For most Muslims, Ramadan a period of spiritual renewal, when good acts are rewarded. Islamic extremists have twisted this belief and turned the month into a time to wage jihad, when ‘martyrs’ will receive great reward.
A few weeks before Ramadan began, the Islamic State called on its followers to carry out attacks on military and civilian targets during the holy month, making it a “month of calamity everywhere for the non-believers.” The message was part of an unverified audio recording purportedly from Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, a spokesperson for the terrorist group.
As the month now comes to a close, the death toll is high as attacks were carried out in at least eleven different countries, many of them Muslim-majority nations.
Baghdad has been repeatedly rocked by explosions. On Tuesday, twin blasts killed at least four in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a police station in the Indonesian city of Solo. The attacker was killed and one police officer was wounded according to a police spokesperson. Intelligence officials in the country suspect the attacker was a supporter of the Islamic State.
In Nigeria, the army was able to prevent three suicide bombings on the final days of the holy month. Soldiers killed two suspected female suicide bombers who were attempting to target displaced persons in Borno state. A third died after detonating her explosives early; no one else was injured.
A week earlier, two men tried to carry out a suicide attack on a mosque in Maidurguri, the capital of Borno state, when people had gathered for night prayers. Authorities were able to prevent that attack as well.
Nigerian authorities have said the attackers were all associated with the militant group Boko Haram.
On Monday, suicide attacks hit three Saudi Arabian cities. There have been no claims of responsibility yet.
Monday evening, a suicide blast hit one of Islam’s holiest sites, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia where the Prophet Mohammad is buried. At least four security officers were killed and five wounded.
Earlier in the day, two other cities in the kingdom were hit by suicide attacks. One suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in the Shiite-majority town of Qatif on the Gulf coast. Another explosion near a mosque in the town destroyed a parked car. And in the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea, a suicide attacker detonated his explosives near the US consulate, injuring two security officers.
The largest single attack on Baghdad this year occurred on July 3. A truck laden with explosives was detonated in the Karrada district of Baghdad, killing nearly 200 people visiting a market after breaking their fast. Islamic State claimed responsibility.
On July 1, gunmen stormed a café popular with foreigners in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, taking hostages in a 10-hour siege. Twenty-two, mainly foreigners, were killed. “Most [of] them had been brutally hacked to death with sharp weapons,” said Bangladeshi army spokesman Brigadier General Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury. Islamic State claimed responsibility.
On June 28, three attackers stormed Turkey’s Ataturk airport in Istanbul, killing 44. There has been no claim of responsibility but Turkish authorities believe the attackers had ties to ISIS.
Also on June 28, a hand grenade was thrown into a night club in Puchong, outside Kuala Lumpur, injuring eight. The attack was directed by the Islamic State and is the first confirmed ISIS attack in Malaysia.
On June 27, six were killed in a series of suicide attacks in northern Lebanon. A suicide bomber blew himself in a village in the Bekaa Valley. As rescuers and locals gathered at the scene, three other suicide bombers blew themselves up. There has been no claim of responsibility.
Also on June 27, four suicide car bombs hit Yemen’s southeastern port city of Mukalla, killing 42. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.
On June 21, attackers drove a truck packed with explosives at high speed across the border at the al-Rukban crossing with Syria and blew it up beside a Jordanian military post, killing seven Jordanian soldiers. Islamic State claimed responsibility.
On June 12, a lone gunman entered an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, USA and opened fire. He killed 49 people before being shot and killed by police. He swore allegiance to the Islamic State shortly before beginning the attack.
The Kurdistan Region will celebrate the end of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, on Wednesday.
