Aug. 5 Cairo, Egypt: A stolen car was crashed into three oncoming vehicles outside a cancer hospital before exploding, killing 20 people and injuring 47 more. “We ran to the main entrance of the hospital but it was on fire, so we left through another side door,” Nermal al-Awady told The Guardian. “I saw body parts and lots of blood. Inside the hospital, there was panic.” BBC reports the blast caused substantial damage to both the outside and inside of the cancer hospital, but all of the patients have been transferred to other facilities. Authorities believe the car was rigged with explosive devices by Hasm, a group believed to be a violent subgroup of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. The Interior Ministry of Egypt believe the “car was being transported to a location for use in the execution of a terrorist operation,” according to Reuters.
Aug. 7 Kabul, Afghanistan: In a suicide bomb attack outside a western Kabul police station, 14 people were killed with an additional 145 injured. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which is another one of the near-daily attacks the group has been staging in Kabul for several weeks. An explosive-packed car was stopped at the checkpoint outside of the police station before it exploded, injuring mostly civilians and killing four police officers. The Taliban and Afghan government have been in the middle of peace talks with assistance from the United States for several months now, but U.S. Ambassador Roya Rahmani told AP News those talks could stop completely if the Taliban continues these attacks. “It’s simply not understandable why somebody with the idea of peace in mind would like to continue killing people,” Rahmani told AP News. The Aug. 7 attack was one of the Taliban’s worst attacks of 2019, AP News reported.
Aug. 8 Uruapan, Mexico: Authorities reported the discovery of 19 bodies scattered throughout three different locations of the city. Some of the bodies were hanging from bridges, while others were cut up and thrown along the side of roads, according to Al Jazeera. Authorities report the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel has claimed responsibility for the killings, and they are believed to be part of an ongoing conflict between drug cartels for territory. “There is a turf war between the [local] cells of different criminal groups,” chief prosecutor Adrian Lopez told Al Jazeera. “They are fighting for territorial control over the production, distribution and consumption of drugs. That leads to this type of incident, which alarms the population, and rightfully so.”
Aug. 8–11 Aden, Yemen: Since fighting began again in the conflict-prone zone in Yemen, at least 40 people have been killed with over 200 more injured. The fighting between southern Yemeni separatists and presidential guards broke out on Aug. 8 when the fighting killed three civilians and nine fighters from both sides, according to The Middle East Eye. The separatist forces had seized control of the presidential palace and several military bases throughout Aden as of Aug. 11. “Two hundred soldiers from the Presidential Guard were given safe passage out of the palace,” an official from the separatist forces told BBC. Many nations, including the United States, have demanded the latest fighting in Aden be ended with a ceasefire, but neither side of the conflict has admitted defeat.
Aug. 10 Russia: In Russia’s largest political protest in years, authorities detained 72 people throughout the country. With 40,000 protesters nationwide, Reuters reported 55 people were detained in St. Petersburg, 10 in Moscow and seven in Roston-on-Don. The protests were organized after authorities announced they would be limiting who could run in the country’s upcoming local elections and would not be allowing independent candidates. The protests in Moscow were the largest, taking place outside the presidential administration building where many could be heard chanting: “Putin in a thief.”
