Iraqi troops expected to drive ISIS from Ramadi in days

Iraqi troops during the military operation in the Province of Anbar
(Image: Times of Israel)

Reuters -BAGHDAD: Iraq's army chief was quoted on Wednesday as saying he needed only days to drive Islamic State from Ramadi, the city whose fall in May exposed the weakness of the Baghdad government and dampened hopes of restoring control in the north and west.

Iraqi troops began advancing on Tuesday in an offensive complicated by rivalries and suspicions harbored by local Sunni tribes and by Shi'ite militia backed by Iran. U.S. officials, concerned also by militant operations over the border in Syria, have expressed frustration at delays in seizing back the city.

Lebanon: double suicide bombing in Beirut Shia neighborhood left dozens dead

Double explosion in Beirut, the deadliest attack since the Lebanon
civil war
(Image: Reuters)

Reuters -BEIRUT: At least 43 people were killed and more than 240 wounded on Thursday in two suicide bomb blasts claimed by Islamic State in a crowded residential district in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah.

The explosions were the first attacks in more than a year to target a Hezbollah stronghold inside Lebanon, and came at time when the group is stepping up its involvement in the Syrian civil war -- a fight which has brought Sunni Islamist threats and invective against the Iran-backed Shi'ite group.

Deadly car bombing left over 100 people dead in Iraq, ISIS claims responsibility

Rescuers working on the site of a deadly suicide bombing in
Iraq
(Image: Haaretz)

More than 100 people were killed and hundreds injured in a deadly suicide car bombing on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr in Iraq. The bombing was carried out in the city of Khan Bani Saad in Diyala province, which is about 30 km from Baghdad.

This attack was one of the deadliest that the militants of Islamic State have carried out in Iraq. An explosion was that strong that it brought down several buildings in the city, crushing to death dozens of people who gathered there to celebrate the first day of Eid Al-Fitr, one of the biggest Muslim holidays, marking the end of Ramadan.

Saudi Arabia: Mosque bombing left at least 21 people dead

Bombed Shia mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia
(Image: Muslim News)

A massive explosion hit the Shia Ali Ibn Abi Taleb Mosque, located in one of the villages of the Saudi Arabia eastern province of Gatif (Al-Qadeeh), left at least 21 people killed and more than 90 people wounded, according to Saudi Health Ministry.

The attack occurred during the Friday noon prayers, when the mosque was packed with the praying people. An explosion hit the mosque almost at the beginning of the prayer, said the eye witnesses. The terrorist attack was carried out by a young suicide bomber, who was wearing the explosives laden belt under his clothes and detonated the bomb while being inside of the mosque.