Special Emphasis on Terrorism (Sept-2014)

Terrorist Activities in Pakistan

Bomb/IED Blasts
Police on July 2 foiled a major terrorism bid after it recovered and defused two bombs that weighed 18 kilogrammes each in Sarband area of Peshawar, reports Daily Times. Police said that if the bombs had exploded they would have resulted in a massive loss of life and property. A heavy contingent of Police cordoned off the area and, after the recovery of bombs, launched a search operation.

Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC) official was killed and another sustained injuries in a landmine explosion in Lehri area of Sibi District on July 2, reports Dawn.

Four Frontier Corps officials were injured when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by unidentified militants along a roadside in Malik Shagha exploded in Ghundai area of Jamrud tehsil (revenue unit) in Khyber Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 3.

At least eight persons were killed and three others were injured in two consecutive explosions in Dorri Banda area of Hangu town of Hangu District on July 17, reports Daily Times. Officials said that the incident took place when a roadside bomb hit a passenger vehicle. No group or militant organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Targeted Killings
At least eight persons were killed in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on June 26, reports Dawn. Two suspected militants were killed by Sindh Police in Madina Colony of New Karachi. According to the sources, a huge cache of arms and ammunition were also recovered from the possession of the suspects.

In a separate incident, one person was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Sohrab Goth area on June 26, reports Dawn.

Separately, a person was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Malir town on June 26, reports Dawn.

Furthermore, one person was shot dead in Federal B area near Hussainabad, where as another person was killed in Orangi Town due to firing on June 26, reports Dawn.

Moreover, one suspected militant was killed in a Police encounter while he was caught looting the citizens in Sohrab Goth’s Al-Asif Square on June 26, reports Dawn.

Also a dead body stuffed in a gunny sack was recovered from Landhi town on June 26, reports Dawn.

Meanwhile, five suspects belonging to a banned militant outfit were arrested in Gulshan-i-Buner area on June 26, reports Dawn.

Three persons were killed and one other injured in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on June 28, reports Daily Times.

Two bullet-riddled bodies of unidentified men, aged 22 and 30, were recovered near Mono-technical Institute in Korangi No 4.

Meanwhile, an unidentified man, aged 20, was shot dead by unknown assailants beneath Nipa Bridge.

In a separate incident, a man named Sameer (30) was seriously injured due to bullets fired on him by unidentified gunmen near Brookes Chowrangi in Korangi Industrial Area.

At least eight persons were killed in separate incidents in Karachi on July 2, reports Daily Times. Four militants were killed in a Police encounter near Northern Bypass of Aliabad area. A senior Police official confirmed that four militants were killed by the Police in an encounter. He said that the slain militants were affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Separately, an unidentified person was killed by unidentified assailants at Gareeb Shah Road in Liyari on July 2, reports Daily Times.

In a separate incident, one person, identified as Syed Mohsin Ali, was killed by unidentified assailants near Water Pump at Federal B area on July 2, reports Daily Times.

In another incident, a person, identified as Habib Ullah (24), was killed by unidentified assailants in Malir City on July 2, reports Daily Times. According to Police, Habib Ullah was the member of religious organization, while further investigation is underway. However spokesman of Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal-Jama’at (ASWJ) said that deceased was the member of their organisation and resident of Daud Goth Malir.

Also, a dead body was recovered from Frontier Colony of Pirabad area on July 2, reports Daily Times.

Six bullet-riddled dead bodies were recovered from the Hurmaz village in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) on July 3, reports The News. Official sources said unidentified assailants had shot dead six persons and placed their bodies on a road in the Hurmaz village.

Two persons were killed on July 3 as a result of firing in Tasap area of Panjgur District in Balochistan, reports Dawn. One of the victims was identified as Ilyas son of Muhammad Islam resident of Tasap, the official said, adding that the motive behind the killing could not be ascertained.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Home and Tribal Affairs Department sources said that over 800 bodies were found in Balochistan during last three-and-a-half years, with most of them being found in Quetta, Khuzdar and Makran belt, reports Dawn on July 4. The sources said that 466 victims were identified as ethnic Baloch, 123 as Pashtuns, and 107 from other ethnicities. Meanwhile, 107 bodies remained unidentified. Of the 466 Baloch killed in the Province, most were political workers while the remaining were killed in incidents of targeted killings, tribal disputes, domestic violence etc, the Home Department sources explained.

At least seven persons were killed in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on July 4, reports The News. Two suspected terrorists were killed and three others were injured when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) they were carrying exploded in a motorcycle accident on New Preedy Street in Sadda.

Meanwhile, two persons were killed by unidentified assailants in Landhi area within the remit of Sukhan Police Station on July 4, reports The News. Police identified the deceased as Momin Khan (30) and Mirza (28).

Separately, a Constable of the Sindh Police, identified as Allah Dino (35), was shot dead by unidentified assailants within the remit of Gulshan-e-Maymar Police Station on July 4, reports The News.

In a separate incident, a Sub Inspector (SI) posted at the Bin Qasim Police Station, identified as Abdur Rasheed Sarki (40), was killed by unidentified assailants near Marvi Goth in Shah Latif Town on July 3, reports The News.

In another incident, a dead body was found inside a gunny bag lying near the Shershah Bridge Kiamari Town on July 4, reports The News

One Policeman was killed in one incident of violence in Karachi on July 5, reports Daily Times. Police said head constable, Mohammad Shah, was shot dead in Safoora Goth.

At least three Policemen were killed and two others were injured by unidentified assailants in Latifabad area of Hyderabad city on July 6, reports The News.

In a separate incident, two Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wahl-Jama’at (ASWJ) activists, identified as Qari Abdullah Raheem (30) and Nawaz Khan (35), were shot dead near old Sabzi Mandi area on July 6, reports The News.

In another incident, a Tablighi Jamaat activist, identified as Khurram Shahzad (35), was killed in Sujrani Town on July 6, reports The News.

Separately, Muhammad Saleem (30) was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Mobina Town on July 6, reports The News.

Meanwhile, an unidentified person was shot dead in Korangi Town on July 6, reports The News.

Separately, two suspected militants affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed in a Police encounter in Baldia Town area of Karachi (Karachi District), the provincial capital of Sindh on July 7 (today), reports The News.

Moreover, the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) on July 6 defused a bomb weighing one kilogram near a mosque situated in Frontier Colony in Rabbani Mohalla within the limits of Pirabad Police Station on July 6, reports The News.

Two persons, including a cadre of Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jama’at (ASWJ) identified as Mufti Ahmed and Dr Usman, were shot dead when unidentified armed assailants opened fire on a clinic in Federal B Area of Gulberg Town in Karachi on July 7, reported The News. ASWJ spokesman said that Mufti was their activist. The Police said that the accused targeted Mufti Ahmed however doctor was also killed in the firing.

Separately, a worker of a political party, identified as Muhammad Amir (40), was killed in Khuramabad area of Landhi Town, reported The News.

In another incident, a worker of Awami National Party (ANP), identified as Din Muhammad Wazir, was killed and three others were injured in Janjal Goth near Super Highway in Gadap Town, reports The News.

At least 11 persons were killed in separate incidents in Karachi (Karachi District), the provincial capital of Sindh July 8 reports Daily Times. Four suspected cadres of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed and another was injured by unidentified assailants near Sarina Shopping Centre within the precincts of Shahrah-e-Noorjahan Police Station.

At least five alleged Lyari gangsters, identified as Noor Mohammad Baloch, Khalid Baloch and Wajid Baloch, associated with Uzair Baloch group, and Saddam and Mushtaq Baloch, associated with Baba Ladla group, were killed during two encounters with law enforcers in Rangi Wara, Singu Lane and Ali Hotel areas of Lyari Town in Karachi July 9, reported Daily Times.

Separately, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant, identified as Fazl-ur-Rehman, was shot dead while his two companions managed to escape during an encounter with the Police near Musharraf Mor in Mauripur area of Keamari Town, reported Daily Times. Two Policemen, Ejaz and Aqeel were injured, and one Kalashnikov, two pistols were also recovered from Rehman’s possession.

At least five militants and a Security Force (SF) were killed in an armed clash during a search operation launched for the recovery of 13 kidnapped employees of Uch Power Plant in Pat Feeder area of Naseerabad District on July 9 , reported Dawn. One SF was injured in the clash.

A Police informer, identified as Abdul Rasool (40), was shot dead in Ahsanabad within the remits of Sohrab Goth Police Station in Gadap Town of Karachi reports Daily Times. According to Police, Baksh, accompanied three Policemen to a drug den, where culprits opened fire. Following the incident, extra contingent of Police conducted a raid and recovered a pistol, 500 bullets of Kalashnikov, and one and a half kilogrammes heroin, said DSP Sohrab Goth Khalid Khan.

In another incident, a man, identified as Abdul Rehman (25), was shot dead and another wounded near mini bus stop within the jurisdiction of Manghopir Police Station, reports Daily Times.

Separately, an unidentified man was shot dead near Kanzul Imaan Masjid within the precincts of Jamshed Quarter Police Station in Jamshed Town, reported Daily Times.

Elsewhere, two unidentified torture marked dead bodies were found near Niazi Chowk within the remits of Kalri Police Station in Lyari Town, reports Daily Times. As per details, the victims were kidnapped, tortured them and then shot dead before being dumped.

In addition, another dead body of a man was found from the bushes of Supper Highway within the vicinity of Gadap City Police Station, reported Daily Times. According to initial medical examination, the body seems to be four to five days old.

At least seven persons were killed in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on July 13, reports Daily Times. Three persons among a child were killed and three others were injured in a firing incident at the Jahanabad area of Pak Colony. Police officials said members of a gangster Ghaffar Zikri gang, in collaboration with members of the Baba Ladla gang arrived at the Jahanabad area of Pak Colony – the area under dominance of the outlawed Peoples Aman Committee chief Uzair Jan Baloch, and escaped after throwing cracker and resorted to indiscriminate firing in the area. It was an attempt to recapture the area according to the Police. “They (gangsters) first shouted slogans against Uzair Baloch and in favour of Pappu and Zikri, and later hurled a cracker and resorted to indiscriminate firing,” confirmed Station House Officer (SHO) Bilal Raza.

A Muttahida Qaumi Movement activist, identified as Mohammad Junaid (35), was killed on Chakiwara Road, near Mohammadi Hotel in Lyari Town of Karachi on July 16, reports The News.

Separately, a former MQM activist, identified as Azmatullah Niazi (32), was shot dead in the Musafirkhana area of Eidgah in Lyari Town, reported The News.

Elsewhere, an unidentified man was found dead in Hashmi Mohallah area of Iqbal Market in Orangi Town, reports The News.

Another unidentified dead body of man was found at Afghan Basti in Gadap Town, reported The News.

A girl, identified as Humaira (3), was injured in an explosion in Mohammadi Colony, within the precincts of Docks Police Station in Liaquatabad Town on July 20, reports Daily Times. Police said that the assailants aimed to target a godown of a fishery trader over unpaid extortion money however, the grenade hit an empty house, causing injury to the girl.

At least four persons, including three Policemen, were killed in different incidents in Karachi on July 21, reports Daily Times. Two Policemen, Niaz Ahmed (47) and Habib Durani (45), were shot dead by unidentified assailants in Quaidabad area.

Separately, unidentified assailants killed a Sub Inspector (SI) Muhammad Rafiq on July 20 near Shah Bhattia Hall in Lyari area while he was returning from his duty, reports Daily Times.

In a separate incident, a person, identified as Qutubuddin (55), was shot dead and two others, Nawab (40) and Kareem (38), were injured when unidentified assailants opened fire on them at Islamia Colony No-1 in Qasba Colony on July 21, reports Daily Times.

Miscellaneous
Four persons were injured when motorcycle bourne unidentified assailants threw a grenade at a Police picket in the Sadiqabad area of Rawalpindi town of Rawalpindi District in Punjab on June 25, reports The News. Four injured persons were identified as Atiq (21), Nabeel (22), Nasir (27) and Ajab (65). The injured were reported to be in stable condition. The attackers however, managed to escape from the scene.

The Security Forces (SFs) arrested two suspects and seized a huge cache of weapons during the search operation in various areas of Hangu Districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on June 27, reports The News. Three machine guns, seven SGP-9 machine guns, 98 rocket shells, two rocket launchers, 10 sophisticated machine guns, 10 detonators, explosive materials used in improvise explosive devices (IEDs), five suicide vests, huge quantity of explosives, six masks, hundreds of hand grenades and thousands of cartridges had been recovered from their possession.

16 militants were killed and seven hideouts were destroyed in the ongoing Zarb-e-Azb operation by Security Forces (SFs) in Khyber Agency and North Waziristan Agency on June 29, reports Daily Times. An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) hand-out said that the strategic achievements were made after successful air strikes in the suburbs of Mir Ali in NWA. The ISPR further said that a large cache of explosives was also destroyed in the air strikes. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the operation will be continued till complete elimination of terrorists.

Four persons were killed after a passenger van came under a fire attack in the suburban area of Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on June 29, reports The News. Two terrorists opened fire on the pickup van en route to Khyber Agency from Kohat at Kuchai Zera Road, killing four persons and hurting three kids and two women of a family.

Police arrested two persons while stopping a truck on a check post at Lahore’s entry point in Shahdara Town, Daily Times reports on June 30. When searched, at least 40 bags of explosive material were recovered from the vehicle. Police arrested truck driver and cleaner belonging to northern areas of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Police arrested 12 terrorists from an un-disclosed location while they were entering Punjab from Attock city near Peshawar through a van. Police said the terrorist, hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), were entering Punjab with a major terror plot. Police recovered suicide vests, bomb-making material, automatic weapons and huge quantity of explosives from the terrorists.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement, dated June 30 said 15 militants were killed in exchange of fire with the troops during house-to-house search operation in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency, reports The News. The Army’s infantry troops and Special Services Group (SSG) conducted door-to-door searches in Miranshah town to ensure that the civilian population had evacuated the area. Troops have recovered underground tunnels and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) making factories inside the so far cleared area. Three soldiers got injured in exchange of fire.

According to the ISPR, artillery, tanks and other heavy weapons were used in the action against militants. Since start of Operation Zarb-e-Azb on 15 June, 376 militants have been killed while 19 have surrendered to the SFs. 61 militant Hideouts have been destroyed in the operation during last 15 days. 17 Soldiers have died in the ongoing Operation.

10 militants were killed when military helicopters pounded militant’s compounds on July 2 as part of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the Khar Warsak area, 12 kilometers north of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), reports The News. Nearly 500,000 people have fled the offensive in NWA, which is aimed at wiping out longstanding militant strongholds in the area, which borders Afghanistan.

In addition, Army claims on July 2 that three more Improvised Explosive Device (IED) making factories with large quantity of explosives, anti-tank mines, a suicide bomber training center, a media facility and a rocket cache were recovered from the cleared area in NWA during the military offensive, reports Dawn. A spokesman for the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that Operation was progressing successfully as planned as six IEDs attached with four computers in a ready position were also recovered from a private hotel in the area. “Forces are making swift progress in NWA as forces are hitting and shelling militant hubs and hide outs,” he said. Sources said sniffer dogs are also being used in the cleared areas to find hidden explosives.

Meanwhile, former DG ISPR Major General (retired) Athar Abbas on July 2 demanded that the military should give access to the media to such areas which have been ‘cleared’ by the troops, reports Dawn.

The house and car of the Bureau Chief of the Express News, Jamshed Baghwan, were damaged in an explosion in Murshidabad locality on the Kohat Road in Peshawar on July 2, reports The News. This is the third bomb attack on the house of Jamshed Baghwan over the past few months. The bomb disposal unit experts had defused the explosives in the first attack while the second one damaged the main gate and a portion of the house.

Three alleged militants were arrested in Saeedabad area of Charsadda District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on July 3, reports The News. Police also recovered five kilograms of explosives, one rocket launcher, one Kalashnikov and two pistols from them.

Meanwhile, Police on July 3 claimed to have arrested a second suspect involved in an attack on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft at Peshawar Airport on June 24, reports Dawn. According to Police, Security Forces and Police jointly carried out a raid in Suleman Khel area of Peshawar and arrested Waliullah, a ‘militant commander’ of Dara Adam Khel and associated with Shahid Group working under the umbrella of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Earlier on July 2, Police had also arrested a ‘militant commander’ of Shahid group, Ali Haider for his alleged involvement in the plane attack.

Separately, according to data collected by Police, the incidents of targeted killings have increased by 30.3 per cent in KP during the current year (2014), reports Dawn on July 4. It said that 129 cases of targeted killings were recorded during the current as compared to 99 incidents of the last year. Similarly, rockets attacks have also increased by 450 per cent as about 22 rockets landed in parts of the province during 2014 as compared to four rocket attacks during the previous year.

At least three security officials were killed and two injured in a terrorist attack on a security check post in Mohmand Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 5, reports Daily Times. According to sources, unidentified armed attackers opened fire on the check post in Baizai area of Mohmand Agency near Afghan border. The attackers might have come from other side of the border, sources said.

Unidentified people opened fire on a polio vaccination team in Peshawar city, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on July 6, killing a Policeman and injuring another, reports Daily Times. Police officials said the attack took place in Bahadur Kallay area of Peshawar. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has repeatedly targeted health workers who are vaccinating against polio, accusing them of being spies.

Police rescued two abductees, identified as Ishaq and Anees, and arrested two abductors along with a huge cache of arms during a raid in Tari Banda area of Hangu District July 6, reports Daily Times. They were abducted from Karak District some 40 days ago.

Intelligence authorities arrested a “most wanted” terrorist, identified as Abbas Afridi, during a raid at Jinnah Terminal on July 9, reported The News. According to sources, the intelligence authorities arrested Afridi from Karachi Airport when he arrived here through a domestic flight. He was travelling under a fictitious name, sources added. The sources further said that Afridi is said to be a head of a group of terrorists in Katti Pahari area of Orangi Town and the adjoining areas.

At least 13 militants were killed when the Air Force fighter jets pounded seven suspected hideouts of militants in the Degan village of North Waziristan Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 8, repots The News. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a brief statement to the media about the latest air strikes in the Degan village, which had been attacked earlier as well. The press release didn’t provide further details about the air strikes and the identity of the slain militants. Degan is located in the Dattakhel tehsil (revenue unit), near the Afghan border, and is considered a stronghold of the North Waziristan based Hafiz Gul Bahadur group.

A Frontier Corps official, identified as Dilawar Khan, was killed when unidentified militants opened fire at a security camp in Speen Wam tehsil (revenue unit) of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 12.

Separately, a roadside Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded in Dirdoni, Ghulam tehsil of NWA. However, no casualties were reported.

At least 18 militants were killed when Army jets and artillery pounded alleged militant hideouts in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 12-13, reports Dawn. At least 13 militants were killed when Army jets and artillery pounded alleged militant hideouts in Mosaki area, 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of NWA in the morning of July 12. Six terrorist hideouts and a huge ammunition cache were destroyed and at least 13 militants, most of them Uzbeks, were killed in July 12 strikes, a security official said.

Further, fighter jets struck militant hideouts around the Mir Ali tehsil (revenue unit) in the earlier hours of July 14 (today) killing five militants. Official sources said that a number of terrorist sanctuaries were destroyed in the raids and also stated that a huge quantity of arms and ammunition has been destroyed in the strikes. They added that at least five bases have been destroyed. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that a large number of militants have also been killed, but there was no specific number.

At least 20 suspected militants were killed when United States (US) drone fired missiles on a compound in Saidgai area of Dattakhel in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 16.

Meanwhile, 11 militants and five soldiers were killed and eight others were injured in two separate encounters with the militants in the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb in NWA on July 15, The News quoting ISPR reports on July 16. In an exchange of fire with terrorists in and around the Mir Ali area, two soldiers, including an officer Captain Akash Rabbani, were killed and two others sustained injuries. Four terrorists were also killed in the exchange of fire. Earlier in the day, soldiers engaged in clearance of Fateh Khel area near Mir Ali came under attack by the militants. The soldiers returned the fire that led to a heavy gunbattle. Three soldiers were killed and six others injured in the clash. Meanwhile, the military claimed that seven militants were also killed in the gunbattle. It is the first time that the military authorities said they had obtained bodies of the militants killed in a clash with security forces.

The military have already announced that they had taken control of two major towns, Mir Ali and Miranshah, and expelled the militants from these areas without facing any major resistance.

Separately, a woman was killed and four other persons injured in a hand grenade attack on a house in the Sheikh Baba area of Safi tehsil (revenue unit) in Mohmand Agency on July 15.

In addition, Army captured a top Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan ‘commander’, Adnan Rashid, in the Wana area of South Waziristan Agency on July 11, reports The News. Adnan Rashid was living with his family in the mountainous region bordering Afghanistan, the officials said. He was injured in a shootout during his arrest.

A Police constable, identified as Constable Mumtaz Alam, was shot dead after unidentified militants attacked the Mamash Khel Police check post in Bannu District on July 17. Bannu Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sanaullah Khan said unidentified militants attacked the check post with grenades and assault rifles at around 1:00 in the night.

At least one person was killed and four others injured in a firing incident in Liaquat Bazaar area of Quetta on July 19, reports Dawn. Police said the incident forced shopkeepers to shut down their shutters, resulting in Liaquat Bazaar, Sattar Road and other commercial parts of Quetta to be closed. The protesters pelted stones at vehicles and set fire to a motorcycle in the city. The situation prompted the Balochistan Government to deploy Frontier Corps and a large contingent of Police and Balochistan Constabulary to avert any major untoward incident.

At least 13 militants were killed as Air Force fighter jets on July 23 (today) again pounded four suspected hideouts of militants in Shawal tehsil (revenue unit) of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), reports The News. The deceased militants could not be identified immediately, as operation in the area is still underway.

Further, Minister for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch admitted that the Government has failed to mobilise the public to facilitate and support the influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs). “I accept this as my failure,” he said, reports The Express Tribune. He later clarified that he meant that the Government has failed to mobilise the public as was done during the 2005 earthquake and the 2010 epic flood, but this does not mean the government lacks resources. The number of IDPs according to the report has crossed one million mark. Baloch also said that terrorist sanctuaries in interior parts of the country will be dismantled after the conclusion of the military operation in FATA.

At least 20 militants were killed and their hideouts were destroyed when fighter jets pounded sanctuaries in the mountainous Shawal Valley of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) on July 23, reports The News. According to military officials, local and foreign militants had established sanctuaries in the Shawal Valley.

Separately, a soldier was killed and two others were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Baizai tehsil (revenue unit) of Mohmand Agency on July 23, reports The News.

In another incident, two brothers identified as Fareed Khan and Waheed Khan, were injured in a blast in Manzari Cheena area in Baizai tehsil on July 23, reports The News.

Meanwhile, Security Forces (SFs) arrested five suspected militants and seized weapons from them in a search operation in the Bara tehsil area of Khyber Agency on July 23, reports The News.

Pakistan

Woman passenger Woman passenger killed and two others injured as militants open fire at PIA plane at Peshawar airport
Unidentified militants fired on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane as it was landing at the Bacha Khan International Airport of Peshawar, in the night of June 25, killing a woman and injuring two others, including a crew member, reports The Express Tribune. PIA flight PK-756 with 178 passengers and crew members on board was travelling from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Unknown gunmen fired a volley of bullets at the airplane when it was preparing to land at the airport,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Cantonment Faisal Kamran said. “The gunmen fired at the airplane from outside the airport vicinity,” he said, quashing speculation that the airport might have been attacked. The PIA official added that the plane was attacked while flying at low altitude near Landi Akhum Ahmad area. He added that the plane was damaged in the attack.

The initial investigation to the attack revealed the involvement of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Shahid group in the incident, The News reports on June 27. According to the contents of the report prepared by the Police authorities, foreign made M-16 gun was used by the TTP terrorists to fire on the PIA flight. The investigating team has found 24 spent shells of the foreign made gun from Mashu Khel and Suleman Khel areas of Peshawar during the post attack search in the adjoining areas.

Another source said that the Tariq Geedar group of the TTP was behind the attack reports Dawn. The source said the group was based in Darra Adam Khel and was headed by one Khalfa. “We have some important leads,” claimed an official. He said that the roof of a school in Suleman Khel, an area near Peshawar, was used for targeting the Airbus when it was landing at the Bacha Khan International Airport.

Action against terrorists on both sides of border agreed by Pakistan and Afghanistan
Pakistan and Afghanistan on June 26 agreed to launch indiscriminate action against the terrorists on both sides of the border, reports The News. This was decided during a meeting of Rangin Rahimi Dadfar Spanta, Afghan National Security Adviser, with Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif at the PM House. Matters relating to mutual and bilateral interest came under discussion.

Further, Pakistan asked Afghanistan to take necessary measures on its side of the border to stop the fleeing terrorists from North Waziristan Agency (NWA) from finding sanctuary on the Afghan soil. Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, in her weekly briefing said that the purpose of the visit of special envoy Mahmood Khan Achakzai to Kabul was to seek Afghanistan cooperation in the management of the border. She said the visit of Afghan National Security Adviser Spanta was also aimed at taking the discussion forward on the matter. The Spokesperson recalled that Pakistan had taken extraordinary measures, including restriction of movement and deployment of additional troops on the border, when presidential elections took place in Afghanistan.

New houses to be built n operation hit areas of North Waziristan on IDPs return, says Prime Minister Sharif
Pledging full support to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from North Waziristan Agency (NWA), Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on June 27 said that new houses would be constructed on the return of the IDPs, reports The News. Addressing the IDPs in the Bakkakhel area in Frontier Region Bannu, he said, “If required, billions would be spent for the rehabilitation of the NWA’s displaced persons.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Bo Schack said on June 26 that thousands of displaced Pakistanis arrived in Afghanistan from NWA needing urgent humanitarian assistance. The military operation has forced about 65,000 individuals from 9,200 families to seek refuge in Khost Province, living there with their relatives and friends, while a number of others are inhabiting makeshift camps in Gurboz District, Bo Schack said, adding that more than 2,000 families travelled to Paktika Province.

National Assembly empowers Police to shoot down terror suspects under the Protection of Pakistan Bill 2014
The National Assembly (NA) on July 2 passed the Protection of Pakistan Bill 2014, which allows the Police to shoot down a suspect, arrest them without warrant or keep them in custody for 60 days, reports The News. The Bill was earlier passed by the Senate on June 30. The majority approved it in the NA. However, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) opposed the legislation while the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) abstained from voting. The Bill would become an Act of Parliament once it is signed by the President. It will remain in force for two years after it comes into force.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on July 2 that terrorists will be chased and eliminated in all parts of the country, reports The News. Khawaja Asif said civilian and military leaders were on the same page regarding the ongoing operation in the North Waziristan Agency (NWA).“The operation will continue till the elimination of last terrorist. The Parliament, Government and the military are on the same page,” said the Minister.

Further, Federal Minister of Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on July 2 that the military operation in NWA should not be made controversial, reports The News. The Minister said the Army was fighting the war against terrorism to secure the future of Pakistan and unnecessary comments on the decision of the military leadership could create confusion and make the situation tense.

Al Qaeda confirms the killing of six of its top leaders in drone attack in FATA
The al Qaeda has confirmed that the July 10 US drone strikes had killed six of its leaders in the Doga Madakhel area of Dattakhel tehsil (revenue unit) of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), The News reports on July 22. Those killed included Mustafa Abu Yazid, chief ‘operational commander’ of al Qaeda and a close aide of Osama bin Laden, who had claimed responsibility for the 2007 murder of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi. Sanafi al Nasr, who real name is Abdul Mohsin Abdullah Ibrahim Al Sharikh, the head of al Qaeda’s “Victory Committee”, who is based in Syria and has close ties with al Qaeda’s general command in Pakistan, has stated that six of his “dearest comrades” were killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan. While tweeting on the “Martyrdom of six of the dearest comrades”, Nasr has named three of them – Taj Al Makki, Abu Abdur Rahman Al Kuwaiti and Fayez Awda Al Khalidi. He did not name the three other al Qaeda leaders who were droned to death. Makki from Saudi Arabia, Rahman from Kuwait and Khalidi were mid-level ‘commanders’ and were important to the terror group due to their association with Nasr, one of Osama bin Laden’s three cousins who had risen through the al Qaeda ranks to become one of its most senior leaders. Before being relocated to Syria to lead a privileged al Qaeda committee, he was based in the Waziristan tribal belt of Pakistan.

91 Police officials and nine Rangers killed in 2014 in Karachi, says report
At least 91 Police officials and nine Rangers personnel have been killed so far in 2014, reports Express Tribune on July 15. The report stated that 25 Police officials were killed in January, 19 in February, four in March, seven in April, nine in May, 19 in June and eight in the first half of July. Most of the Police officials were targeted in the West Zone. According to sources, members of a banned outfit target Police officials in the area.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Government on July 14 admitted in the Sindh High Court (SHC) that despite hectic efforts, Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) could not track down the network of a large number of terrorists who shifted to Karachi after various operations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), reports The News. Sindh Advocate General Abdul Fatah Malik made this statement in a report submitted to SHC division bench which was hearing half-a-dozen identical petitions against the extra-judicial killings of Muttahida Qaumi Movement activists during the ongoing operation in Karachi.

REGIONAL

Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics

Five ICS cadres injured in Rajshahi
Five cadres of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), were injured in clash with Police while observing a daylong hartal (general strike) at Rajshahi University (RU) in Rajshahi District on June 26, reports The Daily Star. The cadres also vandalized two University buses and blasted at least five crude bombs. They enforced the strike to realize the demand for the arrest of leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of Awami League (AL), who they accuse of severing the ankle of an RU ICS leader, Russell Alam, on June 16. Police also recovered an unexploded crude bomb on the campus. Police arrested four RU students, suspecting that they were ICS cadres.

No camps of militant outfits operating in India inside Bangladesh, says Border Guard Bangladesh
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on June 25 denied the existence of camps of militant outfits operating in India inside Bangladesh while stating that Bangladesh has a trusted relation with India, reports The Times of India. Additional Director General of BGB, who is the regional commander of North West region of Rangpur, said, “There is not a single camp of Indian militant outfits in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has a trusted relation with India. There is no such camp in our land.”

Rajni Kant Mishra, Inspector General of Border Security Force (BSF, South Bengal Frontier), said, “The meeting agreed to solve all issues mutually through discussions at the lowest level.” Mishra also said that the BSF has handed over a list of criminals involved in counterfeit Indian currency smuggling through Bangladesh. “The BGB has assured to take action against those involved in fake Indian currency racket,” he said.

PBCP ‘regional’ leader killed in Khulna
A regional leader of the outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in a shootout by Police at Shantinagar area of Thukra village in Khulna District on July 4, reports The Bangladesh Today. Two Police Constables Mosharraf Hossain and Ilias were also injured during the gunfight. Police said that the deceased Litu Sarder was accused in at least 13 cases including two murders.

India – Internal Dynamics

Police constable killed in exchange of fire with Maoists
Constable Umesh Jawale, attached to the Quick Response Team (QRT) of a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), was killed in an exchange of fire with Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in the forest of Gyarapatti in Gadchiroli District on June 27, reports The Times of India. Security Forces (SFs) claimed that three Maoists were dragged away from the encounter spot with serious injuries.

Eighty powerful bombs recovered from train in Bihar
Eighty powerful bombs were seized by Police from a train bound for New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal when it stopped at the Kishanganj Railway Station in Kishanganj District, Indian Today reports on June 30. The bombs were recovered from a general compartment of the train. “The powerful bombs were kept in a plastic bag beneath a seat. We took them out and called the Bomb Disposal Squad [BDS] to defuse them,” Government Railway Police Station in-charge Alok Prasad Singh said. No arrest was made, he said. Intelligence Bureau (IB) personnel are investigating whether the recovery was related to any terror activity.

New Garo militant group surfaces
The Shillong Times reports on July 2 that another Garo militant outfit, United People’s Revolutionary Alliance (UPRA) has emerged in the State and has started issuing quit notices to illegal encroachers from outside especially in the plain belt areas of Garo Hills. The new militant outfit which has its headquarters in an undisclosed location called ‘Chusimra’ claimed that Garo Hills was being overrun by illegal encroachers from outside which was due to the ‘special favours’ being given by Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and politicians in their respective constituencies by enabling them to get hold of job cards, ration cards, election IDs etc.

The outfit made special mention about the initiative being taken by the Meghalaya Police to create ‘Force 10′, a new security unit to tackle militancy in Garo Hills and claimed that politicians were helping the illegal encroachers to get recruited into it. “We are issuing ‘quit notices’ to all illegal encroachers in Garo Hills. They must leave Garo Hills within the next 10 days, otherwise we will resort to our own course of action,” the ‘chairman’ of the outfit Tattara Matgrik said in a statement.

ISIS ‘chief’ confirms Indians part of insurgent group
The first-ever audio message of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS, released on July 1 confirmed suspicions that Indians could well be part of his organisation’s ranks, reports Hindustan Times. While enumerating the nationalities of fighters who constitute ISIS, Al-Baghdadi’s 20-second-long audio titled ‘A message to the Mujahideen and the Muslim Ummah in the month of Ramadan’ mentions that Indians, among a host of other nationalities including Chinese, American, French, German, Australian, etc. figure in the ISIS squad.

India figures quite a few times in his speech where he names India as one of the countries including Pakistan and Myanmar, where “Muslims’ rights are forcibly seized”. Al-Baghdadi then goes on to give a clarion call to believers for emigration (hijrah) to the Islamic state. He also terms terror acts as the “killing and burning the homes of Muslims in Burma, the dismembering and disemboweling of the Muslims in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Kashmir.”

According to intelligence sources, on January 22, 2014 a Tamil Nadu-born person had left for Syria to fight alongside the Islamic fundamentalists. In 2013, the same person had trained with the Chechen jihadis and had recruited two Chennai college students for Jihad in Syria as well.

The Times of India adds on July 3 that while intelligence agencies are closely tracking developments in the middle-east along with mounting surveillance on Indians reported to be fighting alongside ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the major concern for Union Ministry of Home Affairs is a spillover of the sectarian strife in the region to India. Meanwhile, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh on July 2 held a meeting with the policy division of the Ministry and asked for revision and strengthening of security at vital installations. He also asked for strengthening of VIP security.

“The issue has been discussed within the ministry and apprehensions about a conflict between Shias and Sunnis erupting in the immediate future or later in the country is not being ruled out. An advisory in this regard has already been sent to various states but more preparations are on,” said a senior official.

CRPF official killed in Jharkhand
A Central Reserve Police Officer (CRPF) officer, HK Jha, was killed on July 4 (today) during an anti-Naxal [Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)] operation in Giridih District, reports outlookindia.com. The incident occurred when a joint squad of CRPF and State Police was out for an operation in Lakheri area of the District. Initially the officer was injured but later succumbed to his injuries, said a senior Police official. During the operation, two LWEs have been arrested with some arms and ammunition and a search operation has been launched in the area.

Two CRPF personnel injured in Meghalaya
Nagaland Post reports that two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were injured on July 3 in an encounter with Garo National Liberation Army rebels in Bolsal A’ding near Rongkamichi in North Garo Hills District. The injured troopers have been identified as Constable Khot Sagar and Constable Venkatachalam. The operation was launched by Security Forces (SFs) after getting information about presence of 15 GNLA rebels in the area. The rebels led by ‘area commander’ Philliport D Shira managed to escape. SFs recovered huge cache of ammunition, including 130 rounds of AK rifle ammunition, three pistols, two hand grenades, one claymore mine, 19 detonators along with one remote control device and seven high frequency wireless sets, besides incriminating documents from the site.

CRPF official and Maoist killed in Bihar
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) official, Hira Kumar Jha, the second-in-command of CRPF base in Jamui and a Communist Party of India-Maoist cadre, were killed in an exchange of fire around Lakharia forest region of Jamui District on July 4, reports NDTV. “His body has been recovered by the CRPF personnel and it is being brought to the Police Station,” Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) RN Tiwary said. Earlier, on July 4, it was reported that the CRPF official was killed in Giridih District of Jharkhand.

98 people abducted or ransom in the past six months in Meghalaya
Nagaland Post reports on July 5 that 98 people were abducted for ransom in the past six months till June 2014, while a total of 175 people were abducted since June 2013. The number of abduction cases reported during this period was 135, which means that in many of these cases more than one person was abducted in a single kidnapping case. The month of May recorded the highest number of people being kidnapping at 26 with as many as 15 abduction cases reported from Garo Hills. Garo Hills region comprising of five Districts in western part of Meghalaya is considered as one of the most disturbed region in North Eastern states with nine militant outfits operating in that region.

New HMAR militant group formed following a split in HPC-D
The Sentinel reports July 6 that a new Hmar outfit has surfaced as Hmar People’s Convention (HPC–P) which is a breakaway faction of the HPC–D. At the initial stage, Lalminthang Sonate as ‘president’ has taken over the command of the outfit. J C Hmar is the ‘secretary’. An underground source said that a full body to head the organization will soon be constituted to give a new direction and dimension to the demand of the Hmars for a homeland of their own.

The information available says that 115 cadres taken from the region of Hmar dominated areas of east Cachar and the bordering areas of Mizoram and Manipur form the strength of the outfit. All these cadres are undergoing training in arms and ammunitions and guerilla tactics under the supervision of Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah in some undisclosed location. HPC–P, the source adds to say, has taken shape against the policy of its parent body to continue dialogue without any tangible solution to their demand. While HPC–D has been insisting on Autonomous Council for the Hmar inhabited areas, HPC–P is demanding Hmarland.

Indian national killed by ISIS in Iraq
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants reportedly killed one Indian national, identified as Rajesh Kumar in Iraq, The Times of India reports on July 7. According to reports, he was killed in a terrorist attack while returning to Baghdad from Tikrit. He is a resident of Bahraich District in Uttar Pradesh.

Eight policemen killed in Maoist attack in Bihar
At least eight Policemen on patrolling duty were killed in a Maoist attack near Nabinagar in Aurangabad District on July 8, reports NDTV. The Policemen were traveling in a jeep that was blown up by a landmine on its way from Nabinagar to Tandwa, Police officials said. A Police inspector, five troopers of the Special Auxiliary Force, the driver and a trooper of the Bihar Military Police were killed in the attack.

Arms and ammunition seized in Mizoram
The Shillong Times reports that Security Forces, in the night of July 8, seized a large cache of arms and ammunition, including foreign-made arms, from a truck in Serchhip District, Police said. The seized arms and ammunition included ten modified assault rifles along with 20 loaded magazines, four Chinese rifles along with eight loaded magazines, one light machine gun (LMG), 39 live grenades, one foreign-made pistol, one telescope used for rifles, a pistol silencer and 535 rounds of live cartridges. Police have arrested Thangdeihtung, driver of the truck, and Liankhanmang

Two SSB troopers abducted in Assam
Two troopers of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB-Civil Wing), Nakul Kumar Medhi and Anil Chandra Yadav, are suspected to have been abducted by the Songbijit faction of National Democratic Front of Bodoland from Chirang District, close to the Indo-Bhutan border on July 10, reports The Telegraph. The troopers had set off for Kahitama village in the border area of the District to collect intelligence on NDFB-IK

Army on standby amid curfew in Assam
The Indian army remained on standby as an indefinite curfew, enforced since the kidnap and killing of four persons by suspected militants, remained in force for the third day in Baksa district in the north east Indian state of Assam. Three persons were arrested in connection with the crime on Monday, July 14.

“The curfew is continuing and no fresh incident has taken place so far. The situation is under control,” Baksa Additional Deputy Commissioner Bhawani Prasad Sharma told PTI.

Baksa deputy commissioner Vinod Seshan said that three persons were arrested in connection with the kidnap of the four persons who hailed from neighbouring Barpeta district. “The three were arrested for helping suspected NDFB (S) militants in the kidnapping of the four persons,” he said.

All the four bodies were fished out of Hakuwa River and not Beki as was said earlier. One of the bodies bore a bullet mark, while the others had cut marks, Sharma said adding the post mortem was conducted on Monday. The killed included two teenage boys, who were among seven people, reportedly lemon traders from Barpeta district, who had gone to Labdungri market in Baksa. They were kidnapped by suspected National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Sangbijit) NDFB (S) militants and did not return.

He said the strength of police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and paramilitary forces deployed in Salbari subdivision and Anand Bazar area have been increased and a massive manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits behind the Friday night kidnap of the four persons and their subsequent killing.

The curfew is relaxed for two hours in the evening daily for ‘Iftar’ by the Muslim community as this is the month of ‘Ramzan’, he said. Army has been on stand-by since Saturday and conducted area dominance exercise yesterday after three bodies were fished out. The first one was recovered on Saturday.

14 years of Maoist violence claimed 435 lives, says Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while replying to a question of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Dilip Ray in Odisha Legislative Assembly, on July 21, said Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres have killed 435 persons, including 210 Security Force (SFs) and 235 civilians in the last 14 years while the security personnel have eliminated 139 Maoists during the same time, reports The New Indian Express. The Chief Minister further said 119 civilians and 218 security personnel were also injured in Maoist violence. He said Maoist activities of different magnitude were witnessed in 19 Districts of the State. Stating that 1916 Naxalites-[Left-Wing Extremists (LWEs)] have been arrested, he said 355 LWEs have surrendered. The Maoists have also looted 1907 guns and about 1,72,656 bullets during the period, he added.

Greater Garoland still the agenda, states ANVC
The Shillong Times reports that as tripartite ceasefire agreement completes ten years on July 23 , A’chik National Volunteer Council ‘publicity Secretary’ Arist Sengsrang N Sangma, on July 22, said that scaling down from their two earlier demands of ‘Greater Garoland’ and ‘Garoland Autonomous Council’ did not mean that the outfit had given up the original demand of ‘Greater Garoland’. ANVC which was formed in 1995 had engaged in an armed struggle fighting for a ‘Greater Garoland’ which includes Garo Hills, the Garo dominated areas of West Khasi Hills, Goalpara, Kamrup Districts of Assam and parts of Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the new directive by Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stating that no talks with armed groups unless they lay down their arms has been welcomed by Meghalaya security agencies, reports The Sentinel on July 23. A security official stated, “We have already hit the spine of the GNLA and any facilitation for a dialogue will only be leeway to these groups who have been fomenting terror”

Two persons killed in separate incidents of violence in Assam
The Times of India reports that a militant, identified as Hoji Chorki was killed and a militant identified as Bhadra Moshi, alias Nilmani Barman was injured, both belonging to United Democratic Liberation Army (UDLA) in an encounter with Security Forces (SFs) at Ghughuti near Ratabari in Karimganj District on July 24. One automatic rifle, a country-made gun and ammunition were recovered from the militants.

Earlier, a youth leader identified as Manoj Das, former General Secretary of the Baksa unit of All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and executive member of the Asom Sena, was killed by unidentified gunmen on July 23 at Mushalpur in Baksa District, reports Assam Tribune. He was also associated with the Ona Bodo Suraksa Samiti. The Times of India adds that he was actively involved in the election campaign of Sonmilito Jonogosthiyo Oikyo Mancho (SJOM)-backed candidate Naba Kumar Sarania, a former United Liberation Front of Asom leader during the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) elections. The Telegraph further adds that indefinite curfew has been clamped in Baksa District following the killing and villagers demonstrated in Mushalpur despite the curfew on July 24 leading to clash with Police. Baksa Superintendent of Police (SP) said five persons have been picked up for interrogation and Assam home commissioner G.D. Tripathi said additional SFs was being deployed in Baksa District. All BTAD Minority Students Union (ABMSU) vice-president Mazid Ali Ahmed stated that former Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) may be involved in the killing.

Monthly Fatalities
The following deaths related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period June 26, 2014 to July 25, 2014:

	Civilian	Indian Security Personnel	Militant	Total
Assam	04	02	08	14
Arunachal P	01	00	01	02
Manipur	03	01	02	06
Meghalaya	02	00	02	04
Left-wing	11	04	06	21
Total	21	07	19	47

Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics

Four LTTE militants to be indicted for attacking Sri Lanka Air Force base in 2007
The Anuradhapura Special High Court Judge Khema Swarnadhipathi on July 1 permitted the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Police to indict four militants of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the attack on the Anuradhapura Air Force Base and massacre of soldiers, reports Colombo Page. They are accused of killing 14 Air Force and Army personnel, completely destroying 10 aircraft and partly damaging another six. Tamil Tigers launched an air and ground attack on the Anuradhapura Air Force Base on October 22, 2007. Two LTTE aircrafts dropped two bombs targeting the air base while a small group of Tigers infiltrated the air base and carried out a ground attack in the pre-dawn hours. The Judge also permitted the CID to amend the charges of one accused, Rasalingam Thaboruban.

‘US cancels SL hardline monk’s visa’
The United States cancelled the visa given to a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk heading a hardline group accused of involvement in violence against Sri Lanka’s minority Muslims, an official of the group said on Monday, June 30.

Clashes erupted on June 15 in Aluthgama and Beruwela, two towns with large Muslim populations on the island’s southern coast, during a protest march led by the hardline group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or “Buddhist Power Force”.

Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, a Buddhist monk and the secretary general of the BBS, had been told of the decision, the official said.

“An official from the US Embassy called Gnanasara thero (monk) on Friday and informed him that the State Department wants to convey him that he cannot use his existing visa to enter the United States,” BBS spokesman Dilantha Vithanage told Reuters by telephone.

A US Embassy spokesman in Colombo said the US government would not comment on individual visa cases. The State Department’s decision came after BBS on Friday said Facebook accounts of its group’s members, including Gnanasara, had been blocked.

LTTE cadre among four Sri Lankan Tamils arrested in Tamil Nadu
Police arrested four Sri Lankan Tamils, including a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre, on charges of illegal entry when they clandestinely landed at Arichamunai, off Danushkodi, in Tamil Nadu in the early hours of July 2, reports The Hindu. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) T. Vijayakumar said the four, including two women, were walking towards the coast after getting dropped in chest-deep water, when the patrolling police arrested and brought them to the Danushkodi station. The police identified them as S. Sathish (39), who had worked as an ‘accountant’ with LTTE, S. Ravindran aliasRavi (38), who had worked in the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), J. Santhi (38), and Malar (55). Enquiries revealed that Sathish, who had studied BA (Accounts) at the Jaffna Hindu College, had served in the LTTE as an accountant from 2004 until the final phase of the war in 2009.

Malaysia arrests four LTTE operatives suspected of terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka
Malaysian Police on July 3 arrested four former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leaders accused of trying to revive the organization using Malaysia as a base, reports Colombo Page. The arrestees suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka were arrested by the Malaysian Police in a series of anti-terrorism operations in Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur. The four are being detained by the Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division (SB-CTD). Malaysian Police said one of the suspects was wanted for his involvement in the assassination attempt on the then Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 1999. Police Inspector General (IG) Khalid Abu Bakar said that the suspects “were planning to reactivate the group by making Malaysia as their base of operations”. Some activists, he said, had exploited their status as refugees to pursue illegal activities. According to the Malaysian Police one of the suspects was an explosives expert, and another is alleged of facilitating planned attacks on Sri Lankan consulates in India. The fourth man is accused of gathering intelligence for the group. The Police confiscated counterfeit passports of multiple nations, counterfeit rubber stamps of the Immigration Department and foreign embassies and other documents.

Sri Lanka tells NGOs ‘no press conferences’
Sri Lanka has banned non-government organisations from holding press conferences under a new order from the defence ministry seen by AFP on Wednesday, July 9 raising new fears for freedom of speech. The order, sent widely to civil society groups earlier this month, said all NGOs should refrain from “unauthorised activities with immediate effect”.

“It has been revealed that certain Non Governmental Organisations conduct press conferences, workshops, training for journalists, and dissemination of press releases which is beyond their mandate,” said the letter.

A group of 30 private charities and other organisations on Wednesday announced an alliance — called the Civil Society Collective to Protect Civil Society Space — to resist the restrictions. “This demonstrates the lack of democracy in Sri Lanka,” lawyer J.C. Weliamuna, who runs the local chapter of anti-corruption group Transparency International, told AFP.

Authorities have often accused foreign and local charities of supporting dissidents and introduced tougher regulations to control them in 2010, a year after troops crushed Tamil rebels and ended decades of ethnic war Weliamuna said his organisation would continue its work monitoring corruption and exposing wrongdoers.

He said other NGOs would also defy the order. Several media training programs organised by Transparency International in recent months were disrupted by pro-government activists, he said. The group had also been prevented from conducting workshops to teach investigative journalism to local reporters.

Last August, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay accused Sri Lanka of becoming “increasingly authoritarian” under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has extended his powers since being elected in 2005.Rights groups have long sought to highlight problems for the media in Sri Lanka, where many journalists practise self-censorship after more than a dozen journalists and media workers were killed in recent years.

The US government expressed concern at the crackdown on NGOs. “We strongly urge the government of Sri Lanka to allow civil society organisations and NGOs, which play a vital role in supporting Sri Lanka’s democratic values, to operate freely,” the State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a statement released in Colombo.

Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi accuses US and UK of LTTE links
Sri Lankan Government claims the United States (US) and British Governments are influenced by the votes they receive from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supporters in their respective countries, reports Colombo Gazette. Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, on July 14, claimed that US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister (PM) David Cameron had secured votes from LTTE supporters to come to power. She claimed that now Obama and Cameron are working according to the agenda of the LTTE supporters against the Sri Lankan Government. She also claimed that Cameron had sent letters to some countries seeking their support for the resolution on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva (Switzerland). However she said President Mahinda Rajapaksa will not allow the LTTE to raise its head in Sri Lanka with the support of any international force.

LTTE cadres in custody spill the beans
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadres arrested in Malaysia and extradited to Sri Lanka last Friday (July 18) have spilled the beans on Tiger activists under questioning by the sleuths of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), reports The Island on July 20. They have told the interrogators that they had never thought that the LTTE would be defeated militarily in the North. Two of them fled to Malaysia in 2000 via the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). In 2009, the third member went there after the defeat of the LTTE. They said when they came to Colombo from Jaffna in 2000 they had feared that the public would get them arrested. After reaching Malaysia, they did various jobs. They said the LTTE had a lot of members in Malaysia. “We thought of rebuilding the LTTE organization. We commemorated the LTTE Heroes Day in Malaysia. Our efforts were all in vain. Our members are still in Jaffna.” On the basis of revelations made by them the police are expected to make some arrests in the North.

INTERNATIONAL

Gunmen ‘seize’ Yemeni airport
Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen briefly seized a Yemeni airport in a deadly assault on Thursday, June 26 just as a civilian airliner was landing, before the airfield was retaken by the army, officials said.

They gunned down three soldiers at the entrance to Sayun airport in southeastern Hadramawt province, which is also used by the air force, before capturing the control tower and other parts of the facility, a security official said.

Another five soldiers died in a simultaneous suicide bombing at a nearby military headquarters, the officials said. And the gunmen killed three workers, one of them a woman, when they attacked a date packing plant en route to the airport. Troops retook the airport, killing six militants and freeing hostages seized from the control tower, a security official said. Four militants were captured, and others fled.

The assault took place as a Yemen Airways plane landed, a military official said. Troops scrambled armoured vehicles to confront the militants and evacuate the flight’s passengers in army buses through the northern gate of the airport, the official said.

Sayun is the main town in the Hadramawt valley, a Jihadist stronghold in the province’s interior. Hadramawt’s rugged terrain provides hideouts for militants of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, considered by Washington as the Jihadist network’s most dangerous affiliate.

On May 24, militants launched a massive pre-dawn assault on Sayun, in which they attacked police and army bases and public buildings with suicide bombers, rocket-launchers and heavy machineguns.

Before withdrawing, they also ransacked the main post office and two banks. The assault killed 27 soldiers and police. Twelve militants also died, three of them suicide bombers.

President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi fired Sayun army commander General Mohammed Somali over that attack, replacing him with one of his own loyalists, General Ahmed Ali Hadi.

He had ordered security forces on high alert nationwide, including in the capital, after the army launched a ground offensive against al-Qaeda in late April in two southern provinces further west — Abyan and Shabwa.

The operation aims to expel the militants from smaller towns and villages in the two provinces that escaped a previous sweep in 2012. Hadi has vowed to press the offensive until Jihadists are eradicated from all of Yemen’s territory. Taking advantage of a collapse of central authority during a 2011 uprising that forced Hadi’s predecessor, veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, from power, al-Qaeda seized swathes of the south and east.

Although government forces have captured several major towns, analysts say the army’s gains may have been the result of a tactical retreat by al-Qaeda in coordination with Yemen’s powerful tribes.

The army says 500 al-Qaeda militants have been killed in its latest operation, while 40 soldiers have died.

Al-Qaeda has launched a spate of spectacular attacks on army headquarters around the country in recent months. In December, it assaulted the defence ministry in the heart of the capital, killing 56 people.

World powers determined to reach Iran N-deal
World powers reaffirmed their commitment on Thursday, June 26 to reaching agreement with Iran on its contested nuclear programme by a July 20 deadline, after Tehran lashed out at “excessive demands” made by them.

Officials from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — plus Germany met European Union foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton for “an intense day of preparation” for talks next week with Iran.

“The meeting affirmed the determination of the (group) to reach a comprehensive agreement by July 20,” Ashton’s spokesman Michael Mann said. The next round takes place Wednesday in Vienna, led by Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, after a difficult fifth round there last week.

Earlier on Thursday, Zarif said that while Tehran had made “rational proposals,” the demands of the P5+1 group risked sinking the negotiations.

“Iran is ready for a resolution and made rational proposals,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying. “But the excessive demands of the other party could prevent an agreement,” he said.

Obama seeks $500 mn to train, equip Syrian rebels
The White House asked lawmakers late on Thursday, June 26 for $500 million to train and equip vetted Syrian rebels, in what would be a significant escalation of US involvement in a conflict that has spilled into Iraq.

Following several signals in recent weeks by President Barack Obama’s administration — and months of pressure from lawmakers like Senator John McCain — the White House said it intends to “ramp up US support to the moderate Syrian opposition”.

The request is part of a $1.5 billion Regional Stabilization Initiative to bolster stability in Syrian neighbors Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and to support communities hosting refugees.

The proposed funding would serve “vetted elements of the Syrian armed opposition to help defend the Syrian people, stabilize areas under opposition control, facilitate the provision of essential services, counter terrorist threats and promote conditions for a negotiated settlement,” the White House said in a statement.

The proposal was part of the $65.8 billion overseas contingency operations request to Congress for fiscal year 2015, which begins October 1.In a separate statement, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the funding “would build on the administration’s longstanding efforts to empower the moderate Syrian opposition” and allow the Pentagon to increase its support to vetted armed rebels.

Washington has been studying options for providing additional assistance to rebel forces beyond the existing aid, which includes mainly “non-lethal” support.

While US officials normally publicly refuse to comment on details of training for opposition groups, Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice acknowledged early this month that the Pentagon was providing “lethal and non-lethal support” to Syrian rebels.

About $287 million in mainly non-lethal support has been cleared for the rebels since March 2011, and the CIA has participated in a secret military training program in neighboring Jordan for the moderate opposition.

‘Iraqi militants executed 160 captives’
Analysis of photographs and satellite images of mass graves by Human Rights Watch has confirmed on Friday, June 27 that militants in Iraq massacred at least 160 captives in the northern city of Tikrit.

HRW said that between 160 and 190 men were killed in at least two locations in and around Tikrit — the hometown of late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein — between June 11 and 14.

HRW says the number of victims may well be much higher, but the difficulty of locating bodies and accessing the area has prevented a full investigation. On June 12, ISIS claimed to have executed 1,700 “Shi’a members of the army” in Tikrit. Two days later, it posted to a website photographs with groups of apparently executed men.

On June 22, Iraq’s human rights minister announced that ISIS had executed 175 Iraqi Air Force recruits in Tikrit. “The photos and satellite images from Tikrit provide strong evidence of a horrible war crime that needs further investigation,” said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director of HRW.

On June 14, ISIS posted roughly 60 photographs, some of which show masked ISIS fighters loading captives in civilian clothes onto trucks and forcing them to lie in three shallow trenches with their hands bound behind their backs. Some of the images show masked gunmen pointing and firing their weapons at these men.

By comparing ground features and landmarks in the photographs released by ISIS, Human Rights Watch established that two of the trenches were at the same location. By comparing these photographs with satellite imagery from 2013 and publicly available photographs from Tikrit taken earlier, Human Rights Watch located the site in a field about 100 meters north of the Water Palace in Tikrit – a former palace of Saddam Hussein next to the Tigris River. The location of the third trench has not been identified.

Human Rights Watch also reviewed satellite imagery of the area recorded on the morning of June 16. The imagery does not reveal evidence of bodies at the site with the two trenches, but does show indications of recent vehicle activity and surface movement of earth that is consistent with the two shallow trenches visible in the ISIS photos. Without visiting the site it is impossible to know if bodies are buried there or were moved.

Based on a count of the bodies visible in the available photographs, Human Rights Watch estimates that ISIS killed between 90 and 110 men in the first trench and between 35 and 40 men in the second.

Powerful Shia cleric Moqtadaal-Sadr vowed to “shake the ground” under the feet of advancing Sunni militants, risking ratcheting up sectarian tensions today in a crisis dividing Iraq along communal lines.

Sadr, whose movement battled US forces in Iraq, also voiced opposition to American military advisers meeting with Iraqi commanders combating an offensive that has overrun swathes of five provinces, killed more than 1,100 people, displaced hundreds of thousands and threatens to tear the country apart —ideologically and geographically.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has meanwhile warned rivals against exploiting the crisis to sideline him after Washington urged Iraq’s fractious political leaders to unite in the face of an onslaught led by the Jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Sadr’s remarks came as security forces continued to repel assaults on critical towns and infrastructure, though ISIS’s offensive was bolstered when fighters from al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise made a local alliance with it.

“We will shake the ground under the feet of ignorance and extremism,” Sadr said in a televised speech from the Shia holy city of Najaf.

He said foreign powers “and especially forces of the occupier and regional states should take their hands off” the country, referring to the US and Iraq’s neighbours.

In an apparent effort to restrain worsening sectarian tensions, however, Sadr insisted that the militants did not represent Iraqi Sunnis, whom he said had suffered ‘marginalization and exclusion”.

The cleric’s remarks came days after fighters loyal to him paraded with weapons in the Sadr City area of north Baghdad, vowing to fight the militant offensive.

The cleric demanded “new faces” in a national unity government following April 30 elections that saw incumbent prime minister Maliki emerge with by far the most seats, albeit short of a majority.

The request comes at an extraordinarily sensitive time in the Middle East, with Sunni extremists in Iraq who are threatening to overtake Baghdad joining forces with others in Syria.

Observers say members of al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, Al-Nusra Front, pledged loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), giving it control over both sides of the frontier.

Despite the Sunni insurgent offensive threatening to tear Iraq apart, Obama repeated his pledge to avoid sending US ground troops back to that country.

Shabaab has regional agenda beyond Somalia
Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab militants have the “capability and intent” to spread their attacks beyond their strongholds in Somalia, a UN special representative warned on Saturday, June 28 calling for greater regional cooperation to combat the threat.

The Shabaab “is an organisation that has a regional agenda,” said Nick Kay, the UN’s special representative in Somalia. “The very top leadership of the organisation see themselves as pursuing something above and beyond just a Somalia national agenda.

“It has had the capability and intent to carry out attacks across the region for some time,” he said, adding that this intent is “stronger now”.

The Shabaab has recently stepped up attacks against countries that contribute to the 22,000-strong, UN-backed African Union force deployed against them in Somalia since 2007.Neighbouring Kenya has been a particular focus of Shebab violence, most notably with the attack on the Westgate shopping mall last September in which at least 67 people were killed. The group also claimed responsibility for two raids earlier this month in a Kenyan tourist area which killed around 60 people.

On Thursday, Shabaab gunmen attacked an African Union military base in central Somalia dressed in stolen government army uniforms, killing at least two soldiers from Djibouti, the AU said.

Blast in Nigeria kills 11
An explosion overnight in a brothel in the northeastern Nigerian city of Bauchi killed 11 people and wounded 28, police said on Saturday, June 28 with suspicion likely to fall on the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The initial statement sent by text message said the cause of the blast was unknown. Boko Haram has targeted several cities across north and central Nigeria in a bombing campaign in the past few months, killing hundreds of people.

Police on Saturday arrested one suspect in connection with the blast in the People’s Hotel brothel, Bauchi state police spokesman Haruna Mohammed said. He gave no further details.

A military operation in the northeast has so far failed to quell the rebellion and has triggered a string of reprisal attacks on officials and civilians. Boko Haram’s targets often include places it considers sinful according to its austere brand of Sunni Islam, such as bars, schools or churches.

The insurgents say they are fighting to carve an Islamic state out of religiously-mixed Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, biggest economy and leading energy producer.

Bauchi state, like neighbouring Jos, lies on Nigeria’s volatile “Middle Belt”, where its largely Christian south and Muslim north meet. The region has been less frequently attacked by Boko Haram than its heartland in the remote northeast.

But the militants seem keen to extend their reach beyond Borno state, where military operations against them have been focused. A bomb in an upmarket shopping district of the capital Abuja killed 21 people on Wednesday, the third attack on the capital in three months.

In Nigeria’s second-biggest city of Kano, the relic of a medieval Islamic caliphate, police acting on a tip-off said they had found and defused a bomb consisting of 13 cylinders of explosives next to the Jumat Praying Ground late on Friday.

The insurgents have killed many thousands since launching an uprising in 2009, and see all those who do not share their views as enemies.

President Goodluck Jonathan visited the scene of the Abuja blast on Friday and said Nigeria had entered one of the darkest phases of its history.

Four Egypt police killed in Sinai attack
Gunmen killed four Egyptian policemen in the restive northern Sinai on Saturday, June 28 a security source said, with police blaming the attack on “takfiri” Jihadist militants.

Militants in the Sinai Peninsula have stepped up attacks on troops and police since the military ousted Islamist president Mohammed Mursi last July.

A security source said the men were killed “on the road between the towns of Rafah and El-Arish in north Sinai when takfiri elements forced the pick-up they were driving to stop, made the four policemen get out and opened fire on them”.

The policemen had been returning to their posts after the weekend, the source said, adding that the attackers fled into the desert. Most militant attacks have hit the north of the mostly desert Sinai Peninsula, but they have also extended their reach to Cairo and the Nile Delta.

Saturday’s shooting came just hours after bombings killed two people in a Cairo suburb. The makeshift devices in a telecommunications building under construction in the October 6 suburb were detonated by a mobile phone signal, police told AFP. Medics said the watchman’s wife and 18-year-old daughter were killed.

Declaration of caliphate in Iraq has no meaning: US
The United States said on Monday, June 30 the declaration by Sunni militants of an “Islamic caliphate” on territory they have seized in Iraq and Syria has “no meaning.”

“We have seen these types of words from ISIL before,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, referring to militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

“This declaration has no meaning for the people in Iraq and Syria,” she said, adding that the militants — who have now renamed their group the Islamic State — were just trying “to control people by fear.”

Violence in Iraq could delay the delivery of American F-16 fighter jets to the Baghdad government after contractors had to be evacuated from a key air base, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Although the United States is moving to expedite the delivery of weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government as it battles Sunni extremists, volatile conditions on the ground threaten to disrupt preparations for the F-16 jets, spokesman Colonel Steven Warren told reporters. Private contractors working on the F-16 program at Balad airbase were recently moved to a safer location in Baghdad because of the threat posed by advancing Sunni militants.

“They (contractors) are no longer operating in Balad. So it will have an impact. It’s too soon to tell exactly what that impact is,” Warren said.

His comments came as Iraq took delivery of a first batch of Sukhoi Su-25 fighter aircraft from Russia, but the Pentagon insisted Moscow’s move would not derail Washington’s arms sales to Baghdad.

He rejected criticism from some Iraqi leaders that the United States was purposely stalling the delivery of badly needed weapons or aircraft, including the F-16s.”We are very aware of the critical need that Iraq has for advanced weapons. We are working as quickly as possible to ensure that they receive all the foreign military sales that they have requested and that they paid for,” he said.”

‘Iran will send arms, not troops to Iraq’
Iran will not send troops to fight a militant offensive in Iraq but will supply weapons if the government in Baghdad asks for help, the deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday, July 1.

“We have no intention of sending our armed forces into Iraq. Iraq has its own powerful army,” Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on a visit to Moscow, although he said the country would be sending military “consultants”.

He said Iraq had not yet asked for arms but “in the case that there was such a demand… we would supply the necessary weapons for the fight against terrorism.”

Predominantly Iran has vowed to support ally Baghdad against the Sunni insurgency led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), whose fighters have overrun swathes of five Iraqi provinces since launching an offensive in early June.

At a press conference after meetings with his Russian counterparts on the offensive in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, the minister also called on all those in Iraq to obey the country’s constitution. Speaking after the Kurdish authorities said they would be holding a referendum on regional independence within months, the diplomat said it was now “vital to take measures to prevent the break-up of the country.”

“Instead of daydreaming, the leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan should take a look at the reality,” he said. On Sunday, Sunni insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) announced they were establishing a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria where the group has seized control. The US has dispatched military advisers to Iraq to support Baghdad and Russia delivered five Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets late on Saturday.

Speaking after talks in Moscow with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is also the Middle East envoy of President Vladimir Putin, Abdollahian said Tehran’s current support to Baghdad was limited to “consultations”. He ruled out any cooperation with Washington on quelling the ISIL, which over the weekend declared a “caliphate” to rule over all the world’s Muslims, saying it was using the group to try achieving its goals in the Middle East. “The ISIL is a product of US policies in Syria,” he said of the conflict that started in early 2011. Moscow and Teheran support President Bashar al-Assad against Washington and the West, which have sided with opposition and rebel groups seeking to oust him.

Russia on Monday warned the United States against bolstering support for moderate opposition in Syria, saying any support would in fact end up in the hands of the ISIL, an al-Qaeda splinter group. When asked to comment about the prospects for the Kurdish minority seeking to carve out an independent state for itself amid the turbulence in Iraq, he said: “We are strongly against the partition of Iraq.”

Bomb kills 20 in Nigerian market
A bomb in a van carrying charcoal exploded in a busy market in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, July 1killing at least 20 people in the latest suspected attack by Islamist militants, witnesses said.

The blast from the vehicle bomb wrecked cars and taxis that were unloading passengers and wares on a road adjoining the market in the Borno state capital of Maiduguri.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. But in recent months, the Islamist group Boko Haram has embarrassed President Goodluck Jonathan´s government with a spate of bombings and spectacular raids, mostly in northeast Nigeria, including the mid-April abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls.

The military said earlier on Tuesday that it had arrested a number of suspected Boko Haram collaborators including a Maiduguri businessman it said was involved in the abduction of the schoolgirls.

Boko Haram has also struck at Abuja, the capital of Africa´s biggest economy, with three bombings in three months.

Nigeria´s defence headquarters said in a statement on its Twitter account that “a van loaded with charcoal and IED exploded” in Maiduguri´s Monday Market on Tuesday. IED means an improvised explosive device.

Musa Sumail, a local human rights activist in Maiduguri who reports on the violence there, told Reuters he counted 20 bodies at the scene of the market explosion.

Nigeria´s military said in a statement that the businessman it had arrested had helped the Islamist militant group plan several attacks, including the killing of a traditional ruler, the Emir of Gwoza.

Saudi Arabia deploys 30,000 soldiers on border with Iraq
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said Saudi Arabia had deployed 30,000 soldiers to its border with Iraq on Thursday, July 3 after Iraqi forces abandoned the area, but Baghdad denied pulling forces back and said it remained in full control of its frontier.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, shares an 800-km desert border with Iraq, where Islamic State insurgents and other Sunni Muslim militant groups seized towns and cities in a lightning advance last month. The US-allied kingdom overcame its own al- Qaeda insurgency almost a decade ago and is wary of any new threat from radical Sunni Islamists.

The Dubai-based al-Arabiya said on its website that Saudi troops had fanned out into the border region after Iraqi government forces withdrew from their positions, leaving the Saudi and Syrian frontiers exposed.

It aired a video which, it said, showed some 2,500 Iraqi soldiers in the desert region east of the Iraqi city of Kabala after pulling back from the border, which is reinforced on the Saudi side by a system of fences.

An officer in the video said that the soldiers had been ordered to quit their posts without justification.

The authenticity of the recording could not immediately be verified. However, the Iraqi prime minister’s military spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassim Atta, told reporters in Baghdad: “This is false news aimed at affecting the morale of our people and the morale of our heroic fighters.”

He said the frontier, which runs through largely empty desert, was “fully in the grip” of Iraqi border troops. Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry security spokesman, Major General Mansour Turki, said: “We have not experienced any insecurity close to our border, and our border is secured and protected long before the latest events in Iraq.”

The state news agency SPA said King Abdullah had ordered all necessary measures to protect the kingdom against potential “terrorist threats”. Diplomatic sources in the Gulf say Saudi Arabia’s border with Iraq is relatively well defended, but that its frontier with Jordan might provide an easier route for any militants trying to enter Saudi Arabia from Iraq. Meanwhile, Islamic militants in Iraq have freed 32 Turkish truck drivers held hostage for three weeks in a mass kidnapping that shocked Turkey, the foreign minister said on Thursday. The truck drivers are now on their way back to Turkey through northern Iraq but a separate group of almost 50 kidnapped Turks remain in captivity, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters.

Previous reports had said 31 truck drivers had been held. They had been kidnapped by militants from the Jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who now control swathes of the country.

Davutoglu said a plane had taken off from Istanbul to fly the Turkish citizens from Arbil to Ankara this evening. Davutoglu said that the foreign ministry had been informed of the impending release on Wednesday night by the Turkish intelligence agency but had not made any announcement until now for security reasons.

He said he had spoken with one of the drivers on Thursday and said that they were unharmed but one of them may need medical treatment.

Airport security ramped up over US bomb fears
US-bound travellers from Europe and the Middle East faced tighter airport security on Thursday, July 3 over fears that Islamist groups are developing new explosives that could be slipped onto planes undetected. The stepped-up checks were ordered as the US embassy in Uganda warned of a “specific threat” to attack Kampala’s Entebbe international airport on Thursday between 1800 and 2000 GMT. The new checks focused on electronic items such as laptops and mobiles, fuelling fears that extremists such as al-Qaeda could use them as their latest tactic in a long campaign of attacks involving aircraft.

US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced the extra security on direct flights to the United States from some overseas airports on Wednesday, without citing evidence of any specific plot. The move comes amid broader Western intelligence concerns that hundreds of Islamist radicals travelling from Europe to fight in the Middle East could pose a security risk on their return.

On Sunday, US President Barack Obama warned that “battle-hardened” Europeans who embrace jihad in Syria and Iraq threaten the United States because their passports mean they can enter without a visa. The airports concerned are located in the Middle East and Europe and were targeted “based on real-time intelligence”, according to an official at the Department of Homeland Security who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Britain confirmed it is bolstering security at its airports in response.

Belgian Interior Minister Joelle Milquet, whose country is also stepping up airport security, told RTL-TVI the measures would focus on electronic equipment such as tablets, computers and mobile phones “to make sure there are no explosives”.

Analysts said the move was likely linked to concerns that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was passing on bomb making expertise to militants fighting in Syria. The fear is that militants with European passports could then bring these skills back home with them and launch an attack, experts say.

Brooke Rogers of the War Studies Department at King’s College London told AFP that for extremist groups, bringing down an aircraft was the “ultimate prize — if the attackers succeed, it will be spectacular for them”.

Experts say that if anyone could be behind the threat it is Ibrahim al-Asiri, a 32-year-old Saudi believed to be hiding out with AQAP in Yemen’s restive southern provinces.

The terror alert in Uganda further rattled nerves but it was not immediately clear if it was linked to the airport security boost.

Although the US embassy did not name any group, al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents have claimed attacks in neighbouring Kenya, including the Westgate mall bloodbath, and Djibouti, as well as at home in Somalia.

Gunmen kill at least 29 in latest raids on Kenyan coast
Gunmen killed at least 29 people in raids on two coastal areas of Kenya on July 5, the latest in a series of attacks claimed by Somali militants who have vowed to drive Kenyan forces out of Somalia, although a police officer cast doubt on their role.

The Interior Ministry said one attack killed nine in the trading town of Hindi in Lamu County, the same district where about 65 people were killed by gunmen last month. Another was further south in the Gamba area, where 20 died.

Sheikh Abdiasis abu Musab, spokesman for Al Shabaab’s military operations, said in Mogadishu that the Somalia-based group was behind both attacks on Saturday night. It had also said it was responsible for the June raids in Lamu County, around Mpeketoni.

But President Uhuru Kenyatta dismissed Al Shabaab’s claim last month and blamed local politicians, stoking an already fierce row with the opposition, which denied any role.

Regardless of who is blamed this time, Saturday’s raids will hammer an already beleaguered tourist industry that has been hit by a wave of militant attacks and will deepen public frustrations about poor security in Kenya a day before a big opposition rally is planned for the capital.

In a news conference on initial findings, police deputy inspector-general Grace Kaindi said a blackboard, ripped out of a school, was found at a junction near Hindi with scrawling that could implicate the coastal separatist group, the Mombasa Republic Movement (MRC). She said investigations were ongoing.

“At first we thought it was Al Shabaab, but now it is turning out that it is MRC as they have put it there clearly,” she said, adding that other slogans appeared to back opposition leader Raila Odinga.

The MRC swiftly denied any role. “The government should stop using us as a scapegoat,” Randu Nzai Ruwa, the MRC Secretary General, told Reuters by telephone.

A police source corroborated that Gamba account, saying the numbers for those released was still being checked. Gamba lies in Tana River County, which neighbours Lamu County.

Attacks on the coast have fanned an already tense political atmosphere in Kenya, which has sent troops to join African troops battling Al Shabaab in neighbouring Somalia. Religious leaders have urged Kenyans to avoid rallies that could deepen divisions in a nation scarred by political violence in the recent past. Political allegiances in Kenya tend to follow ethnic lines. Police have promised tight security.

Bahrain probes opp leader after expelling US diplomat
Bahrain interrogated its top opposition leader on Wednesday, July 9 after expelling a senior US diplomat for meeting him, a remarkable slap at Washington from an ally that hosts the US Navy’s Middle East fleet.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski left Bahrain late on Tuesday, the US embassy said, after the foreign ministry ordered him out because he had “intervened flagrantly” in the country’s internal affairs by “holding meetings with one party”.

Washington said it was “deeply concerned” about Malinowski’s expulsion and was considering a response.

Bahrain’s opposition al-Wefaq group said on Wednesday that its leader Sheikh Ali Salman had been summoned to meet the public prosecutor on Thursday.

The dispute exposes the sensitivity of Washington’s relationship with one of its main regional allies. Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet responsible for all US sea power in the region, but has bristled at American criticism over its human rights record since suppressing a popular uprising in 2011.

The Gulf island kingdom is ruled by a royal family, whose political leaders have demanded democratic reforms. The authorities, backed by troops sent from Saudi Arabia, put down demonstrations during the “Arab Spring” revolts that swept the region three years ago, and low level violence is still common.

Malinowski attended a Ramazan evening meeting of opposition group al-Wefaq on Sunday and met with its leader Ali Salman and an aide again at the US embassy on Monday.

Salman was summoned by the Interior Ministry and interrogated at the Criminal Investigations Department on Wednesday morning. He told Reuters he was questioned for about half an hour. His lawyers were not allowed to be present but were permitted to observe from another room.

“The subject of the interrogation was … about the content of the (embassy) meeting and what was discussed at it,” he told Reuters from Manama.

“The answer was that it was a normal meeting and that they (Americans) heard our point of view of the political and human rights situation in Bahrain, based on the request of the US Assistant Secretary.”

He said he was asked whether Wefaq had made specific requests of the Americans and replied that they had not. Wefaq said Salman had been summoned to meet the public prosecutor on Thursday to discuss his meeting with Malinowski.

Malinowski’s expulsion was “a message that shows that there is no real intention for dialogue in Bahrain.

Air raids kill 20 IS activists
Twenty members of the Islamic State (IS) were killed in Syrian air force raids on Wednesday, July 9 against the Jihadists’ bastion in Raqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The report comes after Syrian rebels killed at least 14 people in the village of Khatab in the central province of Hama overnight, state media and the Observatory said.

“At least 20 members of IS were killed and others were injured in air strikes… targeting an IS training base in Raqa,” the Observatory said. The strikes also destroyed 14 IS military vehicles, the Observatory added. On June 29, IS declared the establishment of a “caliphate,” referring to an Islamic system of rule that was abolished nearly 100 years ago.
Its Jihadists are firmly in control of Raqa and have secured large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and in neighbouring Iraq. While some rebels initially welcomed the IS — then known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) — as a potential ally, its abuses and quest for control turned them against it. Rebels have been fighting IS since January.

For its part, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has escalated its attacks against IS positions since the group launched a militant offensive in neighbouring Iraq a month ago. Syrian Kurds have been fighting IS since 2013.

On Wednesday, a Tunisian Jihadist carried out a suicide car bomb attack in the Kurdish town of Ain Eissa, killing four Kurdish fighters.

In the northern province of Aleppo, IS seized three Kurdish areas to the east of Ain al-Arab (Kobani in Kurdish) after two days of fighting that killed at least 22 Jihadists and 18 Kurdish fighters, said the Observatory.

The reports come hours after Syrian state television said rebels carried out a “massacre” that included women and children, while the Observatory said seven men and seven women had been “executed” by rebel fighters.

Current Threat Levels:

City/Region	Threat	Level
Islamabad	Level 2	**
Karachi	Level 2	**
Lahore	Level 2	**
Punjab	Level 2	**
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa	Level 3	***
Peshawar	Level 2	**
Quetta	Level 2	**
Upper Balochistan	Level 3	***
Lower Balochistan	Level 2	**
Upper / Rural Sindh	Level 2	**
Gilgit and Northern areas	Level 3	***
Tribal areas, close to Afghan border	Level 3	***

Index to Threat Level Perceptions
Threat Level 1 *
Indicates there is no threat to foreigners although there may be isolated incidents involving petty crime. No security precautions are required

Threat Level 2 **
Indicates there is no specific threat to foreigners; however because of the overall general law & order situation, some security precautions are advised if traveling.

Threat Level 3 ***
Indicates that law and order situation is cause for concern and travel should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Level dictates that foreigners should rehearse plans for evacuation.

Threat Level 4 ****
Indicates complete breakdown of civil administration and law & order leading to anarchy. All foreigners advised to remain indoors and confined to their own city. Families and staff not required to be evacuated retaining only a skeleton staff.

Threat Level 5 *****
Indicates complete breakdown of law and order, enemy action/hostilities, invasion /occupation by enemy.