patrick.net

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Now at least 12 people are dead and many more injured, and hundreds of people left homeless after the building was completely gutted by the flames. The 24-storey building – constructed in 1974 and having undergone a major renovation last year – was left a charred silhouette of the huge housing block it had once been.

The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack on Pizza House and the adjacent Posh Hotel in Mogadishu.

That attack began Wednesday evening with a car bombing at the hotel's front gates, The New York Times reports, then devolved into a hostage situation at the restaurant. Citing state news outlets, the Times notes more than 50 hostages were ultimately rescued by special forces troops.
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The U.S. carried out airstrikes against the al-Qaida-linked militant group elsewhere in the country on Sunday, killing eight militants, according to military officials.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes after weeks of escalating violence that have turned this year’s holy month of Ramadan into one of the most violent periods in the Afghan capital since 2001.

Thursday’s attack began when a suicide bomber was prevented from entering al-Zahra mosque in western Kabul, prompting an exchange of fire with police, according to Najib Danish, a spokesman for the interior ministry.

Police later said the attacker was dead.

No-one else was injured in the attack, which happened only a short walk away from the Elysees presidential palace and the US embassy.

The Paris prosecutor’s counter-terrorism unit has opened an inquiry into the collision, which happened as the car was overtaking the police vehicle.

Police said they found gas canisters, a Kalashnikov rifle and handguns in the car which caught fire.

French media reports said the driver was in his 30s and was on a high-risk watch list.

Citing the Ministry of the Interior, it said 11 people were injured in the collapse of a three-storey building where a suicide bomber had barricade himself and exploded. Five of the injured were police.

It said a terrorist attack had been planned against Mecca's Grand Mosque, where Muslims from around the world have converged for the conclusion of the holy Ramadan fasting month.

Before the “Nakhla Raid,” the caravan attacks committed by the first disciples of the person 1.6 billion Muslims now revere as their Prophet Muhammad were calamitous failures. So, instead, the first followers of Islam chose to combine violence with deception.

Seventh century Arabia was a free-for-all of warring tribes who nevertheless all shared one ethical principle. Acts of war during the holy months, particularly the two months which included Ramadan when pilgrims journeyed to the then multi-faith shrine in Mecca, were strictly forbidden.
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Islam’s prophet Muhammad then conveniently revealed verses from his god, including 2:217 of the Quran. Quite simply, it was those committing the attacks that were the true victims, because the non-Muslims by their sheer presence were denying Muslims the ability to truly follow their religion.

Amy B. Wang of the Washington Post led the pack with this nonsense...“Trump just ended a long tradition of celebrating Ramadan at the White House.”
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In her ahistorical article, Wang also quotes John Quincy Adams who expressed “with an air of fascination” his dinner with the Tunisian envoy, but quotes Adams without also noting that the president thought Islam was a terrible and brutal creed.

What Adams thought about Islam is instructive. For instance, he described Islam as a religion of hate in a piece he wrote in the late 1820s:

"The natural hatred of the Mussulmen towards the infidels is in just accordance with the precepts of the Koran. … The fundamental doctrine of the Christian religion is the extirpation of hatred from the human heart. It forbids the exercise of it, even towards enemies. … In the 7th century of the Christian era, a wandering Arab … spread desolation and delusion over an extensive portion of the earth. … He declared undistinguishing and exterminating war as a part of his religion. … The essence of his doctrine was violence and lust, to exalt the brutal over the spiritual part of human nature."