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	<title>Suicide Bombings &#8211; Faith Matters</title>
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	<title>Suicide Bombings &#8211; Faith Matters</title>
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		<title>Brussels court convicts six of terrorist murder in 2016 attacks</title>
		<link>https://www.faith-matters.org/brussels-court-convicts-six-of-terrorist-murder-in-2016-attacks/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Faith Matters]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jul 2023 22:35:02 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brussels Terrorist attack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oussama Atar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Salah Abdeslam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Suicide Bombings]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.faith-matters.org/?p=10689</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[A Brussels court on Tuesday found six of the 10 suspects guilty of terrorist murder for their role in the 2016 terror attacks which left initially 32 dead and injured hundreds in the Belgian capital. According to the Belgian news agency Belga, three suspects in the attacks were acquitted of that charge. The sentences will [&#8230;]]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fbrussels-court-convicts-six-of-terrorist-murder-in-2016-attacks%2F&amp;linkname=Brussels%20court%20convicts%20six%20of%20terrorist%20murder%20in%202016%20attacks" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_x" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/x?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fbrussels-court-convicts-six-of-terrorist-murder-in-2016-attacks%2F&amp;linkname=Brussels%20court%20convicts%20six%20of%20terrorist%20murder%20in%202016%20attacks" title="X" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fbrussels-court-convicts-six-of-terrorist-murder-in-2016-attacks%2F&amp;linkname=Brussels%20court%20convicts%20six%20of%20terrorist%20murder%20in%202016%20attacks" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_whatsapp" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/whatsapp?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fbrussels-court-convicts-six-of-terrorist-murder-in-2016-attacks%2F&amp;linkname=Brussels%20court%20convicts%20six%20of%20terrorist%20murder%20in%202016%20attacks" title="WhatsApp" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd a2a_counter addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fbrussels-court-convicts-six-of-terrorist-murder-in-2016-attacks%2F&#038;title=Brussels%20court%20convicts%20six%20of%20terrorist%20murder%20in%202016%20attacks" data-a2a-url="https://www.faith-matters.org/brussels-court-convicts-six-of-terrorist-murder-in-2016-attacks/" data-a2a-title="Brussels court convicts six of terrorist murder in 2016 attacks"></a></p><p>A Brussels court on Tuesday found six of the 10 suspects guilty of terrorist murder for their role in the 2016 terror attacks which left initially 32 dead and injured hundreds in the Belgian capital.</p>
<p>According to the Belgian news agency Belga, three suspects in the attacks were acquitted of that charge. The sentences will be decided in September.</p>
<p>A 10th suspect is believed to have died in Syria.</p>
<p>According to Belga, the jury also decided to hold the six convicted defendants accountable for the deaths of three additional people who died after the attacks, either after a long illness or by suicide.</p>
<p>That brings the official death toll to 35, the agency said.</p>
<p>Apart from terrorist murder, the 10 defendants were charged with attempted terrorist murder and participation in a terrorist organization.</p>
<p>The suicide bombings carried out on March 22, 2016 targeted the city&#8217;s airport and a metro station. They took place at a time when Europe was on edge due to previous terrorist attacks.</p>
<p>Six of the nine defendants put on trial for the Brussels attack already received long prison sentences from a French court for their roles in a 2015 terrorist attack in Paris in which 130 people were killed.</p>
<p>Tuesday&#8217;s ruling was handed down after a jury of 12 deliberated for over two weeks.</p>
<p>The most prominent defendant is Salah Abdeslam, who was on the run for months following the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.</p>
<p>He was previously sentenced to life imprisonment by a French court as well as to 20 years in jail in a separate trial for having shot at police shortly before his 2016 arrest in Brussels.</p>
<p>Mohamed Abrini, also already sentenced for life imprisonment in Paris, is in court in Belgium after having travelled to the airport in Brussels together with one of the suicide bombers, where he abandoned his explosives.</p>
<p>Oussama Atar, who is considered the leading figure of the terrorist network behind the attacks, was again tried in absentia. He is believed to have died in Syria.</p>
<p>Three others suspects have previously been sentenced to 10 to 30 years in prison for their role in the Paris terror attacks.</p>
<p>Tuesday&#8217;s verdicts brings a painful chapter of Belgian history closer to an end.</p>
<p>Several of the accused had been surveilled by Belgian authorities ahead of the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels, but authorities failed to prevent the attacks, Belgian media reported.</p>
<p>The suspects faced more than 900 civil plaintiffs, including survivors with lasting physical and psychological injuries, the bereaved relatives of those killed and first responders.</p>
<p>In recent years, victims and victims&#8217; organizations have repeatedly complained about insufficient and cumbersome support offered by the state.</p>
<p>The trial, which lasted nine months, posed a major challenge to Belgium&#8217;s judicial system, which is plagued by chronic understaffing and a lack of resources, news agency Belga reported.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10689</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>At least 11 killed as ‘so-called Islamic State’ gunmen launch attack in Iraq</title>
		<link>https://www.faith-matters.org/at-least-11-killed-as-so-called-islamic-state-gunmen-launch-attack-in-iraq/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Faith Matters]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2021 00:29:02 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Extremism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Al-Rashad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gunmen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Suicide Bombings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sunni Muslim]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.faith-matters.org/?p=9921</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Gunmen from the so-called Islamic State extremist group attacked a village northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding six others, Iraqi security officials said. The officials said the attack occurred in the predominantly Shiite village of al-Rashad northeast of Baqouba in Diyala province. The circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear, [&#8230;]]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fat-least-11-killed-as-so-called-islamic-state-gunmen-launch-attack-in-iraq%2F&amp;linkname=At%20least%2011%20killed%20as%20%E2%80%98so-called%20Islamic%20State%E2%80%99%20gunmen%20launch%20attack%20in%20Iraq" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_x" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/x?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fat-least-11-killed-as-so-called-islamic-state-gunmen-launch-attack-in-iraq%2F&amp;linkname=At%20least%2011%20killed%20as%20%E2%80%98so-called%20Islamic%20State%E2%80%99%20gunmen%20launch%20attack%20in%20Iraq" title="X" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fat-least-11-killed-as-so-called-islamic-state-gunmen-launch-attack-in-iraq%2F&amp;linkname=At%20least%2011%20killed%20as%20%E2%80%98so-called%20Islamic%20State%E2%80%99%20gunmen%20launch%20attack%20in%20Iraq" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_whatsapp" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/whatsapp?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fat-least-11-killed-as-so-called-islamic-state-gunmen-launch-attack-in-iraq%2F&amp;linkname=At%20least%2011%20killed%20as%20%E2%80%98so-called%20Islamic%20State%E2%80%99%20gunmen%20launch%20attack%20in%20Iraq" title="WhatsApp" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd a2a_counter addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fat-least-11-killed-as-so-called-islamic-state-gunmen-launch-attack-in-iraq%2F&#038;title=At%20least%2011%20killed%20as%20%E2%80%98so-called%20Islamic%20State%E2%80%99%20gunmen%20launch%20attack%20in%20Iraq" data-a2a-url="https://www.faith-matters.org/at-least-11-killed-as-so-called-islamic-state-gunmen-launch-attack-in-iraq/" data-a2a-title="At least 11 killed as ‘so-called Islamic State’ gunmen launch attack in Iraq"></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">Gunmen from the so-called Islamic State extremist group attacked a village northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding six others, Iraqi security officials said.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">The officials said the attack occurred in the predominantly Shiite village of al-Rashad northeast of Baqouba in Diyala province.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">The circumstances of the attack were not immediately clear, but two officials said Islamic State group militants had kidnapped two villagers earlier and then raided the village when their demands for ransom were not met.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">Machine guns were used in the attack, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">They said all the dead and wounded were civilians.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">Attacks targeting civilians have become rare in Iraq since the Islamic State group was largely defeated in the country in 2017, although it remains active through sleeper cells in many areas.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">Militants from the Sunni Muslim extremist group still conduct operations, often targeting security forces, power stations and other infrastructure.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">A roadside bomb attack targeted a Baghdad suburb in July, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens of others at a crowded market.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">In January, twin suicide bombings ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital, killing at least 32 people and wounding dozens.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000000;">Iraqi officials blamed IS for those attacks.</span></p>
<hr />
<p>Read more: <a href="https://www.faith-matters.org/islamic-state-attacks-iraqi-police-near-najaf-kills-seven/">Islamic State attacks Iraqi police near Najaf, kills seven</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
					
		
		
		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">9921</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Last letters &#8211; From Mosul schoolboys to Islamic State &#8216;martyrs&#8217;</title>
		<link>https://www.faith-matters.org/last-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Faith Matters]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Feb 2017 12:06:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Islamic State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jihadi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mosul]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Suicide Bombings]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.faith-matters.org/?p=6506</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#8220;My dear family, please forgive me,&#8221; reads the handwritten letter discarded in the dusty halls of an Islamic State training compound in eastern Mosul. &#8220;Don&#8217;t be sad and don&#8217;t wear the black clothes (of mourning). I asked to get married and you did not marry me off. So, by God, I will marry the 72 [&#8230;]]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Flast-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs%2F&amp;linkname=Last%20letters%20%E2%80%93%20From%20Mosul%20schoolboys%20to%20Islamic%20State%20%E2%80%98martyrs%E2%80%99" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_x" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/x?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Flast-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs%2F&amp;linkname=Last%20letters%20%E2%80%93%20From%20Mosul%20schoolboys%20to%20Islamic%20State%20%E2%80%98martyrs%E2%80%99" title="X" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Flast-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs%2F&amp;linkname=Last%20letters%20%E2%80%93%20From%20Mosul%20schoolboys%20to%20Islamic%20State%20%E2%80%98martyrs%E2%80%99" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_whatsapp" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/whatsapp?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Flast-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs%2F&amp;linkname=Last%20letters%20%E2%80%93%20From%20Mosul%20schoolboys%20to%20Islamic%20State%20%E2%80%98martyrs%E2%80%99" title="WhatsApp" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd a2a_counter addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Flast-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs%2F&#038;title=Last%20letters%20%E2%80%93%20From%20Mosul%20schoolboys%20to%20Islamic%20State%20%E2%80%98martyrs%E2%80%99" data-a2a-url="https://www.faith-matters.org/last-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs/" data-a2a-title="Last letters – From Mosul schoolboys to Islamic State ‘martyrs’"></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;My dear family, please forgive me,&#8221; reads the handwritten letter discarded in the dusty halls of an Islamic State training compound in eastern Mosul.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Don&#8217;t be sad and don&#8217;t wear the black clothes (of mourning). I asked to get married and you did not marry me off. So, by God, I will marry the 72 virgins in paradise.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">They were schoolboy Alaa Abd al-Akeedi&#8217;s parting words before he set off from the compound to end his life in a suicide bomb attack against Iraqi security forces last year.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The letter was written on an Islamic State form marked &#8220;Soldiers&#8217; Department, Martyrs&#8217; Brigade&#8221; and in an envelope addressed to his parents&#8217; home in western Mosul.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Akeedi, aged 15 or 16 when he signed up, was one of dozens of young recruits who passed through the training facility in the past 2-1/2 years as they prepared to wage jihad. In several cases this involved carrying out suicide attacks &#8211; Islamic State&#8217;s most effective weapon against a U.S.-backed military campaign to retake the group&#8217;s last major urban bastion in Iraq.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">His letter never reached his family. It was left behind with a handful of other bombers&#8217; notes to relatives when Islamic State abandoned the facility in the face of an army offensive that has reclaimed more than half of the city since October.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The militants also left a handwritten registry containing the personal details of about 50 recruits. Not all entries had years of birth, and only about a dozen had photographs attached, but many recruits were in their teens or early 20s.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">These documents, found by Reuters on a trip into eastern Mosul after the army recaptured that area, include some of the first first-hand accounts from Islamic State&#8217;s suicide bombers to be made public and offer an insight into the mindset of young recruits prepared to die for Islamic State&#8217;s ultra-hardline ideology.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Reuters interviewed relatives of three of the fighters including Akeedi to help determine where they came from and why they chose jihad. In rare testimonies by families of Islamic State suicide bombers, they told of teenagers who joined the jihadists to their dismay and bewilderment, and died within months.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Reuters could not independently verify the information about other recruits in the registry. Islamic State does not make itself available to independent media outlets so could not be contacted for comment on the letters, the registry or the phenomenon of teenage suicide bombers.</p>
<figure id="attachment_6510" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-6510" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="6510" data-permalink="https://www.faith-matters.org/last-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs/the-id-cardchildhood-photo-of-teenage-islamic-state-militant-atheer-ali-is-seen-in-mosul/" data-orig-file="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS.jpg" data-orig-size="3500,2048" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;REUTERS&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The ID card\/childhood photo of teenage Islamic State militant Atheer Ali is seen in Mosul, Iraq, February 4, 2017. Picture taken February 4, 2017. REUTERS\/Stephen Kalin&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1488195505&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;The ID card\/childhood photo of teenage Islamic State militant Atheer Ali is seen in Mosul&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="The ID card/childhood photo of teenage Islamic State militant Atheer Ali is seen in Mosul" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="&lt;p&gt;The ID card/childhood photo of teenage Islamic State militant Atheer Ali is seen in Mosul, Iraq, February 4, 2017. Picture taken February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Kalin&lt;/p&gt;
" data-medium-file="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-600x351.jpg" data-large-file="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-1024x599.jpg" class="size-medium wp-image-6510" src="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-600x351.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="351" srcset="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-600x351.jpg 600w, https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-342x200.jpg 342w, https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-768x449.jpg 768w, https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0SB_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-1024x599.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-6510" class="wp-caption-text">The ID card/childhood photo of teenage Islamic State militant Atheer Ali is seen in Mosul, Iraq, February 4, 2017. Picture taken February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Kalin</figcaption></figure>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&#8216;BROTHER JIHADI, RESPECT QUIET&#8217;</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Islamic State has attracted thousands of young recruits in Mosul &#8211; by far the biggest city in the caliphate it declared in 2014 over territory it seized in Iraq and Syria. The group has carried out hundreds of suicide attacks in the Middle East and plotted or inspired dozens of attacks in the West.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The training compound visited by Reuters consisted of three villas confiscated from Mosul residents. Man-sized holes knocked through exterior walls allowed easy access between the villas.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lower floors were littered with IS posters and pamphlets on topics ranging from religion to weaponry, as well as tests on warfare and the Koran. Green paint and bed sheets on the windows obscured the view from outside and gave the rooms an eerie glow.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Flak jackets and body-shaped shooting targets filled one room, while medicines and syringes were scattered around another that appeared to have served as a clinic.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The rooms upstairs were packed full of bunk beds with space for almost 100 people. Printed signs outlined strict house rules. One ordered: &#8220;Brother jihadi, respect quiet and cleanliness&#8221;.</p>
<figure id="attachment_6511" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-6511" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" data-attachment-id="6511" data-permalink="https://www.faith-matters.org/last-letters-from-mosul-schoolboys-to-islamic-state-martyrs/teenage-militant-alaa-abd-al-akeedis-final-letter-to-his-family-appears-on-official-islamic-state-stationery-in-erbil/" data-orig-file="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS.jpg" data-orig-size="3500,2625" data-comments-opened="0" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;REUTERS&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Teenage militant Alaa abd al-Akeedi&#039;s final letter to his family appears on official Islamic State stationery in Erbil, Iraq, February 26, 2017. Picture taken February 26, 2017. REUTERS\/Alaa Al-Marjani     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1488195505&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Teenage militant Alaa abd al-Akeedi&#039;s final letter to his family appears on official Islamic State stationery, In Erbil&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}" data-image-title="Teenage militant Alaa abd al-Akeedi&#8217;s final letter to his family appears on official Islamic State stationery, In Erbil" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="&lt;p&gt;Teenage militant Alaa abd al-Akeedi&#8217;s final letter to his family appears on official Islamic State stationery in Erbil, Iraq, February 26, 2017. Picture taken February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY&lt;/p&gt;
" data-medium-file="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-600x450.jpg" data-large-file="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-1024x768.jpg" class="size-medium wp-image-6511" src="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-600x450.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="450" srcset="https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-600x450.jpg 600w, https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-267x200.jpg 267w, https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.faith-matters.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2017-02-27T113825Z_1_LYNXMPED1Q0S2_RTROPTP_4_ISLAMIC-STATE-RECRUITS-1024x768.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-6511" class="wp-caption-text">Teenage militant Alaa abd al-Akeedi&#8217;s final letter to his family appears on official Islamic State stationery in Erbil, Iraq, February 26, 2017. Picture taken February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY</figcaption></figure>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>PLEDGING ALLEGIANCE</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Most of the recruits listed in the registry were Iraqi but there were a few from the United States, Iran, Morocco and India. Akeedi&#8217;s entry says he pledged allegiance on Dec. 1, 2014, a few months after the jihadists seized Mosul.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A relative told Reuters by phone that Akeedi&#8217;s father was deeply distressed by his son&#8217;s decision but feared punishment if he tried to remove him from Islamic State&#8217;s ranks. Reuters was unable to contact his father.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Akeedi rarely visited his family after joining the jihadists. On his last trip home he told his father he was going to carry out a suicide attack in Baiji, an oil refinery town south of Mosul where the militants had been fighting off repeated offensives by the Iraqi military.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;He told his father, &#8216;I am going to seek martyrdom,'&#8221; said the relative, who declined to be named because he feared reprisals from Islamic State or from Iraqi forces preparing to storm the area.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A few months later, Akeedi&#8217;s family was told by the militants that he had succeeded.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Another recruit of the same age, Atheer Ali, is listed in the registry beside a passport-sized photo showing a boy with bushy eyebrows and large brown eyes. He wears a dark collar-less tunic, a brown head covering and a cautious smile.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">His father, Abu Amir, told Reuters his son had been an outstanding student who excelled in science and was always watching the National Geographic TV channel. He loved to swim and fish in a nearby river and would help out on his uncle&#8217;s vegetable farm after school.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>TOO YOUNG FOR FACIAL HAIR</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Ali was shy and slim, lacking a fighter&#8217;s mentality or build, Abu Amir said in an interview at his eastern Mosul home, sifting through family photos.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So the father was horrified when one day in early 2015 Ali didn&#8217;t come home from school but ran off with seven classmates to join Islamic State.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">When Abu Amir went to the militants&#8217; offices across the city to track down his son, they threatened to jail him.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He never saw his son alive again.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A few months later, three Islamic State fighters pulled up at Abu Amir&#8217;s house in a pickup truck and handed him a scrap of paper with his son&#8217;s name on it. He was dead.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Abu Amir retrieved Ali&#8217;s body from the morgue. His hair had grown long but he was still too young for facial hair. Shrapnel was lodged in his arms and chest.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He said the fighters told him he had been hit by an air strike on a mortar position in Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul. They described him as a &#8220;hero&#8221;.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Gathered in the family sitting room, Ali&#8217;s relatives said he was brainwashed. Many of his school friends fled Mosul after the militants took control and Ali fell in with a new crowd, but his family never noticed a change in his behaviour.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Even now I&#8217;m still astounded. I don&#8217;t know how they convinced him to join,&#8221; said Abu Amir. &#8220;I&#8217;m just glad we could bury him and put this whole thing to rest.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&#8216;HIS MIND WAS FRAGILE&#8217;</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Sheet Omar was also 15 or 16 years old when he joined Islamic State in August 2014, weeks after the group captured Mosul. Next to his registry entry is the fatal addendum: &#8220;Conducted martyrdom operation&#8221;.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Shalal Younis, Omar&#8217;s sister&#8217;s father-in-law, confirmed he had died carrying out a suicide attack, though he was uncertain about the details.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He said the teenager, from the Intisar district of eastern Mosul, had been overweight and insecure and joined the jihadists after his father&#8217;s death.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;His mind was fragile and they took advantage of that, promising him virgins and lecturing him about being a good Muslim,&#8221; said Younis. &#8220;If someone had tempted him with drugs and alcohol, he probably would have done that instead.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Suicide bombers hit three Saudi cities, killing at least four officers</title>
		<link>https://www.faith-matters.org/suicide-bombers-hit-three-saudi-cities-killing-at-least-four-officers/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Faith Matters]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Jul 2016 00:36:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Extremism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prophet's Mosque]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Propht Muhammad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Qatif]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ramadhan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Suicide Bombings]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://faith-matters.org/?p=5629</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Suicide bombers struck three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, killing at least four security officers in an apparently coordinated campaign of attacks as Saudis prepared to break their fast on the penultimate day of the holy month of Ramadan. The explosions targeting U.S. diplomats, Shi&#8217;ite worshippers and a security headquarters at a mosque in [&#8230;]]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="a2a_button_facebook" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/facebook?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fsuicide-bombers-hit-three-saudi-cities-killing-at-least-four-officers%2F&amp;linkname=Suicide%20bombers%20hit%20three%20Saudi%20cities%2C%20killing%20at%20least%20four%20officers" title="Facebook" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_x" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/x?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fsuicide-bombers-hit-three-saudi-cities-killing-at-least-four-officers%2F&amp;linkname=Suicide%20bombers%20hit%20three%20Saudi%20cities%2C%20killing%20at%20least%20four%20officers" title="X" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_linkedin" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/linkedin?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fsuicide-bombers-hit-three-saudi-cities-killing-at-least-four-officers%2F&amp;linkname=Suicide%20bombers%20hit%20three%20Saudi%20cities%2C%20killing%20at%20least%20four%20officers" title="LinkedIn" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_button_whatsapp" href="https://www.addtoany.com/add_to/whatsapp?linkurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fsuicide-bombers-hit-three-saudi-cities-killing-at-least-four-officers%2F&amp;linkname=Suicide%20bombers%20hit%20three%20Saudi%20cities%2C%20killing%20at%20least%20four%20officers" title="WhatsApp" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a><a class="a2a_dd a2a_counter addtoany_share_save addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.faith-matters.org%2Fsuicide-bombers-hit-three-saudi-cities-killing-at-least-four-officers%2F&#038;title=Suicide%20bombers%20hit%20three%20Saudi%20cities%2C%20killing%20at%20least%20four%20officers" data-a2a-url="https://www.faith-matters.org/suicide-bombers-hit-three-saudi-cities-killing-at-least-four-officers/" data-a2a-title="Suicide bombers hit three Saudi cities, killing at least four officers"></a></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Suicide bombers struck three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, killing at least four security officers in an apparently coordinated campaign of attacks as Saudis prepared to break their fast on the penultimate day of the holy month of Ramadan.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The explosions targeting U.S. diplomats, Shi&#8217;ite worshippers and a security headquarters at a mosque in the holy city of Medina followed days of mass killings claimed by the Islamic State group in Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq. The attacks all seem to have been timed to coincide with the approach of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that celebrates the end of the Islamic holy month.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A suicide bomber detonated a bomb at a parking lot outside the Prophet&#8217;s Mosque in Medina, the second-holiest site in Islam, a Saudi security spokesman told state news agency SPA.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;Security men noticed a suspicious person among those approaching the Prophet&#8217;s Mosque in an open area used as parking lots for visitors&#8217; cars. As they confronted him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt, which resulted in his death and the martyrdom of four of the security men,&#8221; the spokesman said.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Five other officers were wounded, the statement added.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A Saudi security official said an attacker parked a car near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah before detonating the device.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A video sent to Reuters by a witness to the aftermath of the Medina bombing showed a large blaze among parked cars in the fading evening light, with the sound of sirens in the background. A picture sent to Reuters showed a burnt and bleeding man lying on a stretcher in a hospital.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Other pictures circulating on social media showed dark smoke billowing from flames near the Mosque of the Prophet, originally built in the 7th century by the Prophet Muhammad, who is buried there along with his first two successors.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In Qatif, an eastern city that is home to many members of the Shi&#8217;ite minority, at least one and possibly two explosions struck near a Shi&#8217;ite mosque. The security spokesman said the body of a bomber and two other people have been identified, without providing any more details.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Witnesses described body parts, apparently of a suicide bomber, in the aftermath.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A resident of the city reached by telephone said there were believed to be no casualties there apart from the attacker, as worshippers had already gone home to break their fasts. Civil defence forces were cleaning up the area and police were investigating, the resident said.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A video circulating on social media and purporting to show the aftermath of a Qatif blast showed an agitated crowd on a street, with a fire raging near a building and a bloody body part lying on the ground. Reuters could not immediately verify the video.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Hours earlier a suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the U.S. Consulate in the kingdom&#8217;s second city, Jeddah.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Jeddah blast was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Authorities identified the attacker as a 34-year-old Pakistani driver named Abdullah Qalzar Khan, who lived with his wife and family in the city.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">An official of the U.S. State Department said no American citizens or consulate staff were hurt in the Jeddah blast. He said the United States was aware of reports of explosions in Qatif and Medina and would monitor the situation closely.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">He said the State Department encouraged U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia &#8220;to be aware of their surroundings, and keep security and situational awareness levels high.&#8221;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi&#8217;ite Muslim minority and security services.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Police and groups of local volunteers increased security near mosques in Qatif after suicide bombings hit mosques in Shi&#8217;ite areas last year, killing dozens. Another suicide blast at a mosque used by security forces killed 15 a year ago.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The top Saudi clerical body condemned the attacks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;They are renegades from the (true) religion who have left behind the Muslim flock and their imam, violating all sanctities,&#8221; the Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars said in a statement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&#8220;They have no religion,&#8221; it added.</p>
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