Showing posts with label ISIS attack. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ISIS attack. Show all posts

Monday, January 21, 2019

SYRIA - Deadliest Day to Date

"After deadliest day for U.S. forces in Syria, withdrawal could get more complicated" PBS NewsHour 1/16/2019

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  ISIS claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in northern Syria's Manbij that killed four Americans, countering the Trump administration's assessment that the terrorist group had been defeated.  While Vice President Pence repeated that the U.S. is now able to "hand off" that fight to allies, other officials expressed concern that withdrawal plans have enlivened the enemy.  Nick Schifrin reports.

Monday, August 20, 2018

AFGHANISTAN - Confidence in Government

"Afghan confidence in government undermined by fresh attacks" PBS NewsHour 8/15/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Shia teenagers were killed by a suicide bomber at an education center in Kabul on Wednesday.  Meanwhile, residents of the city of Ghazni began to pick up the pieces after a five-day siege between the Taliban and the Afghan Army.  Nick Schifrin discusses the attacks and Taliban tactics with Sultan Faizy, Kabul bureau chief for IHA Network, and former Defense Department official David Sedney.

Monday, November 27, 2017

EGYPT - ISIS Attack on Muslims

A reminder that ISIS is not just an enemy of the West, but an enemy of the world.

"Militants target Muslims in Egypt’s deadliest modern attack" PBS NewsHour 11/24/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Attackers unleashed mayhem and carnage on a crowded mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Friday.  At least 235 people were killed by militants who detonated explosives and shot worshippers as they tried to escape.  Judy Woodruff learns more from Declan Walsh of The New York Times.

Monday, June 12, 2017

IRAN - ISIS Attack

"Islamic State group claims attacks on Iran's parliament, shrine" by Larisa Epatko, PBS NewsHour 6/7/2017



Excerpt

A coordinated double attack in Iran on Wednesday left 12 people dead and wounded dozens, according to state media.  The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on its website.  If true, it would be the first major attack by the terrorist group in Iran.

Attackers armed with pistols and assault rifles stormed the Iranian parliament building in the capital Tehran Wednesday morning as people scrambled to escape, some through windows.  A session of parliament was in progress at the time.  Lawmakers took cover in the locked chamber during the siege.

The same morning, more assailants struck the mausoleum for Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Khomeini in southern Tehran.  At least one attacker detonated a suicide vest, according to state broadcaster Irib.  Khomeini led the 1979 Islamic revolution that removed the Western-backed shah and was the country's first supreme leader.

The sieges ended with four of the attackers dead.  Later in the day, Iran's ISNA news agency reported that police in Tehran arrested five suspects, according to Reuters.

Iran is fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.  The last major attack in Iran, which is majority Shiite, was in 2010 when Sunni extremists bombed a mosque in the Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The militant group's Aamaq news agency released a video purporting to show the inside of the parliament with a body lying on the floor.  A voice says in Arabic, “Do you think we will leave?  We will remain, God willing.”

President Donald Trump offered the following statement: “We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times.  We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences and said Russia “resolutely condemns” the violence.  He pledged to continue fighting international terrorism.



"How the ISIS attack on Iran may escalate regional conflict" PBS NewsHour 6/7/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Gunmen stormed Iran's parliament building Wednesday morning, igniting a siege that lasted for hours, killing 13.  Meanwhile, the shrine of the Ayatollah Khomeini was also attacked.  Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports, and William Brangham speaks with Randa Slim of the Middle East Institute and Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.