Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina performed Umrah at the Holy Mosque of Masjid on November 6 morning Al Haram in Makkah with her sister Sheikh Rehana during her three day visit to Saudi Arabia. At the time, the PM prayed for the continued peace, prosperity and progress of the Muslim Ummah including Bangladesh and its people. Later, the Prime Minister offered Fazr prayers joining the Jamaat at the holy Masjid-al Haram. The premier is expected to return home on Wednesday morning after attended meetings with OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha, Iranian vice president for Women and Family Affairs Department Enseieh Khazali, Executive Director of OIC Women Development Organisation Dr Afnan Alshuaiby and Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan. 

Israeli aircraft struck the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, killing two Palestinians and wounding several others, Palestinian medics said. The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said the strike hit an area near al-Ansar Mosque in Jenin refugee camp, a Palestinian militant stronghold in the territory. Jenin was the focus of major Israeli military operations earlier this year. According to Israel, "terror operatives" from Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were planning attacks were killed in an air strike. The Israeli military said al-Ansar mosque "was used by the terrorists as a command center to plan the attacks and as a base for their execution." Violence in the West Bank has flared since Hamas gunmen carried out terror attacks on Israel on October 7. Israel has since then carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Hamas in Gaza.

The shooting prompted an exchange of fire between the perpetrator and Lebanese security, with the former wounded. The motive behind the attack remains unclear. A man started shooting at worshippers as they made their way out of a mosque in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Friday, killing one and wounding at least three others. The attack was followed by a gun exchange between the perpetrator and Lebanese troops, who injured him as a result. The man was later taken into custody. The shooting took place in the eastern town of Bar Elias,which hosts many Syrian refugees. What do we know about the shooting? A video shared on social media purportedly from the time of the shooting showed worshippers taking shelter on the floor of a mosque, with the sound of gunshots in the background. The motive behind the shooting remains unclear. Local media cited residents in the area as saying the shooter had previously "exhibited strange behavior." A security official told the Associated Press news agency that the man killed and the five wounded were all Syrian citizens. The victim was identified by local media as a school teacher. Lebanon is home to over one million Syrian refugees who fled the civil war in their country, ongoing for 12 years. Anti-Syrian sentiment is rife among Lebanon's right-wing politicians, and has been on the rise since the country's economic crisis peaked in 2019.

More bodies were recovered overnight, and rescue operations are still ongoing. Most of the victims were police officers. The death toll in a suicide bombing in the northwestern city of Peshawar has risen to 88, a hospital spokesperson said on Tuesday. Some 150 people were wounded in the attack. A number of bodies were recovered overnight and several victims died of their injuries in hospital. Rescue services were still working to clear the area and possibly save more victims throughout Tuesday. "This morning we are going to remove the last part of the collapsed roof so we can recover more bodies, but we are not hopeful of reaching any survivors," Bilal Ahmad Faizi, spokesperson of the 1122 rescue agency, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency. At least 20 police officers killed in the bombing were buried after a prayer ceremony. This is the latest in a string of attacks targeting police in Pakistan. What happened in the attack on the mosque in Peshawar? A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in a security compound in Peshawar during afternoon worship on Monday. More than 300 worshippers were in the building at the time. Following the blast, the majority of the roof caved in — injuring many more people, according to local police official Zafar Khan. It remained unclear how the attacker was able to enter the high-security area, home to police and regional government headquarters, with explosives. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The Pakistani Taliban denied it had been involved after an initial assertion by one of its commanders.  Local journalist Yusra Askari told how the confusion about responsibility had left the people of Peshawar reeling and unsure of how to react. The Pakistani Taliban, Askari said, had claimed they were "not involved in bombing any holy sites or any mosques." "At the moment we remain at a loose end. We do not know who actually carried out the attack," she added. Leaders condemn attack Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the "sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable," and called the bombing an "attack on Pakistan." "Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan," Sharif said in a statement. His predecessor Imran Khan also expressed his condolences, calling the bombing a "terrorist suicide attack." Messages condemning the attack and expressing condolences for the victims and their families also came from the US and Saudi embassies, as well as the United Nations.

A police official building, where a large number of people had gathered for worship, had collapsed and that several people were believed to be trapped under the rubble. Authorities said they suspected a suicide bombing. At least 17 people have been killed and a further 90 injured after an explosion near a mosque in the city of Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan, local authorities said on Monday. "A portion of the building had collapsed and several people are believed to be under it," police official Sikandar Khan told Reuters news agency. There are fears that the death toll will continue to rise as emergency services clear the rubble, and many of those who have been taken to hospital were listed in critical condition. Suicide bombing suspected The blast occured in the city's government district on Police Lines Road. Authorities said many of the victims were believed to be police officers. Peshawar in the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Although no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, local police told reporters that initial evidence suggested a suicide attack. Such attacks in the past have often been at the hands of the Pakistani Taliban.

Pitching strongly for the protection of minorities in Kashmir which has witnessed targeted killings, a leading cleric said during Friday congregational prayers in Anantnag that Islam does not give permission for jihad to commit atrocities on the minority community. The cleric, Maulana Fayaz Amjadi, was addressing a congregation in Jamia Masjid Anantnag. His exhortation for the protection of minority community was strongly supported by the locals present in the mosque. According to a video of the address, he said they are willing to give their lands but minorities in Jammu and Kashmir should be given protection. Maulana Fayaz Amjadi said if any Muslim is committing atrocities or killing against minorities thinking it is jihad, “we condemn it”. “If any Muslim is doing this thinking it is jihad, we condemn this jihad. Islam has not given permission for jihad to commit atrocities on minority or any other person or to kill the person,” he said. Maulana Fayaz Amjadi said the atmosphere should not be spoilt in Kashmir. “The minorities should be taken care of. We urge the administration, we urge the government we are with the minority here. We condemn those attacking minorities. We request that minorities are given protection in Kashmir. You need our lands take them, but provide security to minorities. As you provide security to minorities here, do the same to us in the entire country,” he added. A clip of the video was also posted on social media. There have been targeted killings of innocent civilians in Kashmir and the victims include members of the Kashmir Pandit community, civilians and people in government. Last month, two civilians – including Kashmiri Pandit employee Rahul Bhat — and three off-duty policemen were killed in Kashmir by terrorists. In October last year, prominent chemist M L Bindroo was killed in his shop. The minority community members have been protesting against targeted killings and some of them have spoken about migrating out of Valley. A bank manager, identified as Vijay Kumar, was shot dead outside his office by terrorists in the Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Earlier this week 36-year-old Hindu woman teacher Rajni Bala, hailing from Jammu’s Samba district, was shot dead by terrorists at a government school in Gopalpora, Kulgam. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday held a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, and other top officials on security in Jammu and Kashmir. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh also participated in the meeting. Source: Zee5.com/ANI  

At least 16 people are dead and 32 injured after an explosion tore through a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the Afghan city of Kandahar. Pictures from inside Bibi Fatima mosque show shattered windows and bodies lying on the ground and other worshippers trying to help. The explosion's cause is not yet clear but a suicide bombing is suspected. One witness told AFP he heard three blasts - one at the main door, another where worshippers wash, and a third. Friday prayers are the busiest congregation of the week, and the mosque was full of people at the time. At least 15 ambulances were at the scene afterwards, an AFP journalist said. Taliban special forces have secured the site and have asked people to donate blood to help the victims, Reuters reports. BBC Afghanistan correspondent Secunder Kermani says that IS-K, a local branch of the Islamic State Group, is expected to say it was behind the attack. Last Friday, a suicide attack on a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in the northern city of Kunduz killed at least 50 people. IS-K said it carried out the attack, which was the deadliest since US forces left at the end of August IS-K, a Sunni Muslim group, is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant groups in Afghanistan, and is violently opposed to the governing Taliban. Sunni Muslim extremists have targeted Shia Muslims, whom they see as heretics. IS-K has targeted Afghan security forces, Afghan politicians and ministries, the Taliban, religious minorities including Shia Muslims and Sikhs, US and Nato forces, and international agencies, including aid organisations. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan after foreign forces withdrew from the country at the end of August following a deal agreed with the US. It came two decades after US forces had removed the militants from power in 2001. Source: BBC AH

A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz has killed at least 50 people, officials say, in the deadliest assault since US forces left. Bodies were seen scattered inside the Said Abad mosque, used by the minority Shia Muslim community. More than 100 people were injured in the blast in the northern city. No group has said it was behind the attack, but Sunni Muslim extremists, including a local Islamic State group, have targeted the Shia community. They consider Shia Muslims to be heretics. IS-K, the Afghan regional affiliate of the Islamic State group that is violently opposed to the governing Taliban, has carried out several bombings recently, largely in the east of the country. Zalmai Alokzai, a local businessman who rushed to a hospital to check whether doctors needed blood donations, described seeing chaotic scenes after the attack during Juma prayers. "Ambulances were going back to the incident scene to carry the dead," he told AFP news agency. Local security officials were quoted by Tolo News as saying that more than 300 people were attending the prayers when the attack happened. Source: BBC AH

Hundreds of villagers had gathered for the foundation stone laying ceremony of a mosque in Bhoolar village in Punjab’s Moga district on Sunday morning, when it started pouring. Many got disappointed, but the village head assured that they could all join in at the nearby gurdwara. “People were saddened and disappointed when told that the programme might have to be postponed due to the heavy rain, but all villagers decided that the venue will be shifted to the nearby Sri Satsang Sahib gurdwara,” Pala Singh, the village chief, told journalists. Guru’s ghar is always open for all communities. Then everyone got together and the programme was held and all participated, irrespective of their religion.” The people gathered and prayed for the successful completion of the project. They were later served steaming hot jalebis even as it poured outside. According to Singh, the village has seven gurdwaras and two temples, but no mosques. “There was a mosque before Partition in 1947 but its structure turned to ruins with time,” he said. “We have four Muslim families in the village who chose to stay back and since then, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh families have lived in harmony in our village. However, all of us wanted that Muslim families too have their place of worship, so it was decided that the mosque will be rebuilt on the land where it existed earlier.” Many villagers donated money for the mosque, ranging from a mere Rs100 to even Rs100,000. The waqf board members also contributed funds, he added. Naib Shahi Imam Maulana Mohammad Usman Rahmani Ludhianvi thanked villagers. Source: Khaleej Times AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Wednesday) condemned the recent attack on the Al Aqsa mosque compound, urging the world community to take permanent steps to stop such heinous acts anywhere across the globe. “While expressing our deep condolences to the victims and sympathies to our Palestinian brothers, we unequivocally denounce such acts of terror and violence and urge the international community to take sustainable measures to end such kinds of acts anywhere and everywhere in the world including Palestine,” she said in a letter wrote to President, the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas. The Prime Minister also said that the evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and transfer of civilian population into occupied territories by the occupying Israeli forces expose the severe violation of human rights, international laws, and accords which have immensely triggered civic feelings across the world. Sheikh Hasina in the letter added: “I, on behalf of the people and the Government of Bangladesh, express my deep sadness and concern about the recent attacks of terrorist nature and violence unleashed on the innocent devotees and civilians at the Al Aqsa mosque compound.” The Prime Minister said that she was taking this opportunity to reiterate Bangladesh’s unflinching commitment in realizing the inalienable rights of the brotherly people of Palestine for an independent homeland and a sovereign and viable State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. She however wished that may Almighty Allah give the Government and the brotherly people of Palestine the strength to achieve the goal. Source: BSS AH