristan Agency has said that they would wage jihad against the United States to avenge those killed in drone attacks.

A US drone attack killed at least 44 people, most of them tribal elders, in Datta Khel area, North Waziristan on Thursday.

Malik Jalal Sarhadi Qatkhel, head of the North Waziristan Peace Committee, said that the tribes would wage a jihad against the US as well as Pakistanis who are helping them carry out the Predator drone strikes.

He said that they had allowed their youths to carry out suicide attacks against the Americans.

"There is no Al-Qaeda and Taliban presence in North Waziristan, while the Americans themselves have acknowledged that around 70 per cent of Afghanistan is under the control of militants," the Express Tribune quoted Qatkhel, as saying.

"Unlike [those] who pardoned the killer of two Pakistanis for dollars, we will take revenge for our dead and the world will see it," he added.

He also said that they would avenge the killings "even if it takes a hundred years".

"We want to avenge the killings. We never forgive our enemy. I allow suicide attacks on Americans," Qatkhel said.

Imitating what they're taught is admirable. "Playing dead: The sickening video that shows children recreating suicide bomber attacks as a playground game," from the Daily Mail, March 1 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

A shocking video has emerged from Pakistan depicting children role-playing a Taliban suicide bombing.

The 84-second clip shows Pashtun children recreating a terrorist attack, with one boy dressed in black - the 'bomber' - being embraced and wished well by his friends before setting off on his deadly mission.

In the single-take video, the 'bomber' then approaches another boy, dressed in white, who appears to be mimicking a member of the security forces and tries to stop him.

But the young Jihadi then 'detonates' - with other boys throwing sand into the air to simulate the explosion - and others rush in to examine the children who are playing dead.

Ahsan Masood, a Pashtun from Waziristan in Pakistan, posted the video on Facebook because he 'thought it was funny'.

He said he believed it had been filmed in Khost, Afghanistan, and that it had been sent to him via his mobile phone by a friend.

It has been described as 'horrifying' by a children's charity in Pakistan, but others have said it could be seen in a positive light as children role-play to deal with the violent circumstances they see in their everyday lives....

Yeah, it's super. Especially when they're learning at the madrassa that this is a noble act and that Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Qur'an 9:111).

We are constantly told that suicide attacks like this one are political, not religious in nature, and have nothing to do with Islam. Yet one wonders how many of these kinds of attacks we would still see if the bombers ceased to believe that they would be guaranteed Paradise for killing and being killed for Allah (cf. Qur'an 9:111). The religious inducement for such people is paramount and must be studied, without equivocation or apology.

"Five die in Somalia suicide blast," from the UKPA, February 21:

At least five people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car at a police station in the Somali capital Mogadishu, a police officer said.

Mohamed Abdi said thick smoke rose into the sky after the powerful blast on Monday morning.

No group has yet said it was behind the attack, but Islamist insurgent groups have used suicide bombers in the past in an attempt to bring down the fragile government, which is supported by 8,000 African peacekeepers....

She was shocked when she discovered that her "devout Muslim husband" was involved in jihad terror activity. This may be because her instruction in Islam was only partial -- it is not at all uncommon for jihadists when recruiting converts to Islam to tell them about the violent and supremacist aspects only after their conversion and some time has elapsed. If this woman is not a convert, nonetheless she may have learned Islam in an area where a relatively benign cultural form of the religion prevailed, and only later did she meet up with the self-proclaimed true adherents of the faith. "Terrorists threatened to kill my baby unless I became a Black Widow: Young mother on how she was groomed to be a Russian suicide bomber," by Will Stewart in the Daily Mail, January 31 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

A 24 year-old woman who was being groomed as a 'Black Widow' suicide bomber in Moscow has revealed the barbarity behind the terrorist cell which unleashed last week's airport bomb in the Russian capital, it was claimed yesterday.

Before fleeing the extremist Islamic gang, Zeinat Suyunova was being schooled for the airport bombing, or a planned attack on a shopping centre almost underneath the Kremlin, say investigators....

The mother of one told how she discovered to her shock that her devout Moslem husband - the father of her baby daughter who she met when she studied at a respected medical academy in southern Russia - was involved in perpetrating a terrorist atrocity.

Soon afterwards she was kidnapped, her daughter taken from her. She was told the child would be killed unless she became a bomber to avenge her husband's capture by the Russian secret services.

'They threatened to kill my daughter if I did not agree to go to Moscow and help with explosions,' she told investigators.

'They kept threatening, on and on, and in the end I agreed.'

She said: 'I did not have a choice. My daughter was kidnapped by these people. I was told that either I go and do the explosion, or my daughter will be killed.'

In Moscow, she was kept in a hotel with another young woman named Aminat as they were trained for explosions at Domodedovo airport, and an underground shopping centre close to Red Square.

However, Aminat - believed to be the wife of an extremist leader in strife-torn Dagestan - was killed accidentally detonating a belt packed with explosives. Another version says she died when a spam text message on her mobile set off the explosive device on 31 December....

The terrorists went ahead with the airport plan, killing 35 people, but did not carry out the shopping centre attack. It is unknown if she has been re-united with her baby....

At last, a good use for spam. "Black Widow attempted New Year Moscow attack but blew herself up by mistake," by Andrew Osborn in the Telegraph, January 26 (thanks to Mackie):

A "Black Widow" suicide bomber planned a terrorist attack in central Moscow on New Year's Eve but was killed when an unexpected text message set off her bomb too early, according to Russian security sources.

The unnamed woman, who is thought to be part of the same group that struck Moscow's Domodedovo airport on Monday, intended to detonate a suicide belt on a busy square near Red Square on New Year's Eve in an attack that could have killed hundreds.

Security sources believe a spam message from her mobile phone operator wishing her a happy new year received just hours before the planned attack triggered her suicide belt, killing her but nobody else.

She was at her Moscow safe house at the time getting ready with two accomplices, both of whom survived and were seen fleeing the scene.

Islamist terrorists in Russia often use cheap unused mobile phones as detonators. The bomber's handler, who is usually watching their charge, sends the bomber a text message in order to set off his or her explosive belt at the moment when it is thought they can inflict maximum casualties.

The phones are usually kept switched off until the very last minute but in this case, Russian security sources believe, the terrorists were careless.

The dead woman has not been identified. Her handler, a 24-year-old woman from the internal Muslim Russian republic of Dagestan, has been named as Zeinat Suyunova. Her husband is apparently still serving time in jail for himself being a member of a radical Islamist terror group.

Security sources believe the new year's eve bomber and the airport bombers may have been members of a suicide squad trained in Pakistan's al-Qaeda strongholds which was sent to the Russian capital in December to target the city's transportation system....

Misunderstanders of Islam strike the Finest Supermarket in Kabul, hoping to murder foreigners for their bloodthirsty god. "Kabul supermarket bomb kills 9, foreigners target," by Matt Robinson and Jonathon Burch for Reuters, January 28 (thanks to Ima):

KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide attack on a supermarket in Kabul's upmarket embassy district on Friday killed at least nine people, three of them foreign women, in the first major Taliban assault on civilians in the capital for nearly a year.

A child was also among the dead from Friday's bombing, which shattered a sense of relative calm that had settled over the capital after nearly a year without an attack targeting foreign or Afghan civilians.

Gunfire rattled through the area -- home to the British, Canadian, Pakistani and other missions -- at the start of the assault, which one witness told police was launched by a man in his forties, with dark skin and a long beard.

Bodies were carried from the blackened hull of the "Finest" supermarket, popular with foreigners and several hundred yards from the British embassy, as fires broke out among shattered shelves and scattered food. The wounded were led away wailing.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as un-Islamic, and put the toll at nine, one higher than police, who said six people were wounded. They declined to give the victims' nationalities.

The Taliban said they had carried out the attack. It was aimed at foreigners but the primary target was the head of security firm Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by telephone.

Police said there were no security employees among the dead.

"We claim responsibility for the attack. It was carried out at a time when foreigners were shopping, including the head of a security company," Mujahid said....

Underscoring yet again that border control is a national security issue, obscured as it is by spurious charges of "racism." "Iranian Book Celebrating Suicide Bombers Found in Arizona Desert," by William La Jeunesse for FoxNews.com, January 27 (thanks to Anne Crockett):

EXCLUSIVE: A book celebrating suicide bombers has been found in the Arizona desert just north of the U.S.- Mexican border, authorities tell Fox News.

The book, "In Memory of Our Martyrs," was spotted Tuesday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent out of the Casa Grande substation who was patrolling a route known for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs.

Published in Iran, it consists of short biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died carrying out attacks.

According to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents, "The book also includes letters from suicide attackers to their families, as well as some of their last wills and testaments." Each biographical page contains "the terrorist's name, date of death, and how they died."...

Statements from U.S. officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller, have raised serious concerns in recent years over "OTMs" -- or illegal immigrants other than Mexicans -- who have crossed the southwest border at alarming rates.

Mueller testified before the House Appropriations Committee in March 2005 that "there are individuals from countries with known Al Qaeda connections who are changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic."

Just last year, the Department of Homeland Security had in custody thousands of detainees from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. U.S. Border Patrol statistics indicate that there were 108,025 OTMs detained in 2006, compared to 165,178 in 2005 and 44,614 in 2004.

Authorities would not release a picture of the book to Fox News, or reveal how long they believe it was lying in the desert. Immigration officials have previously discovered items along the U.S.-Mexico border from Middle Eastern origin, including Iranian currency in Zapata, Texas, and a jacket found in Jim Hogg County, Texas, that was covered in patches including an Arabic military badge that illustrates an airplane flying into a tower.

They were trying to get to places where they could kill many, many more. "Terrorists strike double blow," from Dawn, January 25 (thanks to Block Ness):

Two terror strikes within two hours shook Lahore and Karachi on Tuesday despite a heightened security alert on account of Chehlum, leaving 15 people dead and wounding more than 70.

A teenager blew himself up in Lahore near a Chehlum procession, killing 11 people. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had targeted police.

About 90 minutes later, a motorcycle bomb went off in Karachi's Malir, killing four people, including three policemen.

The Lahore bombing took place near the Urdu Bazar when a teenager tried to join a Chehlum procession before detonating close to a police checkpoint.

"The bomber had strapped bombs to his body as well as carrying explosives in a bag," the city's police chief said.

"He tried to sneak into the procession and exploded himself when police stopped him for a body search at an outer checkpoint."

An hour and a half later, a second attack hit Karachi. "It was a suicide bombing. The bomber was riding a motorbike and carrying a bag in his hand, which had explosives in it. He struck one of our police mobile vans. The police were the target," a senior police official said.

LAHORE ATTACK

At least 11 people were killed and 71 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a security picket at the Urdu Bazaar intersection on Circular Road on Tuesday.

The bomber, described by police officers to be in his early teens, was apparently seeking to get through to one of the two big congregations taking place in the city on the day.

The dead included three policemen and a woman who was apparently passing by when the bomb exploded. According to hospital sources, 15 of the injured were in critical condition.

The human bomb went off sometime before the procession to mark the Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain was to pass by the Mori Darwaaza-Urdu Bazaar square, approaching the spot from the north, through the narrow lanes of the walled city....

Aslam Tareen, the Lahore city police chief, said Tuesday's bomber appeared to be aged about 15. He was wearing a suicide jacket and holding a black bag.

He blew himself up when he was being frisked. A few hours after the explosion that took place at around 5.30pm, it was being speculated whether the boy was a partner in the crime or had been hoodwinked by terrorists into carrying out the attack....

Another report said the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the attack, leading to doubts being expressed once again about the ability of the intelligence network....

While Rana Sanaullah argued that the blast could not be termed the result of a security lapse, people gathered for a chehlum procession in Rawalpindi demanded his sacking from the cabinet.

Leaders of the Shia and Barelvi communities have accused the minister of promoting certain extremist groups. The law minister denies the charge.

KARACHI BLAST

Meanwhile, at least four people, including three policemen and a passerby, were killed and four others wounded after a bomb rigged to a motorcycle went off in Malir on Tuesday.
The blast took place near a medical centre in Darakhshan Society on the Sharea Faisal, between Malir Halt and Malir 15, at a time when mourners were returning to their homes in Malir after taking part in a Chehlum procession....

Trying to depress the number of Iraqis who dare to work in the government or law enforcement. "Suicide bomber targets police recruits in Tikrit; nearly 60 believed dead, 150 more wounded." by Michael Sheridan in the New York Daily News, January 18 (thanks to Daniel):

A suicide bomber wrapped in explosives blew himself up among hundreds of young recruits looking to become police officers in Tikrit on Tuesday.

Latest estimates suggest as many as 60 were killed, another 150 wounded in the blast.

"We were waiting in the line to enter the police station yard after being searched when a powerful explosion threw me to the ground," said recruit Quteiba Muhsin, whose legs were fractured in the blast. "I saw the dead bodies of two friends who were in the line. I am still in shock."

Local officials suspect the terror organization Al Qaeda is behind the attack.

"Who else would it be but al Qaeda, who keep on slaughtering us," said Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar, deputy governor of Salahuddin province. "They are the terrorists."...

A police spokesman said that, at the time of the attack, more than 300 people were standing in line with their documents, hoping to get a $500-a-month job as a police trainee. They were the first to vie for 2,000 new police jobs that Iraq's Interior Ministry recently approved for Salahuddin....

The suicide bomber must have been an Islamophobe. "Suicide bomb kills 18 in NW Pakistan," from AFP, January 12:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Eighteen people were killed and 15 wounded when a suicide bomber ploughed his explosives-laden car into a police station in northwest Pakistan Wednesday, officials said.

The bomber's car struck Miryan police station on the outskirts of the town of Bannu and badly damaged a nearby mosque.

"We have received 18 dead bodies and 15 injured," said Mohammad Rahim, a doctor in Bannu's main hospital.

District police chief Mohammad Iftikhar told AFP that most of those wounded were police officers and paramilitary personnel.

"The target was the police station and the mosque is nearby. Police and paramilitary personnel were praying inside the mosque," when the bombing took place, he said.

"There are some civilians also but most of the victims are security personnel," he added.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani "strongly condemned" the attack, calling it "a cowardly act of terrorism," a statement from his office said.

The attack was immediately claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, who said it was to avenge US drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt, which borders Afghanistan.

"We claim responsibility for this attack. We will continue such attacks unless the drone attacks are stopped," Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq, speaking from an undisclosed location, told AFP by telephone....

In response, U.S.-backed Karzai emphasized that Muslims had been killed: "Those behind this attack should know once again that the blood of the Muslim people has been spilled. It will not have any other result." He has never shown any similar indignation over non-Muslims being killed.

"Taliban suicide bomber blows himself up in bathhouse in southern Afghanstan [sic], killing 17," by Elena Becatoros and Tarek El-Tablawy for The Associated Press, January 7 (thanks to Ima):

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber struck a bath house in a southern Afghan town as men gathered to wash up before Friday prayers, killing 17 people, a provincial official said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack they said targeted the deputy of an influential border patrol commander.

The attack came the same day NATO announced that three of its service members were killed in roadside bombings, underscoring the continuing threat the Taliban pose, despite a stepped-up coalition offensive.

The midday bombing killed 16 civilians and a police inspector in Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border, about 70 miles (110 kilometres) east of the provincial capital of Kandahar, said the governor's spokesman, Zalmay Ayubi. An additional 23 people were wounded, and officials said many of them were transported to Pakistan for treatment.

A Taliban spokesman in the south, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, said the attack targeted the second-in-command of the border patrol in the area. Officials have not identified the dead inspector as the border patrol deputy.

President Hamid Karzai, whose government has been battling the Taliban while trying to bring them to the negotiating table, called the bombing a "brutal" and un-Islamic act.

"Those behind this attack should know once again that the blood of the Muslim people has been spilled. It will not have any other result," Karzai said in a statement released by his office....