Terror Attack Catalogue

Date: May 26th, 2010
Method: Bomb (200-250 grammes of TNT)
Location: Stavropol, Russia
Death Toll: 5-6
Injury Toll: 20-40
Perpetrators: Unconfirmed (accused Islamic Insurgents)

Earth Times reports:

The explosive device detonated under a canopy at the Culture and Sport Palace in the North Caucasus city, as people were making their way to a concert by a musical ensemble from conflict-torn Chechnya.The victims were spectators, officials were quoted as saying.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last year ordered that Stavropol Region be included in a new North Caucasus Federal District along with mainly-Muslim Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia in a bid to tackle growing violence.

Medvedev's new envoy to the district, former metals executive Alexander Khloponin, on Wednesday called an emergency meeting to discuss the bombing, RIA reported.

Stavropol city is 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Chechnya's local capital Grozny. It has largely escaped Islamist insurgent attacks, but the surrounding region has seen some of the deadliest attacks in the long-running conflict.

Chechen rebels seized hundreds of hostages in a hospital in the Stavropol Region town of Budyonnovsk in 1995 and more than 100 died during the rebel assault and a botched Russian raid.

In the last major attack, seven Russian policemen and 12 gunmen were killed when special forces stormed houses to fight rebels holed up in a village near the city in 2006.

Date: May 26th, 2010
Method: Car Bomb
Location: Kandahar, Afghanistan
Death Toll: 0
Injury Toll: 0
Perpetrators: Unconfirmed

The International News reports:

A car bomb exploded Wednesday near a US-run civilian-military base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar but there were no casualties, police said as Afghan and US troops cordoned off the area.

Regional police chief General Mohammad Shafiq Afzali told foreign news agency the car had been in the parking lot of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), but it was unclear if it was detonated remotely or by a suicide bomber. "There have not been any casualties," he said.

Date: May 26th, 2010
Method: Motorcycle Bombs
Location: Yala, Thailand
Death Toll: 2
Injury Toll: 55+
Perpetrators: Unconfirmed (accused Islamic Insurgents)

Channel News Asia explains:

The rebellion across the southern provinces by a shadowy band of separatist Islamists fighting for greater autonomy in the area bordering Malaysia has left more than 4,100 people dead.

There have been fewer attacks recently in the south because insurgents knew their cause had been overshadowed by two months of deadly anti-government protests in Bangkok, said analyst Srisompob Jitpiromya at Deep South Watch.
...
The region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until it was annexed in 1902 by mainly Buddhist Thailand and tensions have bubbled there ever since, escalating into the current insurgency in January 2004.

Successive governments have struggled to contain the unrest in the southern provinces, where emergency rule has been imposed for nearly five years.

Rights groups have however blamed the continued state of emergency for encouraging a culture of impunity for alleged rights abuses by the security forces.

Date: May 23rd, 2010
Method: Gun and Mortal Fire
Location: Mogadishu, Somalia
Death Toll: 26+
Injury Toll: 25+
Perpetrators: al-Shabaab

All Headline News reports:

At least 26 civilians have been killed in fighting between Somali government forces backed by African Union troops and the insurgent group, Al-Shabbab in the Somali capital early on Sunday morning.

...
Both insurgent and Somali government officials claimed victory over each other in the latest clashes that started in the early on Saturday.
Al-Shabbab’s Spokesman,Sheikh Ali Mohaoud Raageh claimed responsibility for the attack.

Dear Devoted Readers,

You probably noticed I hadn't compiled any data in May 2010. Due to personal reasons, the catalogue has suffered a back log. I was planning on catching up tonight, however I did not know that my myriad of RSS feeds would only hang on to articles for a maximum of one month. Hence, two months worth of work are lost somewhere in the tubes.

I'll pick up from the earliest date, being May 22nd.

Apologies for this inconvenience.

Kindest Regards,
Claire Morcos