Six major terror strikes have occurred in recent days as the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches. Ramadan ends Tuesday evening.
ISIS either claimed responsibility or is suspected in each of them. In Lebanon and Kuwait, ISIS plots were said to be foiled. Here is a chronological compilation of developments:
Jordan: At least six members of Jordan’s security forces were killed June 21 in a suicide car bombing launched from the Syrian side of the border.
The car bombing, which Jordan’s government described as a “cowardly terrorist attack,” killed four border guards, a civil defense worker and a national security official, a military statement said.
Gen. Mashal Mohammad Al Zabin, King Abdullah II’s adviser for military affairs, ordered the northern and northeastern border areas with Syria closed, according to the military. Security officials will consider any individuals or vehicles in the area without prior coordination as enemy targets, the military said.
Nasser Judeh, Jordan’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister, said that “it doesn’t take much imagination” to know that ISIS was behind the attack.
The Jordanian government suspected that this was an attack by ISIS militants.
Amaq, the ISIS media agency, reportedly said the act was carried out by an ISIS fighter.
The U.N. Security Council denounced the attack.
Lebanon: Six people died and 19 others were wounded following a series of suicide attacks in a mainly Christian area of northern Lebanon, close to the border with Syria.
According to Lebanon’s National News Agency the first incident happened at around 4.20 a.m. last Monday when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a house in the village of Qaa, in the country’s Bekaa Valley.
Three other attackers — with at least one wearing a explosive vest — then detonated themselves as rescue teams and locals gathered at the scene.
It isn’t clear who is responsible for the strike but it was swiftly denounced. News reports say security analysts think ISIS could be responsible.
On Thursday, the army said it foiled “two major terrorist operation” planned by ISIS – one targeting a “large tourist facility” and the other targeting a densely populated area.
Five people have been arrested, including the mastermind of the operation, the statement said.
“The detainees confessed to carrying out terrorist acts against the army in the past,” the statement said, adding that an investigation is ongoing.
Yemen: At least 42 people, mostly soldiers and one child, were killed when attackers launched four suicide car bombings at security targets in a major Yemeni city, two senior government officials told CNN.
The attacks occurred last Monday in Mukalla, a southeastern port city in Hadramaut province.
At least 30 people were injured — all security officers except for five civilians, according to the two officials, both of whom are in the provincial governor’s office.
One of the attacks targeted a military compound near a government intelligence building. The others targeted military checkpoints. A child walking near one of the checkpoints was killed.
The attackers were from ISIS, group’s media voice said. Amaq said in a statement published on Twitter that four ISIS attackers targeted a joint security base.
Turkey: Terrorists stormed Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, killing 44 people and injuring hundreds.
There has been no claim of responsibility but hallmarks of the strike points to ISIS and the attack resembled the suicide bombings in March at the main airport in Brussels.
Reports have emerged about the identities of the suicide bombers as well as the organizer — a man who a U.S. official says is a top soldier in the ISIS war ministry.
Two of the three assailants in the terror attack at Ataturk Airport were identified as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, according to Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu, citing an anonymous prosecution source.
That report did not identify the third attacker and did not reveal their nationalities. But officials have said they believe the three attackers are from Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and entered Turkey a month ago from Syria’s ISIS stronghold of Raqqa.
Bangladesh: Gunmen in Bangladesh killed 20 hostages and two police officers late Friday and early Saturday before authorities raided the restaurant and ended the standoff.
The massacre occurred at the end of the day when Muslims would have been breaking their daily fast for Ramadan.
Authorities released the nationalities of the 20 hostages found dead inside the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe after Bangladeshi troops stormed the cafe early Saturday morning, ending a nearly 11-hour siege.
The attack took place in the city’s diplomatic enclave, and those killed were from around the globe: Italians, Japanese, Indian, Bangladeshi and an American, according to the country’s Joint Force Command.
ISIS claimed responsibility, but Bangladeshi officials said the attack was carried out by homegrown militants and hinted towards a group called Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
All the attackers in the deadly assault on a cafe in Dhaka were Bangladeshi citizens. Five were militants that police had tried to arrest previously, Police Inspector General Shahidul Hoque said.
Iraq: A suicide truck bomb ripped through a busy shopping district in Baghdad Saturday night, killing at least 125 people, including 25 children and 20 women.
The strike in the Karrada neighborhood left at least147 people were wounded.
Families had been gathering hours after they broke the fast for Ramadan and prepared for Eid al-Fitr — the day that marks the end of the holiday this week.
As people congregated, shopped and watched soccer matches, the bomb-laden truck plowed into a building housing a coffee shop, stores and a gym. Firefighters rescued wounded and trapped people in adjacent buildings.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kuwait: Kuwait security agencies foiled a number of ISIS plots in three pre-emptive operations on Sunday according to Kuwait news agency, KUNA.
Kuna reports the arrested ISIS members were planning to strike a Jaafari mosque in Hawali and a ministry of Interior facility during the first days of Eid Al-Firt at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
