2008 Khost suicide bombing

Suicide bombing in Afghanistan 2008 Khost suicide bombing Khost in Afghanistan.svg Location of Khost Province in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Yakubi, Khost Province, Afghanistan Suicide Bombing 3 March 2008 5 Islamic Jihad Union Cüneyt Çiftçi from Ansbach, Germany The 2008 Khost suicide bombing occurred on 3 March 2008, when German-born Turkish citizen Cüneyt Çiftçi blew himself up in front of the Sabari District Center in Khost Province, Afghanistan, killing US soldiers Stephen Koch (23) and Robert Rapp (22) and two Afghans. Uzbek Islamist group Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) claimed responsibility for having used 4.5 tons of explosives for what was described as an "enormous blast" and publishing a film of the explosion.Matthias Gebauer 'Bavarian Taliban' Video: The Smiling Suicide Bomber Spiegel Online http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/bavarian-taliban-video-the-smiling-suicide-bomber-a-543768.html 27 March 2008 26 July 2016 Perpetrator Cüneyt Çiftçi, the perpetrator, is considered the first suicide bomber to have been born and raised in Germany. Born in 1979 in Freising and raised in Ansbach, both in Bavaria,Robert S. Leiken Europe's Angry Muslims: The Revolt of The Second Generation wJFnx0EcAK8C 254 y 254 Çiftçi's father, a founding member of the Ansbach Millî Görüş mosque society, sent his son, who was twelve years old, to Turkey. Attending a state-run religious school, Çiftçi memorized the Quran and started using the name "Hafiz." After three years, Çiftçi returned to Ansbach but later dropped out of school and broke off a vocational apprenticeship. After working a while as an interior decorator and in a McDonald's restaurant, he found employment at the local Bosch warehouse,Stefan Meining Ahmet Senyurt The Case of the Bavarian Taliban Hudson Institute https://hudson.org/research/9856-the-case-of-the-bavarian-taliban 11 November 2008 26 July 2016 where he reportedly had a "well-paid job."Annette Ramelsberger Familienvater, Gutverdiener, Selbstmordattentäter? Süddeutsche Zeitung http://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/anschlag-in-afghanistan-familienvater-gutverdiener-selbstmordattentaeter-1.264138 17 May 2010 26 July 2016 de In 2000, Çiftçi was granted permanent residency in Germany, but his application for German citizenship was repeatedly turned down. Following repeated "security conversations" with the local authorities, he withdrew the application. In 2001, Çiftçi married a woman from a secular Turkish family, who only four years later started wearing a headscarf when they moved in with his parents. German authorities believe that Çiftçi's radicalization may have begun in 2001/02, when he came into touch with orthodox Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) movement, frequenting a TJ circle in nearby Pappenheim. In late 2004, Çiftçi started visiting his father's local Millî Görüş mosque, and occasionally preached there. With their two children, they lived in a middle-class neighborhood of Ansbach.Der Feind in der Nachbarschaft Focus http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/cueneyt-c-_aid_265622.html 17 March 2008 26 July 2016 de On April 2, 2007, Çiftçi left the country with his wife and two children for Pakistan, after he came under suspicion for his contacts with the "Sauerland terror cell". He proceeded to an IJU training camp, where he joined the members of the Sauerland cell. See also War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) 2016 Ansbach bombing References Afghanistan Category:2008 murders in Afghanistan Category:Suicide bombings in Afghanistan Category:2008 mass murders Category:2008 massacres in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Category:Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2008 Category:Islamic Jihad Union Category:March 2008 in Afghanistan Category:March 2008 crimes in Asia Category:21st century in Khost Province Category:Suicide bombings in 2008 Category:Crime in Khost Province Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 2008 Category:Islamic terrorism in Afghanistan Category:Filmed suicide bombings Category:Filmed killings in Asia Category:Afghanistan–Germany relations Category:Afghanistan–Turkey relations Category:2008 in international relations