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December 25, 2015: Suicide bomber hits mosque in Bangladesh

On December 25, 2015 a suicide bomber struck an Ahmadiyyah mosque in the Bangladeshi town of Rajshahi, wounding a dozen worshipers

MOCHMOLI, BANGLADESH – So if a Muslim terrorist bombs a Muslim mosque does that make him a Muslim?

I have always found it puzzling why Islamist terrorists choose to deliberately target other Muslims in most of their attacks. The simple truth is that the vast, vast majority of victims of these terrorist actions are indeed other Muslims, NOT non-Muslims. We in the West see their handiwork and conclude that they have us in their sights, but the facts are that the lion’s share of dead and wounded are Muslims.

If you look at the propaganda and literature of these terrorist groups you see that these actors see themselves as the pinnacle of Islam and everyone else, including the bulk of the planet’s Muslims, as apostates deserving of nothing but death. This goes a long way to explain why Muslims are disproportionately at the receiving end of Islamist terrorist actions. As it goes, Shia Muslims are particularly at risk.

Yo! I am the perfect Muslim. The rest of you can go die! (Photo: Public Domain)

Sufi Muslims fare little better. Because this strain of Islam sometimes involves the incorporation of music and dancing – think whirling dervishesjihadis really hate them: their narrow antediluvian interpretation of the faith does not allow for such frivolity!

On this day in 2015

A suicide bomber struck an Ahmadiyyah mosque in the Bangladeshi town of Rajshahi, wounding a dozen worshipers (the only fatality was the terrorist himself). While similar attacks were claimed by Islamic State (ISIS) there was no attribution for this one.

It seems the man carried the bomb and died after the bomb was detonated.  

Bangladeshi police official

It is hard to see what message the bomber was trying to send. Perhaps a warning that no Muslim is safe anywhere, not even in a mosque? But isn’t the desecration of a holy site a sign of abomination? How ‘Islamic’ is that?

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By Phil Gurski

Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. Phil is a 32-year veteran of CSE and CSIS and the author of six books on terrorism.

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