Islamic State blamed for Afghan bombing
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan – A motorcycle-riding suicide bomber attacked a line of people waiting outside a bank Saturday in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 35 and wounding 125 in an assault the country’s president blamed on the Islamic State group.
The accusation by President Ashraf Ghani, following the local media reporting the Islamic State group’s Afghan affiliate claiming the attack, would mark a major escalation in the extremists’ nascent campaign of violence in the country.
While nowhere near as powerful as the Taliban, the affiliate’s ability to strike at will would mark a new threat for the country to contend with as U.S. and NATO forces ended their combat mission at the start of the year. It also further stretches the Islamic State group’s influence far beyond its self-declared caliphate stretching through a third of Iraq and Syria.
The attack in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, targeted a crowd of soldiers and civilians gathered outside the bank to receive their monthly salaries.
Five Australian teens arrested for IS plot
SYDNEY – Five Australian teenagers were arrested Saturday on suspicion of plotting an Islamic State group-inspired terrorist attack at a Veterans’ Day ceremony that included targeting police officers, officials said.
The suspects included two 18-year-olds who are alleged to have been preparing an attack at the ANZAC Day ceremony in Melbourne later this month, Australian Federal Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan told reporters.
Another 18-year-old was arrested on weapons charges, and two other men, aged 18 and 19, were in custody and assisting police. All the arrests took place in Melbourne.
ANZAC Day is the annual April 25 commemoration of the 1915 Gallipoli landings – the first major military action fought by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I.
Police said they believe the plot was inspired by the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, and was to have involved “edged weapons.”
U.S. Zionists cast votes in other Israeli election
NEW YORK – Call it the other Israel election.
The World Zionist Congress – a global Zionist body that formed more than a century ago but retains significant influence in Israel – is holding elections for U.S. delegates to its global assembly. At stake is leadership of an organization that helps manage agencies in Israel with budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
While past voting for the congress has attracted little attention beyond a small circle of American Zionist groups, liberal U.S. Jewish leaders are hoping this time will be different. They are pointing to the election as a way their communities can register discontent with the direction of the Israeli government after Benjamin Netanyahu won re-election last month.
Hardline American Zionists are mobilizing as well to advance their priorities – including support for Jewish settlements on occupied land claimed by the Palestinians for their future state.
“This is a real election. It matters,” said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the liberal Union for Reform Judaism, the synagogue arm for the largest American Jewish movement. “It’s a part of every public talk I’ve given for the last four months.”
Associated Press
