Islamabad university reopens after suicide bomb attack

The Islamic International University of Islamabad has reopend its doors after a twin suicide bomb attack killed seven students and staff and injured dozens last Tuesday.

The bombers targeted both the male and female campuses in a simultaneous strike.

The violence prompted the government to close down educational institutions across the country, which have also reported back after the weekend.

The explosions are part of a series of recent militant attacks, which have spread fear through the country’s cities.

Observers view the recent wave of suicide bombings as retaliation against the Pakistan military’s offensive in South Waziristan, the mountainous border region, long seen as a Taliban stronghold.

Earlier, Pakistan claimed it killed 19 suspected militants and lost six soldiers in fighting inside a Taliban stronghold close to the Afghan border.

29 dead in suicide attack on Revolutionary Guards commanders

euronews-A suicide bomber has killed 29 people, including six senior Revolutionary Guards commanders in Iran.

State television says a Sunni rebel group has admitted carrying out the attack which left another 28 people wounded.

Analysts say a rebel group known as Jundollah, which has links to the Taliban in neighbouring Pakistan, is the likely suspect.

The attack took place at the gates of a conference hall in the city of Sarbaz in Sistan-Baluchestan province.

A suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body during a gathering of tribal leaders according to the Iranian television reports.

The Revolutionary Guard is a branch of Iran’s military founded after the Iranian revolution. It is thought to number as many as 120,000 with its own small naval and air arms.

Two high-ranking commanders among the dead were the deputy head of the Guards’ ground forces and the regional commander of the Sistan-Baluchestan province.

Violence flares in North Caucasus

Attacks in the volatile North Caucasus are the latest deadly episode in a wave of violence to hit the region.

In Dagestan, Russian security forces killed four suspected Islamist rebels in heavy fighting as insurgents continue to challenge Kremlin rule.

In the neighbouring republic of Chechnya, where Russia fought two separatist wars, there was a similar scenario. But this time the authorities became the target after a suicide attack in the capital Grozny badly wounded three police officers.

In nearby Ingushetia, vast unemployment, affecting more than half the population, arguably makes it easier for extremists to attract recruits.

Last month, a massive truck bomb killed 20 people and destroyed a five-storey police station in the capital Nazran. In a similar attack on Friday a suicide truck bomber killed one other person and wounded several at a police checkpoint.

The three republics have also seen a spate of high- profile murders with Muslim rebels targeting officials.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has warned Moscow that the insurgency has affected all spheres of society and that he is struggling to contain it. However, Kadyrov’s tough methods are under the spotlight as the Kremlin seeks to regain control.

Human rights groups accused him of ordering the murder of leading activist Natalia Estemirova in July, something the Chechen leader strenuously denies.

Leftist militants suspected of Greek bombings

Greek police suspect leftists or anarchists were behind bomb attacks in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki.

One woman was slightly injured in the blast in the capital, which caused extensive damage to the stock exchange. The police had evacuated the area after an anonymous warning to a Greek newspaper. Other buildings and nearby cars were also damaged.

The owner of a nearby cafe said he saw a flash and then felt the force of the explosion, which he said almost knocked him over.

Greece has been hit by a spate of similar attacks since 2008 when the fatal shooting by police of a teenager sparked the country’s worst riots in decades.

Police say the make-up of the bomb was similar to others planted by a leftist militant group. A smaller bomb exploded in Thessaloniki around the same time. No one was injured in this attack and the blast caused only minor damage to a government building.

Afghan officials killed by suicide bomber

The deputy head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency has reportedly been killed in a suicide attack.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility, saying the target of the bombing was Abdullah Laghmani who was meeting mullahs at a mosque in the capital of Mehtar Lam province.

More than 20 other people, including several officials, are said to have been killed with dozens more injured.