Homeland Security News

The Taliban carried out a devastating suicide car bombing in central Afghanistan on Sunday, leaving 12 people dead and more than 150 others wounded, Afghan officials said.

The attack came as an all-Afghan peace conference, which includes the Taliban, was underway Sunday in Doha in an effort to end the country's relentless warfare.

A provincial council member, Hasan Raza Yousafi, said the car bomb exploded near an intelligence department compound in Ghazni, the capital of the province of the same name. The dead included eight security personnel, he said.

Read more: Los Angeles Times

An alleged Dutch-born Islamic State militant went on trial in the Netherlands on Monday for war crimes in Iraq and Syria, including breaches of the Geneva Conventions, after posing with a crucified body and sharing images of dead victims online.

It is the first trial in the Netherlands dealing with war crimes by an alleged Islamic State militant.

There is no international tribunal to prosecute widespread atrocities during Syria’s civil war which began on 2011, but prosecutors in several European countries have put on trial nationals who joined militant groups in the Middle East.

According to European police agency Europol, some 5,000 Europeans went to fight in Syria and Iraq, of whom some 1,500 have returned. Roughly 300 Dutch nationals joined the armed fight in Iraq and Syria, prosecutors said.

Read more: Reuters

Islamic State fighters claimed responsibility on Saturday for a deadly overnight attack in a mosque in central province of Ghazni in Afghanistan.

At least two people were killed and 20 others sustained injuries as a bomb planted by the hardline Islamist militants inside the Mohammadiya mosque, used by Shi’ites, went off on Friday night, said Aref Noori, a provincial government spokesman.

Islamic State frequently targets Afghanistan’s Shi’ite minority, which it calls “apostates”. The militant group said 40 people were injured in the explosion.

Read more: Reuters

Police in the U.K. have released video footage of an alleged far-right extremist who became engulfed in flames as he attempted to set fire to a historic synagogue last year.

The CCTV video shows a man identified as Tristan Morgan, 52, smashing a window with a hammer before pouring liquid from a green gas can into a synagogue in the city of Exeter, located in southern England, in July 2018.

After dropping what appears to be a lit piece of paper into the window, video shows flames shooting back into Morgan’s face. As Morgan attempts to leave the scene flames and smoke are seen coming from his hair.

Read more: Global News (Canada)