6 deadliest airport terror attacks of the 21st century

Forensic experts work outside Turkey's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, Turkey, following a blast, June 28, 2016. © Murad Sezer

The recent Istanbul bombings have claimed at least 42 lives while the death toll is feared to rise, as some of the injured are still in critical condition. The suspected ISIS attack is among the deadliest ones carried out by terror groups at airports.

LOCATION: Istanbul Ataturk International Airport, Turkey

DATE: June 28, 2016

CASUALTIES: At least 42 dead, 238 injured

Istanbul Ataturk Airport is the largest airport in Turkey, and the third busiest in Europe after London’s Heathrow and Paris’s Charles de Gaulle. Its total passenger traffic was some 61 million people in 2015.

The explosions occurred in the airport’s international arrivals terminal. The attacks on the airport involved three suicide bombers. An investigation has revealed that all three opened fire before detonating their explosive devices.

The victims included at least 10 foreign nationals and three people with dual citizenship, authorities said.

LOCATION: Brussels Zaventem International Airport, Belgium

DATE: March 22, 2016

CASUALTIES: 14 dead, over 200 injured

The departure hall of the airport was the target of Islamic State-linked terrorists, when Brussels was hit by twin suicide bombings at Zaventem Airport and the Maelbeek metro station.

The hall was rocked by two explosions carried out by suicide bombers, later identified as Ibrahim El Bakraoui and Najim Laachraoui.

In 2015, passenger traffic at the airport was 23 million people.

LOCATION: Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport, Russia

DATE: January 24, 2011

CASUALTIES: 37 dead, 170 injured

A suicide bomber targeted the international departure hall at Moscow’s busiest airport. Citizens of 13 countries, including Russia, were among the victims. Russia later identified the bomber as a 20-year-old from the North Caucasus. Later a group of Caucasus Emirate led by Doku Umarov claimed responsibility for the attack.

Domodedovo was the 12th busiest airport with 30 million passengers a year, 2015 statistics show.

LOCATION: Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan

DATE: June 8, 2014

CASUALTIES: 26 dead, 18 injured

The attack took place when a Taliban group disguised as security guards stormed the airport in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.

The militants launched grenades and opened fire as they entered Jinnah International Airport. At least three blasts were heard and an airport emergency declared, leading to flight operations being suspended.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an Islamic terrorist group, later claimed responsibility for the attack.

LOCATION: Kandahar International Airport, Afghanistan

DATE: December 8, 2015

CASUALTIES: 50+ deaths, 35 injured

Taliban militants wearing army uniforms armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers and some wearing suicide vests took control of a school near the airport buildings. The gunmen then proceeded to target apartment buildings of government employees and the joint Afghan-NATO military base at the airport.

Hours of intense fighting resulted in dozens of deaths, most of them civilians.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Kandahar attack, boasting on its website that “a number of martyrdom seekers armed with heavy and light weapons entered Kandahar airbase undetected and have begun engaging the large number of foreign invaders and their hirelings inside.”

LOCATION: Aden Adde International Airport, Mogadishu, Somalia

DATE: September 17, 2009

CASUALTIES: 21 deaths, 40 injured

Twin suicide bombings rocked the airport which hosted the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in the capital of Mogadishu. The attackers managed to get into the airport by using two stolen UN cars. They targeted a meeting between the AMISOM servicemen and the Transitional Federal Government.

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

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