Afghanistan/United States – President Barack Obama announced on the 6 Jul 16 that 8,400 US troops will remain in Afghanistan into 2017 in light of the still "precarious" security situation in the war-ravaged country. "Instead of going down to 5,500 troops by the end of this year, the United States will maintain approximately 8,400 troops in Afghanistan into next year through the end of my administration," Obama told a news conference. "The decision I'm making today ensures my successor has a solid foundation for continued progress in Afghanistan, as well as the flexibility to address the threat of terrorism as it evolves," he said. The current number of US troops in Afghanistan is 9,800. Obama's announcement is further acknowledgement that Afghan security forces, who took charge of the country's security in 2015, are still not ready to go it alone. They have suffered a devastating string of setbacks at the hands of the Taliban, including the temporary loss of the city of Kunduz, and more than 5,000 Afghan troops were killed last year alone. Other organizations, including the ISIS group, have also stepped up activity. "The security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious," Obama said. "Even as they improve, Afghan security forces are still not as strong as they need to be. With our help, they're still working to improve critical capabilities, such as intelligence, logistics, aviation and command and control." Obama's decision comes after General John Nicholson, the new commander of the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan, this year conducted a review of the security situation. Republican Senator John McCain, a long-time critic of Obama's military policies, praised the move, but said the president should have kept the entire 9,800 US troops in country. Still, he said, "the decision to retain 8,400 US troops in Afghanistan into next year is certainly preferable to cutting those forces by nearly half."
Bangladesh/Da’esh – Twenty foreign hostages were killed at a café in the Bangladeshi capital, the army said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group that ended after a 10-hour siege when commandos stormed the building. "Most [of] them had been brutally hacked to death with sharp weapons," army spokesman Brigadier General Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury told reporters on the 2 Jul 16. Military officials said all of those killed were foreign, and that the dead included Japanese and Italian nationals. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier said 13 hostages had been rescued. Hasina said six gunmen had also been killed and one captured in the early morning operation at the Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka. The rescued included two Sri Lankans and a Japanese citizen who was injured Lt. Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud said, adding there were casualties among the other hostages. Japan confirmed that one of its citizens had been rescued and said seven were still unaccounted for. "We have gunned down at least six terrorists and the main building is cleared," Masud said. The cafe was located in one of the most heavily-policed parts of the capital, home to several embassies and popular with foreigners. "In order to get in here you have to pass through a lot of police checkpoints. It's a highly cordoned-off area," Chowdhury said. "So there's going to be a serious question raised: How did they manage to get in there with arms and ammunition, possibly even bombs and hand grenades?" The crisis began at about 0900 hrs local time, police said, when a group of gunmen burst into the cafe, which is popular with foreigners, young people, and middle class Bangladeshis. During the siege, ISIL posted photos of what it said were dead foreigners in the cafe, where police believed the gunmen were holed up armed with assault rifles and grenades. Gowher Rizvi, an adviser to Prime Minister Hasina, said that security forces had initially tried to negotiate a way out of the crisis. Italian and Indian nationals were also among the hostages, said a duty officer at the control room of Rapid Action Battalion, Bangladesh's elite anti-crime unit. Italy's ambassador to Bangladesh, Mario Palma, told Italian state TV seven Italians were among the hostages. "It is a suicide attack. They want to carry out a powerful and bloody operation and there is no room for negotiation," Palma said. Violence has spiked in Bangladesh in the last 18 months with a spate of attacks, often using machetes, against individuals including liberals, gays, foreigners and members of religious minorities. ISIL/ISIS, and al-Qaeda claimed many of those killings but the government denied their involvement and instead pointed the finger at local groups. "The Bangladesh government continues to deny that ISIL could have any connection or presence in Bangladesh, so if ISIL wants to make a statement that 'we are in Bangladesh and are with influence and impact' then this is probably their perfect opportunity," Talha Ahmed, a commentator on Bangladeshi affairs said. Earlier on the 1 Jul 16 a Hindu priest was hacked to death at a temple in Jhinaidah district, 300km southwest of Dhaka. Rizvi said the hostage crisis began when local security guards in the diplomatic enclave noticed several gunmen outside a medical centre. When the guards approached, the gunmen ran into the restaurant, which was packed with people waiting for tables, he said. An employee who escaped told local television about 20 customers was in the restaurant at the time, most of them foreigners. The restaurant has a seating capacity of about 25 people. Some 15 to 20 staff was working there at the time, the employee said. A police officer at the scene said that when security forces tried to enter the premises at the beginning of the siege they were met with a hail of bullets and grenades. Television footage showed a number of police being quickly led away from the site by police with blood spattered on their faces and clothes. The terrorists who massacred 20 foreigners and Bangladeshi at a popular cafe here were highly educated and most came from wealthy families, a minister said on the 3 Jul 16. "They are all highly educated young men and went to university. No one is from a madrassa," the Bangladeshi media quoted Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan as saying. Asked why they would have become militants, The Daily Star quoted Khan as saying: "It has become a fashion." The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the massacre. The militants, who seized the cafe on Friday night, also killed two policemen. Six of the seven attackers were shot dead. A seventh was arrested. The jihadists who slaughtered 20 hostages at a Dhaka restaurant were members of a home-grown Bangladeshi militant outfit and not followers of the Islamic State group, a senior minister said on the 3 Jul 16. "They are members of the Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told AFP, referring to a group which has been banned in Bangladesh for more than a decade. "They have no connections with the Islamic State." Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the hostages and two police officers during an 11-hour siege that ended on Saturday but the government has consistently denied that international jihadist groups are operating in Bangladesh. Police have released the names and photos of six of the attackers who were shot at the end of the siege. A seventh was arrested and is being interrogated by Bangladeshi intelligence officers. 361 COMMENT: There appears to be some argument as to who the seven belong to. It maybe that the small group were together and wanted to be members of Da’esh but could not due to travel restrictions and other rules and so decided to carry out this heinous act by themselves in the name of. But if they were Da’esh members operating in Bangladesh then the authorities have a problem which they are not openly admitting to in fear that they have been in denial. Even if the small band had been radicalised in the country it still proves to be a problem for the authorities. The murderous act was carried out towards the end of Ramadan so it could tie in with that. At the moment there needs to be a clear indication where the group operated from. The authorities are keen to play down the Da’esh theory and produce their own such as saying they belong to the banned group Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh (JMB). But having looked at their Modus Operandi in the past, they have mainly used bombs to conduct their terrorist actions and have not so far operated in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. However, within the region there have been numerous accounts of people being hacked to death, but this attack does not fit in with the JMB ideology and past acts of violence. COMMENT ENDS
Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh JMB's aim is to replace the current state of Bangladesh with an Islamic State based on Sharia law. It opposes the political system of Bangladesh and seeks to "build a society based on the Islamic model laid out in Holy Quran-Hadith." It opposes democracy as being in violation of Islamic law. It also opposes socialism and its avowed objective is to neutralize left-wing extremists, especially cadres of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), as well as cultural functions, cinema halls, shrines and NGOs.VideoVideo: 2010 New Delhi: Bangladeshi terror groups are running training camps in districts bordering India. Banned terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen's chief, Maulana Saidur Rahman Jafar has admitted during interrogation that many terror camps are running near the border with India. Jama'at ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), also known as Jamatul Mujahedin Bangladesh, Assembly of Holy Warriors in Bangladesh, Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen is an active group formed c. 1998.
JMB Ideology: The JMB's aim is to replace the government of Bangladesh with an Islamic state based on Sharia. It has explicitly stated on more than one occasion that it opposes the political system of Bangladesh and seeks to "build a society based on the Islamic model laid out in Holy Quran-Hadith." The organization follows the ideals of the Taliban of Afghanistan. Its chief has been quoted as stating that "our model includes many leaders and scholars of Islam. But we will take as much (ideology) from the Taliban as we need." It opposes democracy as being in violation of Shari'a or Islamic law. It also opposes socialism and its avowed objective is to neutralize left-wing extremists, especially cadres of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP). JMB also is opposed to cultural functions, cinema halls, shrines and NGOs. In another leaflet it said, "We don't want Taguti [non-Islamic] law, let Qur’anic law be introduced. Law framed by humans cannot continue and only the laws of Allah will prevail." They have claimed responsibility for several violent attacks and bombings. JMB's communiqués reveal a Salafist doctrine that is common across international radical Islamist organizations. A 2005 leaflet proclaimed:
We are the soldiers of Allah. We have taken up arms for the implementation of Allah's law the way the Prophet, Sahabis and heroic Mujahideen have implemented for centuries. If the government does not establish Islamic law in the country after this [third] warning and, rather, it goes to arrest any Muslim on charge of seeking Allah's laws or it resorts to repression on Alem-Ulema, the Jamaatul Mujahideen [JMB] will go for counteraction, Insha Allah.
Several captured members of the group have claimed that their targets include traditional Bangladeshi cultural and non-government organizations such as BRAC, Proshika, and Grameen Bank. Leader Abdur Rahman is alleged to have taught JMB operatives that "it's not a sin to loot valuables of Grameen Bank, BRAC, Proshika, Asa and Karitas' as they encourage women to shed Burqa (veil)."
Bangladesh – At least two policeman have been killed and five others injured after a small bomb blew up near a mass Eid prayer congregation in northern Bangladesh, officials said on the 7 Jul 16. At least 200,000 people were gathered near a school in the northern Kishoreganj district when the bomb exploded on the premises of the school on the 7 Jul 16. There were reports of exchanges of gunfire at the scene. The private Somoy TV station broadcast footage of a gunfight between police and a group of attackers and reported the policeman had been hacked to death. "They threw a bomb at a police checkpost. A police constable was killed in the explosion. One attacker was killed," Mahbubur Rahman, a police officer in the district control room said. An unconfirmed number of attackers were arrested, officials reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Indonesia – An Indonesian suicide bomber believed to be a supporter of the Islamic State militant group attacked a police station in the city of Solo on the 5 Jul 16 killing himself and injuring a police officer, security officials said. Indonesia has been on heightened alert since Islamic State claimed responsibility for its first attack in the Southeast Asian country in Jan 15 Jakarta, in which eight people were killed including the four attackers. Police said the attacker detonated the bomb he was wearing shortly after driving his motorcycle into the grounds of the police station in Solo, which is known as a hotbed of religious fundamentalism. A police officer who tried to stop him from entering sustained minor wounds. Police said they believed the suicide bomber was Nur Rohman, a suspected follower of Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian fighting for Islamic State in Syria. Naim is believed to be one of the masterminds of the Jakarta attacks in Jan 15. Security officials fear that Naim and other Islamic State leaders were now asking their supporters in Indonesia and in other countries to launch attacks at home, instead of being drawn to the fight in the Middle East. "What is happening in Indonesia is a spillover of conflicts in the Middle East," Tito Karnavian, of the National Counterterrorism Agency, told reporters in Solo. Southeast Asian militants fighting for Islamic State in the Middle East have said they have chosen one of the most wanted men in the Philippines to head a regional faction of the radical group that includes Indonesians and Malaysians, security officials said last month.
Kashmir – Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir - With at least 30 civilians killed and dozens seriously injured in firing by India's armed forces, this disputed Himalayan region is again seething with rage. This time, however, the cause of Kashmiris' rise in anger isn't human rights violations by security forces, but the killing of a popular rebel commander, 22-year-old Burhan Muzaffar Wani. The trigger for this new upsurge of protests is significant because the resistance movement to Indian rule in Kashmir had completely shifted to a non-violent discourse over the past decade, with militancy becoming a shadow act far removed from the lives of ordinary people. India and Pakistan both control parts of Muslim-majority Kashmir, but each claims the region in its entirety. The nuclear-armed South Asian rivals have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. While 21 of the civilian deaths occurred in south Kashmir, the first killing in the capital happened late on Sunday. Police fear it could raise the temperature of protests in Srinagar on the 11 Jul 16. According to Indian police, more than a dozen police stations, posts, and paramilitary camps have been attacked, many set ablaze, with one policeman killed after his vehicle was pushed into the Jehlum River. Despite a strict curfew and restrictions imposed in Kashmir since the 9 Jul 16 people have continued to take to the streets, shouting slogans, and throwing stones at Indian security forces. Streets throughout Kashmir are punctuated with burning tyres and logs of wood erected by the youth to stop police and paramilitary vehicles. While the Indian police and paramilitary forces say they are exercising maximum restraint, doctors attending the injured at hospitals tell another story. The state government headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed grief over the civilian killings and promised to investigate. She also appealed to people not to demonstrate on the streets. The summer in Kashmir could be another bloody and anger-filled one.
South Korea/North Korea/United States – The US and South Korea have agreed to deploy a controversial missile defence system, in the wake of intensifying threats from North Korea. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system will be deployed solely to counter the threat from Pyongyang, a statement said on the 8 Jul 16. It is unclear exactly where it will be sited and who will have final control. China, which has consistently opposed the plan, lodged a protest with the US and South Korean envoys. China's foreign ministry said that the THAAD system will harm peace and stability in the region, despite its ability to detect and shoot down North Korean missiles. "China expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute objection to this", it said in a statement on its website. The BBC's Korea Correspondent Stephen Evans says that Beijing fears the system's radars would be able to see far into its territory. China, the North's closest ally, supported the most recent UN sanctions after North Korean nuclear and missile tests. Discussions between the two countries began in Feb 16 after North Korea fired a long-range missile. "South Korea and the US have made the joint decision to deploy the THAAD system as part of a defensive action to guarantee the security of the Republic of Korea," South Korea's Defence Ministry said on the 8 Jul 16. It will be deployed "as soon as possible." THAAD is "critical" to the US' defensive strategy, Lt. Gen Thomas S. Vandal of the US Eighth Army in South Korea told AP. He added that the North's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction required that the allies made sure that they could defend themselves. The announcement comes after North Korea denounced US sanctions on Kim Jong-un, calling it an "open declaration of war", after the leader was accused of human rights abuses. The US had put sanctions onto the leader for the first time, calling him directly responsible for violations in his country. Pyongyang has warned that it will close down all diplomatic channels with the US unless the blacklisting is revoked, reported news agency Yonhap. The measures freeze any property the individuals have in the US and prevent US citizens doing business with them. "Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea continues to inflict intolerable cruelty and hardship on millions of its own people, including extrajudicial killings, forced labour, and torture," the Treasury statement said. It estimates that between 80,000 and 120,000 prisoners are being held in North Korean prison camps where torture, sexual assault and executions are routine.
What is the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System (THAAD)?
Shoots down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of their flight
Uses hit-to-kill technology - where kinetic energy destroys the incoming warhead
Has a range of 200km and can reach an altitude of 150km
US has previously deployed it in Guam and Hawaii as a measure against potential attacks from North Korea
1. The enemy launches a missile
2. The Thaad radar system detects the launch, which is relayed to command and control
3. Thaad command and control instructs the launch of an interceptor missile
4. The interceptor missile is fired at the enemy projectile
5. The enemy projectile is destroyed in the terminal phase of flight
The launcher trucks can hold up to eight interceptor missiles.
Taiwan – An explosion engulfed a Taiwanese commuter train car in flames late the 7 Jul 16 injuring 21 people, some of them seriously, Taiwan's official news agency said. Taiwanese police said they suspected the blast in the capital of Taipei was caused by an explosive in the train car, the island's Central News Agency reported. The explosive appeared to be 15 to 20 centimetres (6-8 inches) long and looked like a firecracker, the news agency said, citing the director of Taiwan’s National Police Agency, Chen Kuo-en. Police bomb squad chief Lee Tzu-wen told local television networks that investigators found “a 15 centimetre-long, broken metal tube stuffed with explosive material inside a black backpack” that they believed caused the blast. The self-ruled island’s premier, Lin Chuan, ordered government agencies to form a team to investigate the blast, the Central News Agency said. “It looks like someone did it on purpose,” Lin told journalists. “We will make our best efforts to investigate this case. Please rest assured that we will provide effective and efficient security for all passengers.” Reports cited witnesses as saying they heard a loud explosion before the train carriage burst into flames. The only Taiwanese reported terrorist organisation is the World United Formosans for Independence which claims to use democratic means to unite with China. There appears to be no terrorist incidents from this group and some reports claim that it is inactive.
World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI)
Decades of KMT (Nationalist Chinese Party) oppression and “White Terror” through rule of secret police, martial law, brain-washing by the chauvinist Chinese educational systems and mass-media monopolized and controlled by KMT made it impossible for the opposition to organize safely and effectively within Taiwan. Consequently, since early 1960’s, increasing numbers of Taiwanese college graduates went abroad to study in the realm of freedom, in Japan, Europe, Canada and USA, and began organizing anti-KMT activities as well as movements for Taiwan independence. In 1970, the Taiwan independence movement organizations in Japan, Europe, Canada, and USA, joined forces under the name of World United Formosans for Independence. The goal was to consolidate and focus the effort put forth by the Taiwanese communities to demand for justice and to establish an independent and democratic Taiwan. In January 1990, WUFI declared officially its decision to move the organization back to Taiwan within two years. In reality, couple years before the decision was made, other overt and covert activities were already under way to pave the ground for moving back to Taiwan. So the decision was soon carried out, many key members, including the leaders of each WUFI headquarters around the world, returned to Taiwan by their own ways and means. Since they were all on the “blacklist” of the KMT regime, at the time when they entered Taiwan or after a period of staying underground, some of the leaders were arrested and charged with sedition and illegal entry–some of them were wanted by the KMT regime for sedition charges, but when they applied for entry visa to face the charges, their rights to return to Taiwan were denied. After moving back to Taiwan, WUFI have joined hands and worked together with the opposition forces in Taiwan in order to carried out the following important and urgent tasks concurrently: to demolish the KMT monopoly of mass media, to internationalize the so-called Taiwan issues, to advocate “one Taiwan, one China” policy, to advocate abolishing the Chinese constitution, to support the democratization process of Taiwan and the movements to Join the United Nations. WUFI advocates the use of peaceful and non-violent means to achieve its goals. After the establishment of the Republic of Taiwan, all citizens of Taiwan shall be considered equals. Individuals wishing to maintain their “Chinese” citizenship would be given assistance, if they choose to return to China. They may also opt to remain in Taiwan as resident aliens with their rights fully protected.
The Objective
WUFI is dedicated to the establishment of a free, democratic and independent Republic of Taiwan in accordance with the principle of self-determination of peoples. We are committed to the fundamental freedoms and human rights embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and therefore repudiate all forms of foreign dominance and interventions that run counter to the interests of the 21-million Taiwanese people.
Follow on Report: Police in Taiwan have arrested the man who set off explosives in the carriage of a busy commuter train it was announced on the 8 Jul 16. Lin Ying-chang, 55, was one of those injured in the blast late on 7 Jul 16. Witnesses told Straits Times they heard three blasts inside the sixth carriage before it burst into flames. A man was seen walking in and leaving a bag in the cabin moments before the explosion, and police found items they said 'related to explosives' in the cabin's toilet. No detonator has been found and officials are not ruling out the possibility the blast was orchestrated by more than one person. TV footage of people with bandages on their burned limbs and faces being taken to hospital were broadcast on a local station and Wang Bao-chang of Taiwan's National Police Agency told a news conference: 'Our initial investigation has ruled out terror.' Premier Lin Chuan earlier said: "It looks like somebody did this with a malicious intent and we will fully investigate this case." The explosive device was a steel tube 47 cm (19 inches) long filled with pyrotechnic gunpowder, Wang added, as he displayed a picture of remnants of a black tube, with gray duct tape stuck on it that investigators had found at the site. It was unclear how the device was set off, he added, but a long red bag used to carry climbing equipment was found in the bathroom of a train car and may have been used to transport the device.
Turkey – Two suspected ISIS jihadists have been arrested carrying night-vision binoculars, fake passports and military-style clothing through Istanbul's airport - less than week after suicide bombers killed 45 people at the transport hub it was reported on the 4 Jul 16. The men - thought to be Kyrgyz nationals - were detained late on the night of the 3 Jul 16 at Ataturk Airport, according to the Dogan news agency. One of 28 Jun 16 suicide bombers is said to have been from Kyrgyztan, while the other two were understood to be of Russian or Uzbek origin. The two men arrested on the 3 Jul 16 have been identified only by their initials, K.V. and F.M.I., aged 25 and 35 respectively. It is unclear if they were arriving or leaving Ataturk Airport, which is still recovering from the co-ordinated attack. Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names.
Turkey/Russia – Turkey has proposed cooperating with Moscow to combat ISIS in Syria, suggesting it could open its Incirlik Air Base to Russia - comments that highlight a revival in ties strained by Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian warplane last year it was reported on the 5 Jul 16. Moscow pledged to rebuild relations after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over the shooting down of the aircraft, with the loss of the pilot, near the Syrian frontier. Moscow had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts. “We will cooperate with everyone who fights Da’esh. We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Da’esh,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview on state broadcaster TRT Haber on the 3 Jul 16. “Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Da’esh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy.” The Kremlin described the suggestion that Turkey could open up Incirlik as a “serious statement” although it said it had not had any contact with Ankara on the matter. “This is certainly a serious statement which has yet to be analysed from a military and political point of view,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. While both Turkey and Russia recognize the threat of ISIS, they are on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, raising questions about the viability of Russian use of Incirlik. Turkey has been one of the most steadfast opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran. Turkey’s NATO partners may also be wary of Russian use of the base, which is located 5 miles (8 km) north of the Turkish city of Adana near the Syrian border. Incirlik hosts aircraft from the United States, Germany, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar involved in the US-led air campaign against ISIS.
Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken defiantly to crowds of jubilant supporters in Istanbul, vowing to stay in power hours after an army faction dramatically tried to topple the government. Erdogan's arrival in Istanbul from the coastal city of Marmaris came after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told broadcaster NTV on the 16 Jul 16 that the situation in the country was "largely under control". The army's acting chief of staff, Umit Dundar, told a news conference that 104 coup plotters had been killed. He said that 90 others had also been killed, adding that 47 of them were civilians. A total of 1,563 military personnel were detained, according to the justice ministry. The permanent chief of staff, Hulusi Akar, was freed by forces loyal to the government having been held hostage at an army base for a period, an official said. Speaking at a news conference, Erdogan said the attempt to push him from power was "an act of treason" and that those behind the plot would "pay a heavy price". He said he intended to stay with his "people" and not go anywhere. "Shortly after I left [Marmaris] I have been told they bombed the locations where I was," he told reporters. "I assume they thought I was still there when they bombed those places." Speaking to thousands of supporters outside Ataturk Airport on the morning of the 16 Jul 16, Erdogan said the coup plotters had pointed "the people's guns against the people. "The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge," Erdogan said. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything." As he spoke, live footage showed dozens of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. "Clearly the cleansing of the military from those elements who joined or supported the coup is already under way," A senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said. "This is going to continue for days to come, and I think there are probably going to be tribunals within the military to see who supported the coup." There were still pockets of resistance in the capital Ankara an official claimed. In Ankara, jets dropped bombs over the Bestepe district, where the presidential palace is located, with plumes of black smoke seen rising early on the 16 Jul 16. There were also reports of an explosion at the parliament building in the capital. Military jets were still in the sky above the capital, but there has been no sound of fighting, Goksedef said, adding that there were only a few locations in the country where the coup plotters were holding out. The prime minister said the military had been ordered by the presidency to shoot down planes hijacked by those involved in the uprising attempt and that jets had been scrambled. Officials said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by anti-government forces over Ankara. Erdogan said that the attempted coup was the work of supporters of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who the president has long accused of attempting to use his followers in the judiciary and military to overthrow the government. Gulen condemned the bid to overthrow Turkey's leader, saying "governments should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force", according to a report by the DPA news agency. Earlier, thousands of people had heeded a call from the president to take to the streets and protest against the attempted coup. Late on the 15 Jul 16 sections of the army had officially declared a coup and martial law, saying they had "taken control of the country" as Istanbul's main airport was closed and fighter jets were seen in the skies. Turkey's national intelligence agency MIT was targeted by hijacked helicopters but the coup attempt was "foiled", its spokesman told NTV television. Yildirim also told NTV that a no-fly zone had been declared over Ankara.
Turkey's military coups (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36813924)
- 1997 - Also known as "post-modern coup". Turkish military intervention leads to resignation of Islamist prime minister Necmettin Erbakan.
- 1980 - Military coup following armed conflict between right-wing and left-wing groups in the 1970s
- 1971 - Military coup known as the "coup by memorandum", which the military delivered instead of sending out tanks
- 1960 - Coup by group of young military officer outside chain of command, against the democratically-elected Democrat Party