Female homicide bomber attack kills over 50 Shiites in Iraq.

This attack by a female homicide bomber proves once more that Iraqi
security forces are not up to the task of protecting the Iraqi people. The
attacks are increasing in frequency and explosive power. Women are
not new nor is it surprising that this bomber was a woman. This poster
is only mildly surprised that women are not used more often as homicide
bombers. The bomb was detonated in an area where maximum carnage
was assured, in a tent set up for pilgrims making their way to Karbala to
commemorate Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
As U.S. forces are drawn down and out of Iraq attacks and violence can
only be expected to increase as the country becomes more unstable.
Muslims are provong again that cannot even get along with each other.
Explain to me how Islam will ever be able to get along with the West now,
or in the future?

Latest updates now report over 50 have been murdered by this homicide
bomber.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Steven Lee Myers
NYT

The Baghdad Operations Command, which oversees security in the capital region, later said that the bomber had detonated her explosives near a place where women were in fact being searched. Among those killed, the command said in a statement, were three women who had volunteered to conduct searches of other women.




Even as word spread of yet another attack, the command’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta al-Moussawi, announced that “a large number” of 134 officers and soldiers who were under investigation in the wake of last week’s attacks would face court-martial for negligence and dereliction of duty.

He also told Iraqis and officials to be vigilant. In a statement, he said that insurgents had developed “new highly explosive formulas” to avoid detection.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiites from Iraq, Iran and beyond make their way to Karbala for the pilgrimage each year. Many do so on foot, a journey that can take days or even weeks.
Continue reading

Hat Tip: Jihad Watch

Who were the majority of victims in latest homicide terrorist attack Pakistan? Children.

Not being Muslim or a follower of the ideology that masquerades as a religion, I will never understand how these 'people' can take the lives of so many innocent people on an almost daily basis. They have absolutely no regard for life, even those of children.

Photo: One of the children that survived the blast of terror.

Pakistan volleyball bombing kills 88, fromUPI News: LAKI MARWAT, Pakistan, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber killed scores of people Friday during a volleyball game in Laki Marwat, a city in northwest Pakistan, police said.

Police said the bomber drove a truck packed with explosives onto the sports field in Laki Marwat, The Times of London reported. The confirmed death toll climbed rapidly during the day with the Times putting it at 88. Most of the victims were children as young as 12, the newspaper said.

Anwer Khan, 18, told The Times he saw a black pick-up truck head toward the spectators. "A giant flame leaped toward the sky," Khan said. "There was bright light everywhere, just like a flash, and then a very huge blast shook everything. Two pellets hit my forehead and blood started flowing."

The city is near South Waziristan, where government forces have been battling Taliban militants, and the attack marked the latest retaliation for the Pakistani military's offensive. More than 500 people have been killed in bombings and other terrorist attacks since the campaign began in October.

Some of the innocent victims that were killed at the Volleyball match

"The locality has been a hub of militants. Locals set up a militia and expelled the militants from this area," police Chief Ayub Khan said. "This attack seems to be a reaction to their expulsion." Khan said some victims might still be trapped in houses that had collapsed in the crowded neighborhood around the sports field. The number of wounded was also high.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clinton condemns Pakistan terrorist attack: WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Friday denounced the Pakistan terrorist attack that killed nearly 90 people, most of them children. "The United States strongly condemns today's terrorist attack on civilians in Pakistan, and we offer our condolences to the families of the victims and all the people of Pakistan," Clinton said.

Her comments came after a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives onto a sports field during a volleyball came in Laki Marwat, a city in northwest Pakistan.

"The Pakistani people have seen terrorists target schools, markets, mosques and now a volleyball game," the secretary said. "The United States will continue to stand with the people of Pakistan in their efforts to chart their own future free from fear and intimidation, and will support their efforts to combat violent extremism and bolster democracy."

The attack occurred near the Waziristan tribal region, believed to be home to Taliban and al-Qaida training bases, where government forces have been battling Taliban militants.

Really, the Palestinians do not matter as much as they used to. What a shame.

Muslim on Muslim violence. That's always a good thing.


Iran scorns Hamas leader's mediation bid in Yemen conflict

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

December 14, 2009, 11:02 PM (GMT+02:00)

Palestinian issue sinks on regional priority scale

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brushed off Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal's offer to mediate an end to the bloody Yemen civil war between Saudi-backed government forces and rebels supported by Iran, DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report. Meshaal, who arrived in Tehran Sunday, Dec.13, was told by the key backer of his extremist terror organization to keep his nose out of major issues and stick to the Palestinian question.

The Hamas leader carried a Saudi proposal to Iran for the benefit of the Persian Gulf regional summit taking place in Manama which focuses on the Iranian nuclear issue and the Yemen war, whereby Tehran would state it does not support the Yemeni Houthi rebels and will not furnish them with arms.

Since Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the Manama summit was the first to take place when one of its participants, Saudi Arabia, was at war.

On the nuclear question, foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki's offer to swap Iran's 3.5 percent grade enriched uranium for 20 percent-enriched nuclear fuel was promptly rejected by Washington for failing to address the key problem of Iran's enriched uranium stock.

Our Gulf sources report that the Palestinian issue has dropped to fourth or fifth place in Arab Gulf concerns.

To mollify Iran's Palestinian protégée, Ahmadinejad's bureau issued a statement confirming that "the government and people of Iran will always stand by the Palestinian resistance and the Palestinian people."

According to the latest information reaching DEBKAfile, the embattled Yemen front saw a further escalation Dec. 13 when Saudi bombers targeted the village of al-Jabiri in the northern Yemeni province of Razeh. Seventy civilians were killed and scores injured - most of them women and children.

Yemeni rebel leaders accuse the Saudis of dropping phosphorus bombs. Riyadh confirmed the bombardment but said the village was a rebel stronghold.

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6416

Muslims killing each other. What else is new? Mosque bombing in Pakistan.

FT.com / Asia-Pacific / Pakistan - Pakistan militants attack Rawalpindi mosque

I heard on NPR that of the dead, 16
were children. Muslim on Muslim
violence. They cannot even get along
with each other, let alone the rest of
the world.



Pakistan militants attack Rawalpindi mosque


By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad



Published: December 4 2009 11:22
Last updated: December 4 2009 17:45

Suspected pro-Taliban militants launched an armed attack and a suicide bombing on a mosque in Rawalpindi on Friday, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 80 others.

The attack began just after Friday prayers, targeting a mosque frequented by military officials in the Qasim market district.

At least six dead in Damascus bus blast - Dec-03.Gilani says Bin Laden not in Pakistan - Dec-03.Suicide bomber claims 19 lives - Dec-03..Rawalpindi is Pakistan’s main garrison town and the mosque is located about 10 minutes’ drive from the Pakistan army’s general headquarters.

Officials said a lone suicide bomber had detonated a blast in the mosque and minutes later as many as five militants, who were apparently present in the compound of the mosque, began firing indiscriminately.



The attack has revived concerns over the safety of army personnel who are waging a campaign against Taliban militants in the south Waziristan region near the Afghan border. Officials said at least one army major general and a brigadier were among those killed. A former vice chief of the army, Mohammad Yusuf, was among those injured.



“This is a security lapse and it shows that there was a gap somewhere which allowed these people to go through” said Mehmood Shah, a former army commander, in comments on a Pakistani TV channel.



In October, pro-Taliban militants launched a daring attack on the army’s GHQ and took as many as 42 military personnel hostage. That episode ended after two days when army commandos stormed the building where the hostages were being held. At least 23 people were killed in that attack, including 14 military personnel and nine pro-Taliban militants.



Intelligence officials said the latest attack once again underlined the difficulty of securing congested urban areas in a country where the militants are largely from the local population.



“You can put together as many layers of security as you want. But you will always face the difficult choice of creating a fool-proof cordon, especially in exceptionally busy urban areas” said an intelligence source. “Do we delay or stop people from going for their Friday prayers?”.



In recent months, senior intelligence officials have claimed that for each successful attack, there have been at least nine others that have failed because of timely intelligence warnings.



“The problem is that such attacks will keep on coming for some time to come. What is important is that they must be stopped or else the militants will just feel they are winning,” said one western defence official.




http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3f3ec962-e0c7-11de-9f58-00144feab49a.html
Financial Times