Suicide bombings that killed 65 people in northern Iraq bear the hallmarks of al-Qaeda-linked extremists and could be revenge for the arrest of senior operatives, US and Kurdish officials say.
Black flags lined the streets across the northern Kurdish region as thousands of Kurds, dressed in black, mourned the dead in Arbil, 350km north of Baghdad.
Leaders of the two Kurdish political groups targeted by Sunday's twin blasts and coalition officials in Iraq say the attacks could have been the work of the extremist Ansar al-Islam.
The radical group, which controlled an enclave of northeastern Iraq before being crushed by US forces at the end of March, is suspected of links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Senior coalition officials have already warned of a growing al-Qaeda threat in Iraq as foreign fighters team up with homegrown guerrillas, providing funding and tactical support.
One top coalition military official said the attack on offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Arbil may have been revenge for the capture in Iraq on Jan. 22 of Hasan Guhl, a Pakistani al-Qaeda facilitator.
Guhl was seized near the northern border with Iran.
He was believed to have been scouting locations for al-Qaeda operations as well as seeking to join forces with other Islamic extremists.
According to one Kurdish source, KDP militiamen played a key role in the capture, less than 100km from Arbil.
Senior Kurdish officials said that radical Islamic groups had dispatched the bombers, who slipped through lax security during the Muslim Eid al-Adha festival to mingle with guests and get close to Kurdish leaders.
Key figures were killed from both the parties, which for more than a decade controlled the semi-autonomous north during the rule of Saddam Hussein in defiance of the Iraqi president.
"The attacks were orchestrated by Islamists of the Ansar al-Islam, paid for by the neighboring countries, because these methods are not those of Iraqis but of foreigners coming from nearby countries," said Adel Butani, a spokesman for the KDP, who was injured in the attack.
Coalition officials say an increasing use of suicide bombing tactics in Iraq points to the involvement of foreign fighters, possibly working in league with Saddam loyalists.
They said the foreigners were taking advantage of a 10-month insurgency to destabilize the region, passing on techniques and tactics to homegrown insurgents and using Iraqis as pawns to further their goals.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS