BOULDER, Colorado: The man charged with injuring more than a dozen people in Boulder, Colorado, who were demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, went disguised as a gardener and told police his initial plan was to kill them all.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces hate crime charges in federal court and multiple state charges, including attempted murder.
Soliman — whose first name also was spelled Mohammed in some court documents — yelled “Free Palestine” and threw two of 18 Molotov cocktails he was carrying Sunday, injuring more than half of the estimated 20 people demonstrating, police said. Authorities said Soliman shied away from his plan to kill the entire group but expressed no regrets about the attack.
Boulder County officials said Wednesday the number of victims climbed from 12 to 15, plus a dog. The Associated Press left an email message with prosecutors seeking more details on the newly identified victims and the dog.
Among those injured was a Holocaust survivor who did not want her name shared publicly, said Ginger Delgado of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, who is acting as a spokesperson for the family.
What’s next for the suspect?
Soliman was being held on a $10 million, cash-only bond. He is due back in a Boulder County courtroom Thursday. More charges are possible in federal court.
Public defender Kathryn Herold is representing Soliman. She declined to comment after Monday’s hearing, where he initially was charged, as is common with Colorado public defenders.
Soliman was living in the US illegally after entering the country in August 2022 on a visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. Soliman filed for asylum and was granted a work authorization in March 2023, but that also expired.
He was born in Egypt, spent 17 years living in Kuwait, and lived in Colorado Springs with his wife and five children, according to state court documents.
Soliman’s wife and children were taken into custody Tuesday by immigration authorities and were being processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said a DHS official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Federal officials are investigating whether Soliman’s family knew about his plan, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said. Soliman told authorities that no one, including his family, knew about his plan, according to court documents.
Noem said Wednesday that federal authorities will be cracking down on people who overstay their visas.
What was the motive behind the attack?
Soliman told police he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people,” referring to the movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel.
Sunday’s attack at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall in downtown Boulder, 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Denver, had been planned for more than a year and targeted what Soliman described as a “Zionist group,” authorities said in court papers charging him with a federal hate crime.
That charge carries a sentence of life in prison when it includes attempted murder. Colorado state charges include 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of using an incendiary device and 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device.
The attack came at the beginning of the Jewish holiday Shavuot, and as the Israel-Hamas war has contributed to a spike in antisemitism in the US. A week before the Boulder attack, a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington.
Who are the demonstrators?
The people hurt in the attack are demonstrators with Run for Their Lives, a global grassroots initiative that started in October 2023 after Hamas militants in Gaza stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. Israel responded with military attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 52,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, and arresting hundreds.
Through weekly walks, the Run for Their Lives group’s 230 chapters seek to raise awareness of the 58 people believed to still be in captivity in Gaza, said Shira Weiss, the organization’s global coordinator.
Police liaisons assigned to the victims said none were ready to speak with reporters. They include eight women and seven men, range in age from 25 to 88, and their injuries range from serious to minor.
No new details were released Wednesday about three victims receiving treatment at the UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.
After the attack, FBI director Kash Patel said the agency was investigating a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder.
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said Tuesday he initially suspected terrorism. “There was no intent to hide what happened,” Redfearn said. “There was no intent to minimize or lessen what we later, within a couple of hours at the press conference, confirmed was terrorism.”
What we know about the Colorado attack on demonstrators for the release of Israeli hostages
https://arab.news/cjn93
What we know about the Colorado attack on demonstrators for the release of Israeli hostages
- Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces hate crime charges in federal court and multiple state charges including attempted murder
- He threw two of 18 Molotov cocktails he was carrying Sunday, injuring more than half of the estimated 20 people demonstrating
Bangladeshi women break driving taboo on male-dominated roads
- Country’s largest development organization opened all-female driving school in 2012
- Most of its graduates now employed by NGOs, international organizations
DHAKA: When Sharmin Akter Pinky sat behind the steering wheel for the first time, it was because of her aunt, who encouraged her to venture into a field which, in Bangladesh, had traditionally been dominated by men.
“She used to inspire me to be an independent woman and to do something with my own abilities,” Pinky told Arab News.
Her aunt saw women learning to drive at a school in Dhaka and convinced the rest of the family that it would be the right path for her niece as well.
“She kept insisting that if the other girls could do it, I would also be able to do the same,” Pinky said.
“This is how I stepped into this driving career, with the support of my parents, uncle, and aunt.”
Pinky was 20 at the time. Now, eight years later, she is a professional driver working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.
The all-female driving school she enrolled in was opened by BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), Bangladesh’s largest development organization, in 2012. Each year, more and more women have been taking the classes — making the wheel their tool for earning a livelihood and building a career.
“There was a time when people had a very negative mindset about girls entering the driving profession, but things have improved a lot since then. I would encourage more women to take it up. Girls should be independent and explore the world around them,” Pinky said.
For her, it also comes with a personal mission to help empower others who may not have had as much support from their families as she did.
In Pinky’s village, it was not widely accepted that women could work.
She said: “In the early days, when I went back to the village during holidays, people would say things like ‘This isn’t a respectable job,’ or ‘You’ll have trouble getting married,’ or ‘You might fall in with the wrong crowd.’
“But my father always stood by me. He told me not to listen to what people around us said. He encouraged me to focus on being a good human being, doing honest work, and helping others improve their lives.
“Later, I brought two other girls from my village, arranged driving training for them, and helped them find jobs. Now, people admit that driving can be a good job for women too. I feel proud I have started something.”
For Sharmina Akter Banu, who now also works at FAO, driving offered a means of survival.
When her father and husband passed away, she was left alone caring for her 18-month-old child, younger siblings, and mother.
“I received an offer from the BRAC Driving School to take driving training. I completed the training over a period of three months. After that, I got a job as a professional driver,” she said.
“At that time all of my siblings were still attending school. With the income from my driving job, I took on the responsibility of supporting my younger siblings. Thanks to that, all of them were able to complete their education.”
Banu’s younger brother is now pursuing his honors degree, and her son is completing high school.
The job has become a source of pride for her. She has a stable profession, is financially independent, has been able to support her family, and feels like an equal member of society.
“I’m surrounded by many male drivers and, among them, I am the only female. It’s a matter of pride for me, because as a woman I’ve been able to work in this challenging profession alongside men,” she said.
“Wherever I notice a female driver, it fills my heart with joy. More and more girls are coming into this profession. And they are doing well.”
Banu and Pinky are among more than 3,500 professional women drivers trained by BRAC. They come from various parts of Bangladesh and different backgrounds.
“We have BRAC’s network in the remotest parts of the country … We receive applications from minorities and underprivileged women,” Abdul Quddus, who is in charge of the organization’s driving schools, told Arab News.
“After receiving training, the female drivers start working at different organizations, especially with international NGOs … To date, all the women who received professional driving training from us are doing well at their workplaces.”
They are contributing not only to the workforce and efforts to change social norms, but also to improving road safety in a country where traffic accidents are common.
“The society has now mostly overcome the stereotype that driving is mostly a male job,” Quddus said.
“Women can play a significant role in ensuring road safety. They don’t get involved in risky driving like men, and they are more respectful of the traffic rules.”
Deadly civilian plane crashes in India over the decades
- Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad on Thursday
- Plane reportedly crashed on top of the dining area of state-run BJ Medical College hostel, killing many medical students as well
NEW DELHI, India: An Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, and India’s federal health minister said that “many people” were killed.
Following are details of some other airline accidents in India in recent years:
AUGUST 2020
Twenty-one people died when an Air India Express Boeing 737 plane skidded off the runway in the southern city of Kozhikode during heavy rain, plunged into a valley and crashed nose-first into the ground.
MAY 2010
An Air India Boeing 737 flight from Dubai overshot the runway at the airport in the southern city of Mangaluru and crashed into a gorge, killing 158 people on board.
JULY 2000
More than 50 people were killed when a state-owned Alliance Air flight between Kolkata and the capital, New Delhi, crashed in a residential area of the eastern city of Patna.
APRIL 1993
An Indian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed during takeoff in the western city of Aurangabad and killed 55 people on board.
AUGUST 1991
An Indian Airlines Boeing 737 flight from Kolkata crashed during descent near Imphal, the capital of the hilly north-eastern state of Manipur, killing all 69 occupants onboard.
OCTOBER 1988
More than 130 passengers died when an Indian Airlines Boeing 737, flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, crashed as it was coming in to land.
JANUARY 1978
All 213 passengers of an Air India flight were killed when the captain lost control of the plane after take-off and plunged it into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India’s financial hub.
NATO chief hopeful of spending deal as meets allies in Rome
- Rutte is urging NATO members to commit to 3.5 percent of GDP on direct military spending by 2032
ROME: NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday he was “pretty confident” of getting a deal on boosting defense spending at a summit later this month, as he met European allies in Rome.
He joined foreign ministers and diplomats from Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Poland, Spain, Ukraine and the EU to discuss defense spending and their support for Kyiv, as Russia escalates its bombardments.
The meeting of the so-called “Weimar+” group comes ahead of a G7 summit in Canada on June 15-17, where allies will push US President Donald Trump to be more aggressive in punishing the Kremlin.
It will be followed by a NATO meeting in The Hague on June 24-25, where the focus will be reaching a deal that satisfies Trump’s demands to spend five percent of GDP on defense.
Rutte is urging NATO members to commit to 3.5 percent of GDP on direct military spending by 2032, and an additional 1.5 percent on broader security-related expenditure.
“We are discussing the final decisions we will take in The Hague. I’m pretty confident indeed... that we will get to a joint position, all 32 (members),” he told reporters heading into the talks in Rome.
He praised Trump’s efforts to reach a peace deal in Ukraine by talking directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying “he broke the deadlock” — even if the discussions are stalled.
Russia has fired record numbers of drones and missiles at Ukraine over recent weeks, escalating three years of daily bombardments as it outlines hard-line demands — rejected by Kyiv as “ultimatums” — to halt the war.
Rutte noted that Russia had sent a historian to talks in Istanbul, “explaining more or less that Ukraine is at fault here. I think that’s not helpful, but at least, step by step, we try to make progress.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the meeting host whose country spends 1.5 percent of GDP on defense, said he was “very happy” with Rutte’s spending plan.
“For Italy it’s important to spend more but we need more time, 10 years, I think it is more or less possible to achieve this goal,” he said.
Air India plane with 242 on board crashes at India’s Ahmedabad airport
- The plane was reportedly a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft
- It was headed to Gatwick airport in the United Kingdom when it crashed in a civilian area near the airport
NEW DELHI: An Air India plane headed to London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India’s western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, without specifying whether there were any fatalities.
The plane was headed to Gatwick airport in the UK, Air India said, while police officers said it crashed in a civilian area near the airport.
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.
“At this moment, we are ascertaining the details and will share further updates,” Air India said on X.
The crash occurred when the aircraft was taking off, television channels reported. One channel showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then disappearing from the screen before a huge cloud of fire rising into the sky from beyond the houses.
Visuals also showed debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising up into the sky near the airport.
They also showed visuals of people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.
According to air traffic control at Ahmedabad airport, the aircraft departed at 1.39 p.m. (0809 GMT) from runway 23. It gave a “Mayday” call, signalling an emergency, but thereafter there was no response from the aircraft.
Flightradar24 also said that it received the last signal from the aircraft seconds after it took off.
“The aircraft involved is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration VT-ANB,” it said.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The last fatal plane crash in India involved Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost arm.
The airline’s Boeing-737 overshot a “table-top” runway at Kozhikode International Airport in southern India in 2020. The plane skidded off the runway, plunging into a valley and crashing nose-first into the ground.
Twenty-one people were killed in that crash.
Hundreds killed as London-bound Air India flight crashes into residential area moments after take-off
AHMEDABAD, INDIA: It is likely no one survived on an Air India airliner that crashed Thursday, Ahmedabad’s city police commissioner said, adding that there were likely also casualties from the area of the city where it went down,
The flight crashed midday shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport with more than 240 people on board.
“It appears there are no survivors in the plane crash,” Commissioner G S Malik told The Associated Press, adding that with the plane crashing in a residential area with offices, “some locals would have also died.”
“Exact figures on casualties are being ascertained,” he said.
Visuals on local television channels showed smoke billowing from the crash site in what appeared to be a populated area near the airport in Ahmedabad, a city with a population of more than 5 million and the capital of Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
Firefighters doused the smoking wreckage of the plane, which would have been fully loaded with fuel shortly after takeoff, and adjacent multi-story buildings with water. Charred bodies lay on the ground.
“The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
Modi called the crash “heartbreaking beyond words.”
“In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected,” he said in a social media post.
The airline said the Gatwick Airport-bound flight was carrying 242 passengers and crew. Of those, Air India said there were 169 Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.
Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the director general of the directorate of civil aviation, told The Associated Press that Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787-8, crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes aftertaking off at 1:38 p.m. local time. He said 244 people were on board and it was not immediately possible to reconcile the discrepancy with Air India’s numbers.
All efforts were being made to ensure medical aid and relief support at the site, India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu posted on X.
The 787 Dreamliner is a widebody, twin-engine plane. This is the first crash ever of a Boeing 787 aircraft, according to the Aviation Safety Network database.
Boeing said it was aware of the reports of the crash and was “working to gather more information.”
The aircraft was introduced in 2009 and more than 1,000 have been delivered to dozens of airlines, according to the flightradar24 website.
Air India’s chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, said at the moment “our primary focus is on supporting all the affected people and their families.”
He said on X that the airline had set up an emergency center and support team for families seeking information about those who were on the flight.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of all those affected by this devastating event,” he said.
British Cabinet minister Lucy Powell said the government will provide “all the support that it can” to those affected by the crash.
“This is an unfolding story, and it will undoubtedly be causing a huge amount of worry and concern to the many, many families and communities here and those waiting for the arrival of their loved ones,” she told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
“We send our deepest sympathy and thoughts to all those families, and the government will provide all the support that it can with those in India and those in this country as well,” she added.
The tragedy in Ahmedabad has stunned and saddened us. It is heartbreaking beyond words. In this sad hour, my thoughts are with everyone affected by it. Have been in touch with Ministers and authorities who are working to assist those affected.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 12, 2025
Britain has very close ties with India. There were nearly 1.9 million people in the country of Indian descent, according to the 2021 UK census.
The last major passenger plane crash in India was in 2020 when an Air India Express Boeing-737 skidded off a hilltop runway in southern India, killing 21 people.
The worst air disaster in India was on Nov. 12, 1996, when a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight collided midair with a Kazakhastan Airlines Flight near Charki Dadri in Haryana state, killing all 349 on board the two planes.
The crash comes days before the opening of the Paris Air Show, a major aviation expo where Boeing and European rival Airbus will showcase their aircraft and battle for jet orders from airline customers.
Boeing has been in recovery mode for more than six years after Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max 8, plunged into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board. Five months later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 157 passengers and crew members.
Shares of Boeing Co. tumbled nearly 9 percent before trading opened in the US.
