Special Emphasis on Terrorism (Dec-2014)

Terrorist Activities in Pakistan

Suicide Bombings
At least five persons were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Hazara Town in Quetta on October 4, where people were shopping for Eid, reports Dawn. Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Quetta, Abdul Razaq Cheema confirmed the powerful explosion was a suicide attack. Earlier in the day, seven people were injured when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded on Spini road area in Quetta. Police said militants had intended to target the vehicle of a Deputy Superintendent of Police in the bomb attack.

At least three persons, including a polio worker, were killed in a blast in Alemgar area of Safi tehsil (revenue unit) in Mohmand Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) on October 9, reports Daily Times.

Official sources said that suspected militants had planted the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in front of the house of a local named Taj Gul, killing one of his sons Sakhi Gul and his nephew Maskeen on the spot while his other son Muhammad Agul, who is a Union Council polio worker, was left injured. The administration officials said the injured polio worker was shifted to Camp Hospital in Muhammad Gat where he succumbed to his wounds. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the administrations suspected the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan was behind it.

Seven people were killed and 17 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Jirga (tribal assembly) of the Zakha khel Amn Lashkar (peace militia) in the Pir Mela area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency of Federally Administered Tribal areas (FATA), on October 15, reports The News. The sources said the Jirga of the Zakha khel Amn Lashkar was taking place in the main bazaar when a suicide bomber arrived there and detonated the explosives strapped to his body. Five persons were killed on the spot and 19 others sustained injuries in the explosion. Two of the injured later succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to seven. Members of the Zakha khel Amn Lashkar said four of the dead, including a child, belonged to the Zakha khel tribe while three came from the Shalobar tribe. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bomb/IED Blasts
At least two persons were killed and 15 others injured when an explosion occurred in Sibi town in Sibi District in the Province of Balochistan on September 27, reports Dawn. Muhammad Afzal, a police official, said that unidentified militants had planted a bomb in a motorcycle parked on the Chakar road area of the city. “The bomb went off with a loud explosion,” he said.

At least eight people were killed and 10 others, including two girls, were injured in a remote-controlled bomb blast targeting Muhammad Khawajah’s Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camp in the Togh Sarai area of Hangu District on September 28, reports Daily Times. There are around 1,150 IDP families settled in the area for some years.

Five militants were killed and four others were injured in a blast that occurred at the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) base in Kandao area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on September 29, reports Dawn. Sources said that militants were testing an explosive device when it exploded causing the casualties. However, the LI is yet to confirm or deny the incident.

Separately, two Security Forces (SFs) were injured in a roadside remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan Agency on September 29, reports Dawn. Official sources said that SFs were clearing landmines along the road when the blast occurred, injuring two soldiers.

Four people including two teenage boys were killed and ten others injured when unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade at a barber shop near the Sirki Kalan area on Double Road in Quetta on October 1, reports Dawn. The explosion was followed by firing. The United Baloch Front (UBF) claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Separately, two people were injured when unidentified militants hurled a hand grenade at a photographer’s shop on Sariab Road in Quetta on October 1, reported Dawn. The injured included the shop owner.

A female school teacher, identified as Honey, was killed and two children were injured when a hand-grenade was hurled on Askari Public School and College located in the Shabqadar tehsil (revenue unit) of Peshawar on October 1, reports Dawn. Sources said the school had received letters a month earlier which threatened the administration to direct students to wear shalwar kameez instead of pants and shirts.

At least seven persons were killed and eleven others were injured due to an explosion in a passenger coach in Bazid Khel area on Kohat Road in Peshawar on October 2, reports Dawn. Additional Inspector General (AIG) bomb disposal squad Shafqat Malik said that five kilograms of explosive was used in the blast.

At least three persons were killed and several others injured when an explosion ripped through a passenger van on Aalam Bridge on Karakoram Highway, near Haramosh area in Gilgit-Baltistan on October 2, reports Dawn. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mohammad Ali confirmed the number of dead, which included two women. He said that the wounded also included a large number of women.

Target Killings
A man, identified as Mohammad Sadiq (35), was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants near Tahir Villa in Aisha Manzil area of Gulberg Town in Karachi on September 26, reported Daily Times.

Separately, an unidentified militant, was shot dead by Police in the Pak Colony area of SITE Town on September 26, reports Daily Times. Police said that unidentified militants opened fire on Pak Colony Police mobile when it was patrolling in the area. In retaliatory firing by Police one of them got killed. Another of the militant managed to escape.

Elsewhere, an unidentified bullet riddled dead body of a man was found from Bhawan Shah Mazar near Memon Goth in Malir Town on September 26, reports Daily Times.

In addition, a boy, identified as Sharif (17), was shot at and injured near Firdaus Market in Liaquatabad Town on September 26, reports Daily Times.

Two activists of an anti-Taliban peace committee were killed and another seriously injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the Dawezai area of Pandyali tehsil (revenue unit) of Mohmand Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on September 26, reports Dawn. The victims were travelling along the road in Inzari Miangan village of Dawezai area.

Jama’at-ul-Ahrar (JuA) claimed responsibility for the attack. The ‘spokesman’ of JuA Ehsanullah Ehsan said that they have targeted the peace committee members for fighting and spying against Taliban. He said that such attacks on ‘pro-government paid people’ would continue as they were enemies of Taliban.

An unidentified man was killed when unidentified armed assailants opened fire in Faqeer Colony area of Orangi Town of Karachi, while another was injured in North Nazimabad Town of Karachi in Sindh on September 27, reports The News. The injured was later shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, a body bearing torture marks was recovered from Keamari gate no.1 in Keamari Town in Karachi on September 27, reports The News. Also, a drowned body of a woman was recovered from Keamari Town in Karachi and was shifted to Civil Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Separately, another body of a man, identified as Syed Akhtar Manzoor was recovered from Yusuf Plaza in Federal B Area of Karachi, and was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on September 27, reports The News.

Elsewhere, an unidentified man was injured in firing incident that occurred in Ancholi in Federal B Area of Karachi on September 27, reports The News.

A Policeman, identified as Abdul Raheem, was shot dead near Kuchlak area of Quetta on September 29, reported Dawn. Raheem was serving as a Sub-Inspector at the Kuchlak Police Station. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

One unidentified dead body was recovered from Rexor Bridge in the Pak Colony area of SITE Town in Karachi on September 30, reports Dawn.

Another unidentified dead body was recovered from near the railway tracks in the Kala Pul area of the city on September 30, reports Dawn.

Elsewhere, Crime Investigation Department (CID) Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Chaudhry Safdar, narrowly escaped a gun attack on his vehicle near Lyari expressway in the Garden area of Saddar Town on September 30, reports Dawn. The guards of the Police officer resorted to retaliatory firing, injuring one of the attackers who was subsequently arrested. His accomplice managed to escape. However, the CID officer remained unhurt.

Three suspected militants were killed and four others, including a key commander, were arrested in a clash with Security Forces (SFs) during combing operation in Wali Noor Jan Khel area of Bannu Frontier Region on October 2, reports Dawn. A huge quantity of arms and ammunition was also recovered from the suspected militants’ possession.

Separately, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), identified as Asif Mehmood, was shot dead by unidentified militants near Wazir Bagh area under Yakatoot Police Station in Peshawar on October 2, Dawn. Police said armed militants opened fire on ASI Mehmood’s vehicle near Yakatoot Police Station as he was travelling with his son to drop him to school.

Elsewhere, unidentified militants shot dead two persons in Sufaid Dheri area in Peshawar on October 1, reports Dawn.

At least three persons were killed and six others were injured in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on October 3, reports Daily Times. Two extortionists were killed during encounter with Police in rice godown area in Gulshan-e-Maymar.

In another incident, a person, identified as Muddasir (28), was shot dead by unidentified assailants near Kamran Chorangi near Jauhar Morr in Gulistan-e-Johar on October 3, reports Daily Times.

A Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) activist, identified as Abdul Qadir Baloch, was shot dead in Madhu Goth near NIPA Chowrangi under Gulistan-i-Jauhar Police Station in Karachi on October 4, reports Dawn. The killing of Baloch sparked protests on the University Road where people set ablaze tyres and pelted vehicles with stones, disrupting traffic.

Separately, a young man, identified as Rahmat Ali, was killed in Manghopir area of Karachi (Karachi District), on October 4, apparently on sectarian grounds, reports Dawn. Police said Ali was attacked near his house in Yaqoob Basti, where he was sitting with friends when two armed militants on a motorcycle opened fire at him.

Unidentified assailants on October 5 gunned down a local journalist, Yaqoob Shahzad, while he was sitting in a showroom in Hafizabad District of Punjab Province, reports Daily Times. The journalist received three bullets in his head and succumbed to injuries.

At least five persons were killed in separate incidents of violence in Karachi on October 9, reports The News. A Sub-Inspector (SI) of the Sindh Police, identified as Haider Bhatti, and a drug peddler, identified as Attaullah, were killed in an armed attack near Katti Pahari area.

Separately, two dead bodies, identified as Inayatullah (22) and Shams-ul-Arfeen (25), were found near Northern Bypass within the remit of Gulshan-e-Maymar Police Station on October 9, reports The News.

In another incident, a dead body was found from a pumping station in Ayub Goth on October 19, reports The News.

A Police constable and a woman were killed in a firing incident in Badhaber area of Peshawar on October 23, reports Daily Times. According to initial details, the victims were in a car when an unidentified assailant fired at them for reasons not known yet. The constable was reportedly travelling from his village to his Police Station.

Miscellaneous
Security Forces (SFs) thwarted militants attack on a check-post in Jamrud Bazaar in Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and killed at least six militants in retaliatory fire on September 27, reports The News. The SFs have launched search operation in the area.

At least 15 terrorists were killed in air strikes by Security Forces (SFs) in the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb in the Shawal area of North Waziristan Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas on September 28, reports Daily Times.

Separately, a United States (US) drone strike killed four suspected militants, including two Arab militants, in a compound in the Wana area of South Waziristan Agency on September 28, reports Daily Times.

In another incident, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants shot dead the leader of Qaumi Lashkar, Gul Akbar, and injured his driver, Noudiyar, in the Dara area of Salarzai tehsil (revenue unit) of Bajaur Agency on September 28, reports Daily Times. TTP ‘spokesperson’ Shahidullah Shahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 85 militants belonging to the Bugti tribe surrendered to law-enforcement personnel in the Sui area of Dera Bugti District on September 28, reports Dawn. Khan Wasey, spokesman for the Frontier Corps, Balochistan, said in a statement that the men belonged to various Bugti clans living in the Sui area of the District. They laid down their weapons in the presence of FC Inspector General Major General Muhammad Ejaz Shahid. The weapons, ammunition and explosives surrendered by them included 89 rifles and landmines. The militants involved in attacks on Security Forces and national installations in Dera Bugti and other areas of the Province vowed to renounce violence and also pledged not to get involved in anti-state activities.

At least 15 militants were killed in jet strikes in the Jamrud and Bara areas in Khyber Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on October 3, reports Dawn. Sources said, three militant hideouts were also neutralised in the strikes.

Police on October 5 killed seven members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in an encounter in the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi, reports The News. Police, after the encounter, arrested seven members of the banned. Police also recovered five TT pistols, three repeater rifles, seven hand grenades, seven kilogrammes of explosive material, chemicals and detonators.

Meanwhile, the personnel of the Sectarian Cell of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) on October 5 gunned down two members of TTP, including Mufti Jawed, Karachi Naib Ameer (Deputy Chief), reports The News. Police arrested two members of the banned outfit in an injured condition. Police also recovered 18 kilograms of explosives, two hand grenades, two launchers, and pistols.

Separately, Rangers in a search operation in Banaras Colony on October 4 arrested 11 suspects with weapons, reports Daily Times. According to a spokesman of Rangers a sub-machine gun, 9MM rifle, 24 other weapons, hundreds bullets and explosives were captured during the search operation. The arrested suspects included members of an outlawed group. The suspects have been transferred to an undisclosed place for interrogation.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), 11 militants were killed in the airstrikes and two hideouts were also destroyed in the Bangidar area of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on October 12, reports Daily Times.

Separately, at least 10 militants were killed in the Kuki khel area of Khyber Agency on October 12, reports Daily Times. Three hideouts were also destroyed.

Twenty-one militants were killed and several others sustained injuries when jet fighters pounded their hideouts in the Tirah Valley and Bara tehsil (revenue unit) of Khyber Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on October 16, reports The News. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the jet fighters pounded the militant’s hideouts in Akakhel, Sipah, Kamarkhel and Akakhel Zawa areas of the Khyber Agency, destroying five hideouts. It said Security Forces (SFs) also demolished the Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) centre in the Sipah area of Bara tehsil during a ground offensive. However, the LI sources disputed the SFs claim and said that civilians were killed in the bombardment. The claims could not be confirmed through independent sources as the communication system in the area remains disconnected since long.

Separately, SFs on October 16 recovered arms, ammunition, and body of a suspected militant who was killed last week during a clash with the forces in Sahib Cheena area of Halimzai tehsil in Mohmand Agency, reports The News.

Pakistan

‘A veil cannot be drawn on the core issue of Kashmir’, says Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at UNGA
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on September 26 told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that a veil cannot be drawn over the core issue of Kashmir, reports The Times of India. He stated, “Our support and advocacy of the right to self- determination of the people of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) is our historic commitment and a duty, as a party to the Kashmir dispute. More than six decades ago, the UN had passed resolutions to hold a plebiscite in J&K. The people of J&K are still waiting for the fulfillment of that promise. The core issue of Jammu and Kashmir has to be resolved. This is the responsibility of the international community. We cannot draw a veil on the issue of Kashmir, until it is addressed in accordance with the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.” He also blamed India for “another missed opportunity” to address outstanding issues by cancelling the foreign secretary-level talks in August 2014.

Army fully prepared to defeat any aggression, says COAS
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif said on Tuesday, Sept 30 that the Pakistan Army is fully prepared to deter and defeat any form of aggression across the entire spectrum of threat.

“With its unique accomplishment of confronting both conventional and sub-conventional threats, the Pakistan Army is respected for its achievements and sacrifices the world over,” the army chief said during his visit to Kharian for the ground-breaking ceremony of the upcoming National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC).

According to the ISPR, the NCTC will be a state-of-the-art facility with large capacity to impart quality training to troops for combating terrorism in all kinds of terrain. “Since we will have to fight this menace of terror together with other LEAs across the nook and corner of the country, the army will do its part to train paramilitary force, police, constabulary and Levies also at this facility,” the COAS said. He said that the NCTC will not only play an important role for training of own troops, it will also cater to the growing demand of training requests from other friendly armies.

Later, General Raheel visited the troops undergoing counterterrorism training exercises and appreciated the standards achieved. He also paid glowing tributes to the troops participating in the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb for the successes achieved so far.

According to military sources, the NCTC will focus on joint approach and progressive training and will provide specialist training in urban, jungle and riverine operations covering multiple scenarios. It will also train law enforcement agencies in installation security with emphasis on prevention, detection, isolation and elimination of intrusion by employing trained security forces and surveillance means. Earlier on arrival, the army chief was received by Lieutenant General Tariq Khan, Commander 1 Corps, Mangla.

PUC issues ‘Fatwa’ against ISIS
Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Wednesday issued a religious decree (fatwa) against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) commonly known as Daesh declaring it unislamic and its activities against the teachings of Islam.

Darul Fatawa and Majlis-e-Shoora of PUC, issuing a fatwa against ISIS, declared that it was working against the teachings of Islam. Chairman PUC Allama Tahir Ashrafi, who is also the chairman of Inter-faith Harmony International issued the religious decree.

The decree stated that the attacks on Muslims in Iraq and Syria, Christians, people of Yazidi tribe, mosques, ‘Mazars’ and worship places of non-Muslims by ISIS, was already been rejected by Islamic Ummah and Saudi Mufti-e-Azam and other religious scholars had issued religious decrees against the organisation. “Islam is the religion of peace and did not allow the killing of any person, disrespect of the mosques and shrines as well as demolishing the worship places of non-Muslims; it is not only against the teachings of Islam but also against the traditions set by Caliphs so no Muslim could support these acts,” the Fatwa stated.

The Fatwa also questioned how these organisations came into being and why the youth adopted the way of extremism and violence. “There is need to give attention to reasons that resulted into these actions,” it stated.

It stated that Syrian President Bashar ul Asad and his father Hafizul Asad had taken action against the people of Syria and the government which came into Iraq after the rule of Saddam Hussain treated the people of Iraq on the basis of sects giving rights to one sect of the Muslims which became basis for the formation of the organisation like ISIS, which gained popularity among the people.

It stated that PUC believed that the resolution of issues came only through dialogue, whether they were related to internal Islamic sects or other religions. “When the government adopts the way of violence, they were responded through violence and no religion or society allows adopting such a path,” it stated.

The religious decree stated that PUC believed and had a solid opinion about the attacks of international community on the ISIS and unless and until the people of Syria did not save from the violence against them by Basharul Asad and one big majority of Iraq was being targeted by Iraqi government, peace could not be achieved. “Though these kinds of acts bring peace for a short time but in long term it could not be achieved, which can only be gotten through providing rights to the people,” it stated.

It said that the PUC believed that there was no place for violence, terrorism and extremism in Islam and it did not give right to any group to kill the humanity. “Likewise, the Pakistan Ulema Council also believes that no ruler of any country has a right to kill his opponents on the basis of religions and sect,” it stated.

Majlis-e-Shoora of PUC also made an appeal to all Muslims and Muslim youth not to cooperate with those organisations which promoted violence, terrorism and acts against the basic teachings of Islam.

In this connection, the PUC and Inter-faith Harmony Council International has decided to contact the religious scholars to formulate a joint opinion on the situation of Syria and Iraq and present it before the Muslims especially before Muslim youth for their guidance.

Six bombs defused in Peshawar
The Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) on Thursday, Oct 2 foiled bids to carry out a series of terror attacks in the capital city by defusing six bombs at various locations.

BDU Deputy Inspector General, Shafqat Malik, said confirmed six bombs were defused under his supervision. As per the official communiqué issued by the KP police, the personnel of Peshawar police located three IEDs in the limits of Khazana Police Station. It said that the IEDs, each weighing 2 Kgs, were fitted with power pylons carrying high tension wires and were aimed at disrupting the power supply system in the city. The explosive devices were successfully defused.

Separately, the BDU diffused two IEDs, one weighing 5 Kg and other weighing 20 Kg, which were planted alongside the Kohat Road. The IEDs were planted on a route frequented by police and other law-enforcement agencies personnel during the routine search and strike operations in the city with a view to incur massive casualties of the law enforcement agencies and police personnel.

It is pertinent to mention here that the BDU has been able to preserve the defused IEDs, which will enable the investigators in identifying the culprits. Similarly, the police said that the BDU also defused 10 kg bomb fitted in a motorcycle at Hayatabad, a posh township during checking of the vehicles.

Based on intelligence reports, the BDU on Wednesday located and defused a remote control motorcycle bomb in the area of Achini Bala, Peshawar. The motorcycle which was fitted with 10 Kg explosives was a sophisticated and advance version of IED and could have caused large casualties.

Bomb defused in Hangu: The bomb disposal unit (BDS) on Thursday defused a bomb planted on a roadside in Doaba area in the district, an official said. Talking reporters, In-charge of BDU, Asadullah, said that suspected militants had planted a bomb, weighing one kilogram, on a roadside in Hakeemabad area in Doaba.

Division of Sindh not MQM’s demand: Altaf
Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain Friday (Oct 2) reiterated that division of Sindh had never been a demand of his party.

He said the MQM wanted to work with all other political parties of the country for national security. Addressing the general workers meeting here, he asked new MQM activists to speed up mobilization in their respective zones.

He maintained that the MQM was not a party of feudal and landlords. He said he apologized if anyone was hurt from his statements. God forbid if a critical time comes, I will stand with the Pakistani forces along border, he vowed.

Earlier in the meeting, the party nominated Barrister Saif as MQM president for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Mian Ateeq as party’s president for Lahore chapter.

He strictly warned his party workers against collecting hides of sacrificial animals by force this Eid ul Azha. “Any MQM worker found guilty of seizing hides against the will of people will be kicked out of the party,” he warned.

Cannot rule out presence of IS militants in Balochistan: CM
Balochistan Chief Minister Dr. Malik Baloch on October 8 said that he cannot rule out the presence of Islamic State (IS) militants in the province, reports Dawn.

Regarding missing persons’ issue, the Chief Minister said that his Government was determined and its top priority was to recover the missing persons. He, however, admitted that so far “no considerable progress has been made with regard to missing persons.”

Second drone attack kills four in FATA
At least four suspected militants, including a local Taliban ‘commander’, were killed in yet another US drone strike in the Shawal tehsil (revenue unit) of North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on October 11, raising the toll from a series of attacks this week to 29, reports Dawn. Intelligence sources said that a US drone fired two missiles at a vehicle in Maraga area of Shawal tehsil in which the four suspected militants, including the Taliban ‘commander’, identified as Mustafa, belonging to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have died in the strike. Earlier reported, a US drone stroked in Dattakhel area of NWA in FATA on October 9.

Meanwhile, an unidentified person was killed and another injured when a roadside Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off on Dolat Moosa road in the Sipah area of Orakzai Agency in FATA on October 11, reports Dawn. Sources said that a car was also damaged in the explosion.

300000 people have left Balochistan, says HRCP chief Zohra Yusuf
Zohra Yusuf, the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), on October 12 said that Balochistan has been made a fertile place for armed religious extremists under a plan and as a result about 300,000 Shias, Zikris, and Hindus have migrated to other areas of the country, reports Dawn. She expressed concern over the migration of Shias, Zikris, settlers and Hindus due to lack of security in Balochistan. She said strengthening of religious extremists had caused the migration of innocent citizens but the real objective was to weaken the Baloch nationalist militants. The HRCP chief said law and order situation in the province had improved to some extent under the present government but the dumping of mutilated bodies, especially in Turbat and Panjgur, had affected the performance of the administration.

Nine militants arrested in Karachi
A major jailbreak plan was thwarted by the Rangers on October 13 when they arrested eight militants who had nearly completed digging a tunnel to the barracks inside the central prison from an adjacent house to free their high-profile jailed accomplices in Ghausia Colony of Karachi, reports The News.

Six top TTP ‘commanders’ announce allegiance to Islamic State’s Baghdadi
Six top ‘commanders’ of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, including ‘spokesman’ Shahidullah Shahid, have announced their allegiance to Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi of the Islamic State and an allegiance statement was also issued in this regard, reports Dawn. Shahidullah Shahid in the statement said he along with five TTP District chiefs have announced their allegiance to IS, also known as Daish, and would be their lead fighters in Pakistan. The statement did not elaborate on the stance of the six on Mullah Omar, chief of the Afghan Taliban widely regarded by militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the Amir ul Momineen (leader of the faithful).

“I am confirming my allegiance to Amir ul Momineen Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi and would abide by all his decisions, whatever is the order, and whatsoever the circumstances, I shall be loyal to him and obey his orders,” Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement issued in Arabic and Urdu. Shahidullah said he along with TTP Amir for Orakzai Agency Saeed Khan, TTP’s Kurram Agency chapter chief Daulat Khan, Fateh Gul Zaman, who heads TTP in Khyber Agency, TTP’s Peshawar Amir Mufti Hassan and TTP’s Hangu chief Khalid Mansoor, was announcing allegiance to Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi Al Qureshi Al-Hussaini. Shahidullah further said that the statement was on his and the five commanders’ behalf and had nothing to do with TTP.

Pakistan demands end to drone attacks
Pointing to the rapid and destructive spread of terrorism and terrorist acts throughout the world, Pakistan has called for the UN Counter-Terrorism Strategy to focus attention on addressing festering disputes, foreign occupation and denial of the right of self-determination.

“The proposed convention must be consistent with the International Humanitarian Law and it should clearly differentiate between acts of terrorism and the legitimate struggles for self-determination of people living under foreign occupation,” Ambassador Masood Khan, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, told the UN General Assembly’s Legal Committee, which is working on the convention.

Speaking in a debate on “Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism”, he also demanded cessation of US drone strikes in Pakistani border areas, saying Islamabad was already taking a decisive action against terrorists there.

The drone strikes, he said, violated Pakistan’s sovereignty and the established principles of international human rights and humanitarian law, and were also counter-productive for the efforts aimed at countering violent extremism.

Elaborating his remarks on the Counterterrorism Strategy, Ambassador Masood Khan asked whether the United Nations should revamp it, given that “the monster of terrorism seemed to be getting bigger” and was being used as an instrument for asymmetric warfare.

Noting that Pakistan was engaged in an “unrelenting war” against terrorism on its own soil that had cost 50,000 lives and financial losses exceeding $100 billion, he spoke of his country’s multi-pronged strategy, through military actions, but also through education, assuring that counter-terrorism measures conformed to international obligations and through legislation.

Masood Khan told the committee that Pakistan launched its military operation, Zarb-e-Azb, in North Waziristan after the failure of a dialogue process. The operation, he said, was continuing successfully.

Fazlullah insists TTP didn’t announce allegiance to IS
Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) head Maulana Fazlullah has clarified that his organisation had not announced its allegiance to the Islamic State IS militant group active in Iraq and Syria. An audio recording sent by him to some journalists on Oct 8 was meant to clarify a statement issued earlier on Saturday by the TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid. In his email message, Shahid had said that the TTP supported the Islamic State goals and was proud of its victories and was with it in both happy and sad occasions. He had also stated that the TTP would provide fighters to the Islamic State.

However, the Afghanistan-based Maulana Fazlullah in his statement made it clear that the TTP had not announced allegiance to the Islamic State. He rejected the impression that the TTP had shifted its allegiance by aligning with the Islamic State. He emphasized that the TTP was still loyal to the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Shahidullah Shahid too made an attempt to clarify his earlier statement by arguing that he didn’t indicate shifting allegiance to the Islamic State and moving away from the Afghan Taliban head Mullah Omar. He explained that he had just praised the Islamic State and advised it to set aside differences with other militant groups and show unity.

Meanwhile, the breakaway TTP faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, has offered to mediate between the Islamic State, the al-Qaeda-linked Jabha tun-Nusra and other militant groups in Syria and Iraq in a bid to reconcile them with each other. The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan quoted the group’s head Omar Khalid Khorasani as saying that the “mujahideen should also join hands against the coalition formed by the enemy to attack the Muslims in Iraq and Syria.”

War with India not an option: Nawaz
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said that a war with India is not an option but Pakistan would respond with ‘full-force’ to any attempt to challenge its sovereignty. He said this while addressing a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Oct 10. After the NSC meeting, a statement was issued which said that the committee meeting stressed the fact that both the countries were aware of each other’s capabilities. “It is shared responsibility of the leadership of both the countries to immediately defuse the tension,” it said.

Further, during the meeting, the premier condemned the unprovoked firing by India across the border.Addressing the escalation of border clashes between India and Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be misunderstood and called upon India to immediately honour the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC) and the working boundary and halt firing for durable peace.

Terming his visit to Miranshah a moving experience, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he was thrilled to see what the armed forces had achieved so far in the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb against the foreign and local militants in North Waziristan.

Mentioning his meeting with the officers and soldiers fighting in the operation, Nawaz said, “They have fought bravely in the area and cleared all of North Waziristan area.“We saw a mosque which was used for brainwashing the young minds, the rooms where people were trained for terrorism and weapon depots,” he said, as he narrated his experience.

Paying rich tributes to those fighting the terrorists in the agency, the premier said the terrorists had suffered heavy losses in the operation.The prime minister extended his condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers and offered them government assistance.

Earlier, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah and Secretary Defence Lt General (retd) Muhammad Alam Khattak called on Prime Minister Nawaz separately and discussed matters pertaining to national security. Three out of nine members of the NSC, including Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Rashad Mahmood, couldn’t attend the meeting as the earlier two are in the United States while the general is in Saudi Arabia to perform Haj.

Tunnel to free terrorists from Karachi jail unearthed
A major jailbreak plan was thwarted by the Rangers on Monday, Oct 13 when they arrested eight terrorists who had nearly completed digging a tunnel to the barracks inside the central prison from an adjacent house to free their high-profile jailed accomplices.

Colonel Tahir, an official of the Rangers, told reporters that the terrorists had bought a house in Ghausia Colony from a police official and were digging a tunnel from its water tank to the barracks where some notorious terrorists were imprisoned.

He added that the terrorists, who were affiliated with a banned outfit, had managed to dig a 45-metre long tunnel and were only 10 metres away from the barracks.The Rangers and an intelligence agency conducted a joint raid at the house and arrested three terrorists.

The official said acting on the information retrieved from the arrested terrorists during interrogation, five of their accomplices were rounded up in more raids.The colonel said several weapons and mining equipment, including a gadget to measure the depth of the tunnel, were recovered from the house.

To a query, the official said more details were not being shared with the media because of the sensitivity of the issue. However, he said the terrorists had bought the house around four-and-a-half months ago and had been digging the tunnel ever since. The colonel said there were around 150 high profile terrorists locked up in the Central Jail.

MQM leaders receive extortion chits
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Rabita Committee has said that MQM leaders are receiving extortion notices from the Taliban and are being threatened via SMS, letters and phone calls and told to stop projecting their ideology and views. In a press conference here on Monday, MQM Deputy Convener Dr. Farooq Sattar said that banned outfits including the Taliban had been threatening MQM leaders with grave consequences in case they did not submit to the pressure.

Two soldiers killed, two hurt in Bajaur blast
Two soldiers were killed and two others sustained injuries when a water tanker belonging to the security forces was attacked with an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Salarzai tehsil in Bajaur Agency on Saturday, Oct 18 official sources said.

The proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid claimed his group’s responsibility for the attack.

The sources said the tanker was carrying water when it was targeted with an IED in the Mulla Said area. As a result, two soldiers were killed and two others injured.

Following the incident, members of a pro-government peace committee and locals reached the spot and shifted the injured soldiers to the Agency Headquarters Hospital in Khar, where doctors said they were stable. Later, the security forces launched a search operation in the area but no arrest could be made.

Religious experts question govt’s ability to tackle Daish threat
Religious experts and scholars Saturday, Oct 18 questioned the government’s ability and resolve to deal with a new threat to Pakistan in the shape of Daish when it struggled to handle the local militant groups. They laid emphasis on forging harmony and unity and beware of forces, looking for space to fan sectarian hatred, particularly during the sacred month of Muharram.

The President of Milli Yakjehti Council (MYC) Sahibzada Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair called for forging harmony and unity and said any kind of battle or fight was forbidden during the month of Muharram. Speaking at a seminar, he noted that the Muharram was the sacred month in which the tragic event of Karbala took place and as a result martyrdom of Imam Hussain happened. The seminar, titled “Ittehad-e-Ummat and Istiqbal-e-Muharram” and held in Islamabad, was organised by the Milli Yakjehti Council (Islamic Solidarity Council).

He pointed out that Daish terror group (also known as ISIS or ISIL or IS) after spreading terror in various countries was now making its presence felt in Pakistan.

The MYC leader continued that how the rulers in Pakistan would deal with Daish like terror outfits when they had already failed to bring under control the existing extremist groups operating with impunity in Pakistan since long. He said that it should be a matter of deep concern for the authorities to curb activities of Daish-like brutal terror groups here. He added that whatever had been happening in Iraq and Syria was now being repeated in Pakistan.

MYC General Secretary Liaquat Baloch said that it was widely feared after 9/11 events that discord would be created among Muslims, inciting them to fight each other and today same policy was being implemented in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and several other countries including Pakistan.

He said that the need of the hour was to foil the conspiracies of the enemies of Islam and Muslims and forge unity within our ranks. He regretted that a bitterness was being felt today between the relations of Pakistan and Iran. He contended that Pakistan could not afford deterioration in relations with any other country when on one hand it was engaged on its western front and on the other it was facing aggression from India on its eastern front.

He said that exchange of high-level delegations should take place between Islamabad and Tehran to remove the mistrust between them. He said that element of suspicion was also increasing in Iran-Turkey and Iran-Saudi Arabia relations, which, he said, was detrimental to the cause of entire Ummah.

Baloch noted that hatred and division would create new groups which would be damaging for the whole Ummah and fruitful for the enemies. He said that keeping in view the blessings and reverence of the month of Muharram we need to carry forward the message of reconciliation.

MYC Senior Vice President Allama Syed Sajid Ali Naqvi said that today’s seminar was the need of the hour. He said that all the religious sects should disown such individuals, who were involved in these heinous activities. Naqvi cautioned that the main cause of spread of sectarianism and violence was failure of the government in bringing to book the real culprits.

General (r) Hameed Gul said that the Quran and Sunnah were the two basic sources of religion and we need not to look towards any organisation or group to show us the right path. He said that the Objective Resolution had already laid down the objectives of the Constitution of Pakistan. He said that to cope with the current difficult situation, the Constitution must be followed in letter and spirit.

Jamaat-e-Islami Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ameer Prof Ibrahim Khan said that the United States was the leader of all those who were hatching conspiracies against Muslims and Pakistan. He said that a delegation of the MYC should visit both Turkey and Iran to settle their dispute over Syria.

REGIONAL

Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics

JMB militant arrested in Dhaka
Police arrested Hafizur Rahman (22), a second-year student of Tibbiya Government College in Sylhet District, from Dhaka city’s Purana Paltan area on September 25 for allegedly recruiting members for Islamic State (IS), reports The Daily Star. Police claimed that Hafizur was a ring leader of an international militant organization that recruits Jihadis from across the world. During primary interrogation, Hafizur admitted that he was engaged in collecting members from across the country, especially in Sylhet and Habiganj Districts. Hafizur also confessed his link with Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Police arrested suspected member of IS
Detective Branch (DB) of Police arrested a suspected member of Islamic State (IS) at Kamalapur area in Dhaka city on September 28, reports Dhaka Tribune. The arrestee is identified as Saimur Rahman alias Ebney Hamdad, a United Kingdom (UK) citizen of Bangladeshi origin. Police said that Saimur had come to Bangladesh six months ago to appoint members for IS.

Three terrorists arrested with firearms
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel arrested three terrorists with firearm and bullets at Fultala railway station area of Khulna District on October 5, reports Dhaka Tribune. The arrestees are identified as Bayezid (26), Roni (25) and Al-Amin (20). One foreign pistol, three rounds of bullets and a magazine were recovered from their possessions.

JCD leader killed in Chittagong
A group of militants killed a local leader of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), identified as Adil Mahmud Chowdhury (30), in Mirsarai sub-District of Chittagong District on October 9, reports bdnews24.com. Chowdhury, son of Abu Taher Chowdhury of Shayerkhali area, was the JCD Upazila (sub-District) unit convenor.

BD accused of muzzling dissent after polls
Having ridden out the uproar over her walkover re-election, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now attempting to silence any further dissent with the crucial backing of the military, say observers.

The United States was among a host of countries to demand new polls that “credibly express the will” of the people after Hasina’s ruling Awami League romped to victory in a January ballot boycotted by the opposition. But rather than reach out to critics, Hasina has been accused of since seeking to hound them through the courts, muzzle the media and neuter the judiciary to cement her rule.“The government hastily ratified these laws and policies to consolidate power,” Ataur Rahman, an expert on Bangladeshi politics from the State University of New York, told AFP on Oct 3.

Few eyebrows were raised when opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s attempts to prevent corruption allegations from coming to trial failed, as her enmity with Hasina dates back years. Her trial began last month.

But almost the entire leadership of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party is now fighting multiple court cases, many over claims they were accessories to molotov cocktail attacks that injured no one.

According to the Prothom Alo daily, police filed cases against 355,908 people for violence since the turn of the year while thousands more are on the run.

“Now most leaders spend the better part of the day on court premises fighting charges and seeking bail,” Nur Khan Liton, a leading rights activist, told AFP. Accusations that judges took their orders from politicians were raised last year when a special government-appointed tribunal convicted a number of Islamists of war crimes dating back to the 1971 liberation conflict. The Supreme Court has generally been seen as independent, its judgements embarrassing military and civilian governments alike over the years. But legislation ratified last month means parliament now has the power to sack Supreme Court judges.

In August the government also rolled out new regulations for broadcasters, including a ban on speech deemed “anti-state”. Mahmudur Rahman Manna, a popular television host until his recent sacking, says he lost his job due to government pressure. “The management told me the show was becoming very critical of the government and they were dropping me because of pressure from the government,” Manna, who worked for the private Channel 24, told AFP.

One person killed while making bomb in Feni
One person, identified as Nur Nabi (24), was killed in an explosion when he along with his associates was making crude bombs at Bathania village in Feni District on October 11, reports Daily Star. Some youths, including Nabi, were making crude bombs in an abandoned room at Bathania village, said Saiful Haque, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) said. Suddenly a bomb went off, killing Nabi on the spot, while three others were reportedly injured in this incident. Panchgachhia Union Parishad Chairman Anwar Hossain, also an Awami League leader, claimed Nabi was a Jubo Dal activist.

India – Internal Dynamics

Suspected Maoists kill Congress leader
Suspected Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres killed Jeevan Patnaik (55), a Congress leader and resident of Sunki in the Pottangi area of Koraput District, on September 26, reports Zee News. “Around 5 to 7 people in plain clothes reached near the home of Patnaik around 8 pm and indiscriminately fired on him from close range. The Congress leader was instantly killed,” said Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Sunabeda) V. R. Rao.

Three civilians abducted by suspected ZUF militants in Manipur
On September 17, Thangjam Romen alias Naocha a truck driver, his helper Heikrujam Ibomcha and a betel leaf agent, identified as Jongkhulai, transporting betel leaves from Jiribam to Imphal were abducted by suspected cadres of the Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) in connection with a monetary demand of INR 500,000, reports Kanglaonline on September 27. They were abducted from Barak area along the Imphal-Jiribam National Highway (NH) in Imphal East District. Thangjam Sanathoi Devi, the president of Joint Action Committee (JAC) formed in connection with the abduction, stated that, on September 17, the family members of the three kidnapped victims received phone calls from cadres of the ZUF demanding a ransom of INR two million and later they received another call from the outfit stating that the ransom money has been reduced to INR 500,000 and has to be delivered before September 27 (today).

Further, on September 26, a hand grenade was found near the Manipur Diesels showroom in Mantripukhri (Imphal West), reports The Sangai Express. Earlier on August 17, a hand grenade lobbed by some unidentified assailants had exploded in front of the main gate of Manipur Diesels.

Temjen yanger Aier-led NNC forms ‘People’s Government of Nagaland’, says report
Nagaland Post reports on September 26 that following a resolution adopted on July 18, 2014, Temjen yanger Aier-led Naga National Council (NNC) has formed a new ‘Government’ for the political institution of the organization called ‘People’s Government of Nagaland (PGN)’. In a press release, NNC/PGN ‘president’ Temjen yanger Aier and ‘ato kilonser (prime minister)’ Amento Chishi said the guidelines for PGN would be that PGN would function under NNC as political institution. The guidelines further said PGN would extend support to any tribal council/hohos, churches or organization initiating peace activities and its jurisdiction would extend up to claimed ancestral land of the Nagas. PGN would stand against all forms of ‘illegal activities’ and would cooperate with ‘Naga political groups’. It would be privileged to have ‘people’s advice’ on Naga political movement, said the press release.

Two CRPF personnel injured in an explosion in Chhattisgarh
Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured in an explosion caused by pressure bomb, planted by the Communist Party of India-Maoist in a forested patch near Murdunda village on Basaguda road in Bijapur District on September 27, reports The Pioneer. A joint Police party consisting of 168^th battalion CRPF and District Police personnel had reached near Murdunda village to provide security cover for ongoing road construction work, when suddenly a bomb planted on the sides of road went of injuring Dilip Kumar Pandey hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Krishna Mohan native of Punjab.

Maoists plan new war front in in Sahyadri
The Union Ministry for Home Affairs (UMHA) has alerted three southern States after the Communist Party of India-Maoist’s message at an international conference in Milan in Italy held on September 27 and 28, on opening up a new war front in the Sahyadri (Western Ghats) border region of Karnataka-Kerala-Tamil Nadu, reports The Hindu on October 1. The message of the CPI-Maoist Central Committee at “the International Conference in Solidarity with the people’s war in India” comes even as the party admitted that it was “facing heavy odds and losses” in many of its strongholds. As early as 2011 the CPI-Maoist had begun operations in Gudalur, Wayanad, Nilambur, Kodaikanal, Udupi, and Dakshina Kannada. This tri-junction became part of their activities following Operation Green Hunt by the Central Reserve Police Force against Naxalites in the Dandakaranya area in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. Intelligence agencies attribute the 15-page message from the CPI (Maoist) to efforts at garnering support in European countries in spite of New Delhi’s caution.

Police commando killed in IED blast in Manipur
E-pao reports on October 1 that a Police Commando identified as Mayanglambam Ibotomba was killed in an Explosive Device (IED) explosion at Thangal Bazar in Imphal West District. Another commando identified as Ahongsangbam Milan was injured persons in the blast. Times of India further adds that 18 people were injured in the IED explosion. Most of the injured are non-Manipuris.

Further on October 1 Mother of the Pradhan (chief) of Phayeng Gram Panchayat (village self government body) Angom Gojen identified as Thaning was injured when unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade at the Phayeng Awang Leikai in Imphal West District, reports The Sangai Express.

Defused grenade found Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s standby Air India aircraft
The Indian security establishment is worried over the discovery of a defused grenade inside an Air India aircraft kept standby in Delhi for Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s recent trip to the US, reports The Times of India on October 4. The Boeing-746 was kept on standby at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, which means it was fully ready to fly out for the PM in case the Jet being used by him developed a snag. “The B-747 was sent on a Delhi-Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight. On reaching Jeddah in the early hours of Saturday (India time), security agencies there found a defused grenade inside the business class of the aircraft,” said highly placed sources.

Maoist presence spreading in Malabar
Close on the heels of the video propaganda by Communist Party of India-Maoist leader Roopesh through the media, warning of an armed struggle, the Maoist group functioning in the State is strengthening its presence through local recruitment, reports New India Express on October 2. Police doubt that the Maoist group has recruited around 50 persons recently and most of them are from various places in Malabar. Intelligence sources have got information that the Maoist organisation here has brought clothes to stitch around 50 more uniforms for the armed group. Police believe that the new uniforms are for the members of the newly-formed Maoist wings, known as ‘Dhalam’, based at Nilambur and Attappadi. Police suspect that Maoist leader Sinoj died during the training in bomb-making for the newly recruited members. “Maoists usually form a ‘Dhalam’ with 11-15 members. So we can reach the assumption that they have recruited fighters numbering 30 to form two more wings in the state, apart from the one, ‘Kabani Dhalam’, which is already functioning in Wayanad. The Intelligence officials have got information that the total recruitment will be around 50.

Village head killed in Odisha
A tribal village head or peda, identified as Kalmu Penta (52), was killed by cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist in the Malkangiri District on October 5, suspecting him to be a ‘Police informer’, reports The Hindu. According to the anti-Naxalite [Left Wing Extremism (LWE)] cell in the District, some rebels had reached the house of Penta in the Potteru Basti area of Mangipalli village in the night of October 4, and forcefully took him with them. Later they had shot him from close range and the bullet-ridden body of Penta was found near a hillock on the outskirts of Mangipalli village under Malkangiri Village 79 (MV79) Police Station limits of the District, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police (SP) Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said.

IB gets photo of Kalyan youth with ISIS flag
Agencies probing four youths from Kalyan (Maharashtra) who are suspected to have joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have found a photograph of one of them riding a motorcycle in Syria, carrying a flag of the terror organization, reports The Times of India on October 5. Sources from local investigating agencies claimed that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had received a photo from Syria from their sources in which the youth is seen riding motorcycle with three others. The IB shared the photo with investigators from Maharashtra and showed it to the youth’s family. But sources said the youth’s family insisted the person in the photograph was not their son.

Meanwhile, Muslims from Kalyan and Navi Mumbai, who were questioned by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for their suspected role in sending the youth to Iraq have approached the President of India and Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice alleging that investigating agencies were harassing them. But ATS officials rubbished the claims and added that the case was sensitive.

HNLC threaten to return to militant activities in Meghalaya
Expressing disappointment over the delay in the appointment of an interlocutor, Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council on October 5 threatened to resort back to its militant activities following which there would be no looking back as far as peace talks are concerned, reports The Shillong Times. The ‘publicity secretary’ Sainkupar Nongtraw said that even though the deadline given by the outfit to assign an interlocutor ended on September 24, the Government of India (GoI) was yet to act on the matter.

AuT pledges allegiance to IS
Ansar-ut-Tawheed (AuT), an ultra-religious offshoot of banned Indian Mujahideen (IM), has pledged allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) and its self-styled caliph Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi threatening major attacks in India, reports Hindustan Times on October 5. In a video released through its official media outlet, AuT’s ideologue and chief Abdul Rehman Nadvi Al-Hindi announced the group’s decision of getting under the IS umbrella. AuT is in its nascent stage and has evolved under Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan, focusing primarily on waging jihad in India. It is the fourth group in Southeast Asia after Abu Sayyaf group of Philippines, Jamaah Islamiyah of Indonesia and Al-Tawheed Battalion of Afghanistan-Pakistan region, to have given allegiance to the IS. Nadvi, in the video, alleged United States (US), India, Saudi Arabia, Australia, France, Canada and a few other countries were forming an axis of evil. Vowing to create Islamic State in India, Nadvi said: “The Ummah (community) could not afford to lose this battle, as it will mean subjugation forever.” Nadvi is believed to be leading the pack of old IM leaders, mostly from Azamgarh District of Uttar Pradesh, who had moved to Pakistan after the Batla House encounter in Delhi.

Central Government reluctant to allow NIA to register case against ISIS
Fearing a backlash against Indians in Iraq, the Central Government is reluctant to allow National Investigation Agency (NIA) to register a case against terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), reports India Today on October 9. Highly-placed sources said Indians who are still in the captivity of the ISIS could become soft targets if India initiates any action against them. Thirty nine Indians still remain in their custody. Top Government sources said the Government was not in a hurry to register a case as it wasn’t in favour of it at the moment. “We are apprehensive as the group could target Indians in Iraq and other countries in the region where it is active,” said a senior Government official.

Last month, the NIA wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), seeking permission to register an First Information Report (FIR) against the ISIS, suggesting that an open case under various provisions of Unlawful Activities [Prevention] Act (UAPA) and the United Nations Convention on terrorism could be filed for brainwashing the youths for terror activities. The NIA was of the view that registering an FIR would also help the Government to declare ISIS a banned organization.

CRPF trooper injured in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper, identified as Sandeep Kumar, was injured in an encounter between Security Forces and the cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist in a forested pocket in Kudmel hills under Mirtur Police Station limits in Bijapur District on October 9, reports The Pioneer. The joint squad of Paramilitary Force and District Force (DF) were carrying out a combing operation in the region when the Police party confronted the insurgents, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Bijapur, Indira Kalyan Elesela said.

Assam based businessman killed in Meghalaya
On October 10, militants of Achik Matgrik Elite Force (AMEF) shot a vehicle carrying four Assam-based businessmen and killed a trader, identified as Atawar Ali, at Abrong Hill Road in Wageasi in East Garo Hills, reports The Shillong Times. A trader Rejabul Islam sustained grievous injuries and another businessman, identified as Haider Ali, sustained minor injuries. The fourth businessman, identified as Sayedur Rahman, was unhurt. Police stated that militants wanted to abduct these traders for ransom but when they resisted the militants fired at them.

Also, a forester employed by the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), identified as Albert B Marak, was reportedly abducted by unknown miscreants from Boda Apal village under Mendipathar Police station in North Garo Hills District on October 8, reports The Shillong Times.

200 kgs explosive, 6 dozen crude bombs seized in Jharkhand
Security Forces (SFs) recovered a cache of over 200 kg of explosives and six dozen locally made pressure bombs during an anti-Naxal [Left wing Extremism (LWE)] raid in the forests of Barwadih in Latehar District on October 13, reports Zee News. “203 kg explosives, 35 pressure cooker bombs and 36 tiffin bombs have been recovered from the Maoist hideout,” an unnamed senior officer said.

Two militants of a new group arrested in Assam
With the arrest of two militants, identified as Durbachan Langthasa and Dilli Daulagapu, near Dhansiri in Karbi Anglong District on October 13, it has been confirmed that a new militant group, Hills State United Liberation Front’ (HSULF) with its base at Assam-Nagaland border has been formed , reports Nagaland Post. One 3.32 pistol and few ammunition were recovered from the arrested militants. According to a senior Police officer, both the accused have confessed that HSULF was raised in 2013 and became operational in the month of June. They reportedly told Police that presently around 40 Dimasa and 20 Bodo youth constituted the group. The group is also reportedly headed by ‘chairman’ Hakato Aumi. Police source stated that the two militants stated that that the outfit’s arsenal consisted of 2 lathed guns, three G-3 rifle, three Self Loading rifle, two carbine, twenty AK 47 and 56 assault rifle, twenty 9mmpistol and 50 grenades.

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

	Civilians	Indian Security Personnel	Militant	Total
Assam	03	00	15	18
Manipur	01	00	02	03
Meghalaya	02	00	02	04
Mizoram	01	00	01	02
Tripura	02	00	00	02
Left-wing	08	01	08	17
Total	17	01	28	46

Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics

Sri Lanka backed by 22 nations against UNHRC probe
A group of 22 nations have supported Sri Lanka for its ongoing spat with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHGHR) mandated probe into alleged human rights violations during the armed conflict with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reports Colombo Page. Calling the United Nations (UN) investigation on Sri Lanka as ‘intrusive’ and ‘unjustified’ the Like Minded Group of countries on September 25 delivered a joint statement through its chair, Egypt at the 27^th session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland supporting Sri Lanka’s stance on the probe. The Like Minded Group delivered the statement on behalf of Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, North Korea, Myanmar, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, The Sudan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Trial against Sri Lankan fund manager accused of funding LTTE to begin next year, says report
The trial against Sri Lankan-born Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam for allegedly funding Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is expected to begin as early as 2015, reports Colombo Page on October 4. In a seven-count complaint filed in the United States (US) District Court for the District of New Jersey by the law firm Motley Rice LLC, family members of those killed and survivors of bombings committed by the LTTE alleged that Rajaratnam and the family foundation headed by his father provided millions of dollars in funds used for terrorist attacks. However, the case has since been kept on hold because of several factors. Raj Rajaratnam is currently serving an 11-year prison term after convicted by the Federal Court in New York in October 2011 for insider-trading.

Sri Lanka resumes trains to war-battered Jaffna
Sri Lanka’s president on Monday, Oct 13 launched train services to the battle-scarred city of Jaffna nearly 25 years after a bloody ethnic conflict destroyed the region’s entire railway network. President Mahinda Rajapaksa boarded a special train from the town of Palai on the southern end of the Jaffna peninsula and travelled to the cultural capital of Sri Lanka’s ethnic minority Tamils. His train stopped at three stations rebuilt as part of the reconstruction of 250-kilometres (157 miles) of track across the former war zone, both in the Jaffna peninsula and the northern mainland.

“The resumption of the train service shows Jaffna is fast becoming a centre of development” after decades of war, Transport Minister Kumara Welgama said.

The train service from Jaffna, 400-km north of the capital Colombo, came to a halt in June 1990 after the collapse of a truce between separatist Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces.

The Tigers ruled Jaffna as their de-facto separate state for nearly five years till they were driven out of the peninsula after a major offensive in 1995.

However, train services could not resume because of fighting in the rest of the northern mainland. Tiger rebels had also ripped up rails and sleepers to build bunkers. After the crushing defeat of the guerrillas in May 2009, the authorities began an ambitious reconstruction effort that included restoration of rail links — a key bridge between the Sinhalese majority in the south and the minority Tamil-dominated north.

The railways were restored under an $800-million Indian credit line and Ircon International Ltd, India’s leading public-sector construction company, began the work in 2011.

The line to Jaffna was initially laid in the early part of the last century with the first train commissioned in 1905 by the then British colonial rulers.

IRCON project director Shyam Lal Gupta said the northern line is Sri Lanka’s fastest track, capable of speeds of up to 120-km, triple the average speed elsewhere.

Workers have also relaid tracks to the northwest coast of Mannar on the northern mainland which could allow resumption of a train-and-ferry link to neighbouring south India.

The rail connection with India was disrupted three decades ago when fighting intensified in a conflict that eventually claimed 100,000 lives, according to UN estimates.

Sri Lanka restricts foreigners from visiting former war zone in Northern Province
Army Media Spokesperson Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya on October 15 announced that foreigners and foreign organizations who wish to visit the war-battered region in the Northern Province need to obtain prior clearance from the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development, reports Colombo Page. The Spokesperson stressed that the Ministry has taken the decision following information received by the Government intelligence services that certain foreign nationals are engaged in spreading various opinions among different communities in North to incite public disturbance and conflicts among the civilians, thereby threatening the national security. Sri Lanka’s military authorities said there is a renewed attempt by the Tamil diaspora supporting the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to revive the group in the North to launch another phase of its struggle for a separate State.

Sri Lanka terror suspect deported from Malaysia
Malaysian authorities have deported a Sri Lankan national, who is suspected of indirectly having links to al Qaeda and planning terror attacks in India, to Sri Lanka, reports Colombo Page on October 15. Mohammad Hussain Mohammad Sulaiman was arrested by the Special Unit of Malaysian Police from the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in May for an alleged conspiracy to carry out terror attacks on the United States (US) and Israeli consulates in South India. Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said the man was sent back to Colombo for further investigation and to be questioned by Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka Police.

EU court overturns Tamil Tiger sanctions but maintains asset freeze
European Union judges struck down anti-terrorism sanctions against the Tamil Tigers that were imposed by the EU but said on Thursday, Oct 16 that the assets of the Sri Lankan group should remain frozen for the time being. The court said a decision by EU leaders in 2006 to place the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on a list of terrorist organisations had been based on “imputations derived from the press and the Internet” rather than on direct investigation of the group’s actions, as required by law.

It said in a statement that the EU had also failed, when following Indian sanctions against the Tigers, to ensure that India gave sufficient judicial protection to those it accused. However, the court rejected the LTTE’s contention that it was exempt from EU anti-terrorism legislation because it was engaged in an “armed conflict” with the Sri Lankan government and bound by the laws of war. The court, which stressed it was taking no view on whether the LTTE was a terrorist organisation, said EU laws on terrorism also applied to armed conflicts.

Saying that sanctions might be applied in future against the Tigers, who were defeated militarily in 2009, the court said assets that were frozen should remain so “temporarily”.

Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Ministry said in a statement the government was ready to provide information to justify designating the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.

Sri Lanka has tightened security in the former war zone in the north of the country after its military in April killed three ethnic Tamil separatists who the army said had attempted to revive the terrorist outfit.

Higher military officials have told Reuters that funds from some EU member countries have been sent to those who are trying to instigate renewed violence in the heavily militarised north.

INTERNATIONAL

Radical preacher of Pakistan origin arrested with 8 others in London
British Police on September 25 arrested nine suspects, including leading a radical preacher of Pakistani descent, Anjem Choudary (47), in London on suspicion of links with the banned extremist group Al-Muhajiroun, reports Dawn. The arrests “are part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist-related terrorism and are not in response to any immediate public safety risk”, Scotland Yard said. Anjem has said that he does not “feel sorry” for British hostage Alan Henning, who is being held by Islamic State (IS) militants, because he is not a Muslim, and has called IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the “prince of believers”.

Al-Muhajiroun aims to overthrow the British Government and replace it with an Islamic state before establishing a global Islamic caliphate, according to the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence. The organisation was last banned in Britain under the Terrorism Act in 2010 although it has been proscribed in the past only to re-appear again under different names – as in the wake of the bombings in London on July 7, 2005. Al-Muhajiroun has also celebrated those responsible for the September 11, 2001, (also known as 9/11) attacks on the United States as “the Magnificent 19”.

Top Tajik cleric issues Fatwa against govt critics
Tajikistan’s top Muslim cleric has issued a Fatwa against criticising the isolated ex-Soviet country’s hardline regime, telling reporters on Saturday, Sept 27 it would be considered a “great sin”. “The Islamic centre of Tajikistan has passed a new special Fatwa according to which criticism of the ruling powers will be judged a ‘great sin’,” said chief mufti Syed mukarram Abdul kodir zoda. “Criticism undermines trust in the authorities,” he warned.

The chief mufti issued the Fatwa or religious edict during his Friday sermon at the main mosque in the capital Dushanbe.

Tajik religious experts said the Fatwa was agreed with the Central Asian country’s authorities and that most moderate Muslims would not obey it.

Tajikistan’s moderate opposition Islamic Revival Party also said the Fatwa was “dictated by the authorities” in the overwhelmingly Muslim country of 8.5 million, which is officially secular.

A journalist from an opposition newspaper who asked not to be named said: “Now even official religious leaders want to sew up the mouths of journalists and those who want to express themselves freely in a democratic, secular country.”

Russia’s Lavrov slam US ‘military interference’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, Sept 27 accused the United States of resorting to “military interference” to defend its interests, in a veiled reference to the air campaign in Syria.

“Washington has openly declared its right to unilateral use of force anywhere to uphold its own interests,” Lavrov told the UN General Assembly.

“Military interference has become a norm — even despite the dismal outcome of all power operations that the US has carried out over the recent years.” Lavrov cited the Nato air campaign in Yugoslavia, the Iraq war, the Libya campaign and the Afghanistan mission as examples of US-led military actions that he said had led to “chaos and instability.”

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has criticized US-led air strikes on Islamist fighters in Syria as illegal and argued that the West should cooperate with Damascus in confronting the Jihadists.

Lavrov charged that the United States and its western allies were portraying themselves as champions of democracy when in fact they were “trying to decide for everyone what is good or evil.

“Russia has sent “large supplies of weapons and military equipment” to Iraq, Syria and other Middle East countries and will continue the military support, he said. The diplomatic clash over military action in Syria has unfolded against the backdrop of East-West tensions over Ukraine, where pro-Moscow rebels in the east are fighting the pro-European government in Kiev.

Lavrov said Ukraine had “fallen victim” to Washington’s “arrogant policy,” asserting that the United States and the European Union supported a “coup d’etat” in Ukraine that ousted president Viktor Yanukovych in February.

Speaking at the podium of the 193-nation Assembly, Lavrov called for restoring “global priorities” and “avoid making them hostages of a unilateral agenda.”

22 killed in Guinea Bissau
At least 22 people were killed in Guinea-Bissau when a vehicle taking them to a funeral struck a landmine, a police source said on Saturday, Sept 27.

The incident happened on Friday afternoon near Mansoa, about 60 km northeast of the capital, Bissau.

The police source, who asked not to be named, said 19 people were killed on the spot when the blast tore the vehicle in two and a further three people died of their injuries overnight. There was no immediate statement from the government.

Hundreds of people have been killed by landmines laid during Guinea-Bissau’s independence war with Portugal in the 1970s and the nation’s internal conflicts in the 1990s.

Guinea-Bissau held elections earlier this year meant to draw a line under the country’s last coup in 2012.

Saudi ‘suspect’ killed in clash
A Saudi wanted on “terror-related” charges has been killed in a gun battle with security forces in a village, the kingdom’s interior ministry said on Sunday, Sept 28.

Basem Ali Mohammed al-Gidaihi “died on Sunday afternoon,” ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told AFP.

Gidaihi was taken to hospital after the exchange of fire in the village of Awamiya, the scene of past clashes with protesters, but suffered a “setback” following initial treatment, the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing doctors.

An associate of the suspect was in stable condition after being wounded in the gunfight, the doctors added.

Gidaihi was wanted on charges including previously shooting at police and taking part in “riots”, SPA reported citing the interior ministry.

Awamiya is just west of Dammam city in oil-rich Eastern Province.

In early September authorities said gunmen fired at a police patrol in Awamiya, wounding one security officer and causing a pipeline to catch fire.

Obama says misread Islamic State;Qaeda warns of attacks on West
President Barack Obama has acknowledged that US intelligence underestimated the rise of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, where the head of an al-Qaeda branch warned militants will attack the West in retaliation for US-led air strikes.

Turkish tanks took up positions on the Syrian frontier, opposite a besieged border town where Islamic State shelling intensified and stray fire hit Turkish soil.

US-led air strikes overnight hit a natural gas plant controlled by Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria, a monitoring body reported, part of an apparent campaign to disrupt one of the fighters’ main sources of income.

The United States has been bombing Islamic State and other groups in Syria for a week with the help of Arab allies, and hitting targets in neighbouring Iraq since last month. European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq but not in Syria.

Islamic State, a militant group which broke off from al-Qaeda, alarmed the West and the Middle East by sweeping through northern Iraq in June.

It is battling governments in both Iraq and Syria, as well as other groups in Syria and Kurdish groups in both countries, part of complex multi-sided civil wars in which nearly every country in the Middle East has a stake.

The head of Syria’s al-Qaeda branch, the Nusra Front, a militant group which is a rival of Islamic State and has also been targeted by US strikes, said Islamists would carry out attacks on the West in retaliation for the campaign.

He also said his followers should not take advantage of the US strikes to hit out at Islamic State. The US strikes have created pressure on Nusra to reconcile with Islamic State, a move that would unite Syria’s most powerful Islamist forces and widen territory under their control.

Obama has worked since August to build an international coalition to combat the fighters, describing them last week in an address to the United Nations as a “network of death”.

His acknowledgment in an interview broadcast on Sunday that US intelligence had underestimated Islamic State offered an explanation for why Washington appeared to have been taken by surprise when the fighters surged through northern Iraq in June.

Saudi warns of challenge of Yemen violence
Saudi Arabia has warned that neighbouring Yemen risks sliding towards further violence which could damage regional security, after rebels overran the capital last week. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the kingdom’s Foreign Minister, called at the United Nations for immediate implementation of a UN-brokered peace deal which he said had been flouted by the insurgents, local media reported on Monday, Sept 29.

The rebels advanced from their stronghold in northwestern mountains to the capital Sanaa last month, then seized key state installations with little or no resistance on September 21.
Under the peace deal signed that same day, they are supposed to withdraw once President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi names a new prime minister.

“The Republic of Yemen is facing a situation which is developing in an extremely serious way and which requires us to come together to meet this unprecedented challenge,” Prince Saud was quoted as saying in remarks at the UN General Assembly in New York.

He cautioned that if a solution is not found, Yemen “could slide towards more violence” liable to affect regional and international security.

“We call on all the parties to urgently apply the accord in its totality and we exhort the international community to help Yemen by all means possible,” Prince Saud said.

Saudi Arabia and other countries of the Gulf back Yemen’s President Hadi, who has warned of “foreign plots” against his country. It was a reference to Iran, which Yemeni authorities have repeatedly accused of backing the Huthi rebels, who also appear influenced by Lebanon’s powerful militia Hizbullah.

Nine Bahrainis jailed for life, stripped of nationality
Nine Bahraini have been jailed for life and stripped of their nationality for smuggling arms to be used in “terrorist acts”, the Gulf kingdom’s prosecutor general announced on Monday, Sept 29.

A Manama court also found all nine guilty of having contacted an agent of an unnamed foreign country “to carry out acts hostile to Bahrain”, he said in a statement.

The case dates back to February 2013 when authorities in the Sunni-ruled country announced they had dismantled a “terrorist cell” with links to Iran. Members of the group spied for Tehran and its elite Revolutionary Guards, the interior ministry said at the time, and had set up an armed organisation called Jaish al-Imam, or the army of the imam.

Dozens of Bahraini have been given lengthy prison terms after being convicted of involvement in protests which have shaken the country since February 2011.

The tiny but strategic kingdom, just across the Gulf from Iran and home base for the US Fifth Fleet, remains deeply divided three years after authorities crushed the uprising. Protests in villages around the capital still spark clashes with police.

Bombs kill 41 children
Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes were locked in fierce fighting on Wednesday, Oct 1 to prevent a key Syrian border town from falling into the hands of Islamic State group Jihadists.

It came as 41 children were reported dead in twin bombings that hit a school in the government-controlled central city of Homs, which has been devastated by the three-year civil war. Anti-Jihadist air strikes and heavy clashes in the besieged town of Ain al-Arab on the Turkish border killed at least 18 people — nine militants and nine Kurdish fighters, monitors said.

Iraqi pilots mistakenly gave food, arms to ISIS
Iraqi military pilots mistakenly gave food, water and ammunition to enemy ISIS militants instead of their own soldiers, a senior security official and a brigadier-general said on Wednesday, Oct 1.

The supplies were supposed to help besieged Iraqi army officers and soldiers who had been fighting Islamist extremists for a week in Saglawyah and the village of Al-Sijar in the country’s western province of Anbar.

“Some pilots, instead of dropping these supplies over the area of the Iraqi army, threw it over the area that is controlled by ISIS fighters,” said Hakim Al-Zamili, a lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament who is a member of the security and defense committee and acts as a security liaison for service members and commanders formed by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. “Those soldiers were in deadly need of these supplies, but because of the wrong plans of the commanders in the Iraqi army and lack of experience of the pilots, we in a way or another helped ISIS fighters to kill our soldiers.”

A brigadier-general in Iraq’s Defence Ministry, who declined to be named, confirmed the incident, which occurred on Sept. 19. “Yes, that’s what had happened,” the officer said, adding that some air force pilots “do not have enough experience … they are all young and new.” Both Al-Zamili and the brigadier-general said there would be an investigation to determine the cause of the blunder.

Islamic State video shows second UK hostage beheaded
Islamic State militants beheaded British aid worker Alan Henning in a video posted on Friday, Oct 3 triggering swift condemnation by the British and US governments.

The footage on YouTube, highlighted on pro-Islamic State Twitter feeds, showed a middle-aged man in an orange jumpsuit kneeling next to a black-clad militant in arid scrubland, similar to past Islamic State beheading videos of two American journalists and a British aid worker.

As in previous videos, Henning appears to read from a script before he is killed. “Because of our parliament’s decision to attack the Islamic State, I, as a member of the British public, will now pay the price for that decision,” he says.

A male voice with a British accent says, “The blood of David Haines was on your hands Cameron,” in references to the slain aid worker and to Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron. “Alan Henning will also be slaughtered, but his blood is on the hands of the British parliament.”

Henning, a 47-year-old taxi driver from Salford in northern England, was part of an aid convoy taking medical supplies to a hospital in northwest Syria in December last year when it was stopped by gunmen and he was abducted.

In response to the video, Cameron said: “The brutal murder of Alan Henning by ISIL shows just how barbaric and repulsive these terrorists are. My thoughts and prayers tonight are with Alan’s wife Barbara, their children and all those who loved him.”

Alan had gone to Syria to help get aid to people of all faiths in their hour of need. We will do all we can to hunt down these murderers and bring them to justice.

“US officials said they had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the video, titled “Another Message to America and its Allies.”

Near the end of the one-minute, 11-second video, the man in black introduces another hostage identified as American Peter Edward Kassig. His parents later issued a statement confirming their 26-year-old son had been taken captive while doing humanitarian work in Syria. “We ask everyone around the world to pray for the Henning family, for our son, and for the release of all innocent people being held hostage in the Middle East and around the globe,” Ed and Paula Kassig of Indianapolis, Indiana, said in the statement.

Kassig had served in the US Army during the Iraq war before being medically discharged, the family said. Pentagon records show he spent a year in the army as a Ranger and was deployed to Iraq from April to July 2007.

Yemen sinks into new crisis after rebels reject new PM
Yemeni rebels dug in their heels on Wednesday, Oct 8 after rejecting the newly named premier, stirring fears of further violence as al-Qaeda and tribes accused security forces of favouring the insurgents. With confusion reigning in rebel-controlled Sanaa, suspected militants with al-Qaeda, which has vowed to battle the rebels, killed 10 policemen in central Yemen. President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi late on Tuesday named his chief of staff Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as the new prime minister, after a UN-brokered peace deal agreed on September 21, the day the Huthi rebels overran the capital unopposed. The accord provided for a rebel withdrawal from Sanaa once a neutral premier was named, for their disarmament and for the political transition to be revitalised. But the rebels swiftly condemned Bin Mubarak´s appointment as against the “will of the nation” and “at the behest of outside forces”, an apparent reference to US and Saudi influence.

Hadi received the American and Saudi envoys shortly after he and his advisers discussed the overdue appointment of a new premier, an AFP correspondent said. The rebel leader, Abdulmalik al-Huthi, has yet to comment on the nomination. “Issues were not settled beforehand,” one Western diplomat said on Wednesday, adding that the General People´s Congress of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh also rejected the appointment.

A GPC statement urged Hadi to reconsider the “non-consensual decision” and propose a “consensual alternative”, accusing Bin Mubarak of “never being neutral or independent”.

Five candidates had been shortlisted out of 21 candidates, before Hadi reduced the number to three during a meeting with seven advisers, including a rebel representative who left the gathering in protest.

A Hadi aide accused the rebels of rejecting the decision because “they do not want to keep their commitments” under the peace deal. Since swooping on Sanaa, the rebels have been continuously tightening their grip on the city while also looking to expand their control eastwards to oilfields and to the strategic southwestern strait of Bab el-Mandab.

Foes of the Huthi rebels accuse them of taking orders from Iran and rejecting Bin Mubarak because of his political past as a student at Baghdad University, where he was in Saddam Hussein´s Baath party.

However the Western diplomat downplayed Iran’s role in shaping the Huthi position, arguing that “Tehran has other strategic priorities in the region”.

The apparent Huthi strategy of seeking to exert gradual control of Yemen has sparked a strong reaction from al-Qaeda which remains active in the south and east and taps the Sunni majority for recruits. On Wednesday, suspected al-Qaeda militants launched a wave of dawn attacks on police and the army in the central town of Baida, killing 10 policemen, officials said.

The attacks came after a meeting of tribal chiefs — some with links to al-Qaeda — decided to “respond to the increased presence of Huthi rebels in Baida”, an official said. The heads of the Sunni Muslim tribes believe that members of the security services in Baida are sympathetic towards the Huthis.

More than 330 killed in Ukraine since truce: UN
More than 330 people have been killed in Ukraine since a fragile truce began a month ago, with five million people affected by continuing violence, the United Nations said on Wednesday, Oct 8. A report from the UN rights agency also found that before the September 5 ceasefire, pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine had seen their numbers significantly bolstered by an influx of foreign fighters, including apparently Russian citizens.

His office said 331 deaths were recorded between September 6 and Monday, although it stressed that some of those deaths may have occurred before the peace pact was signed in Minsk on September 5 but were not logged until afterwards. That amounts to just over 10 deaths per day on average, said Gianni Magazzeni, who heads the rights agency´s Americas, Europe and Central Asia branch.

That is about the same as the average toll from April through June of 11 deaths per day, before it rose to around 30 per day in July and soared to 42 per day just before the signing of the truce, he noted to reporters in Geneva.

Mortar and shelling attacks have meanwhile killed 14 civilians since the weekend — one of the deadliest spells in six months of fighting that has killed nearly 3,400 people across the mainly Russian-speaking east.

He said the team of 35 UN rights monitors on the ground had recently been receiving reports of mass graves with a total of around 400 bodies in parts of the Donetsk region that had been under control of both pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces.

But the UN monitors did not gain access to the area and were unable to verify the reports, he said, calling for an independent investigation, including by forensic experts.

In its latest report covering the period from August 18 to September 16, Zeid´s office meanwhile found that before the ceasefire, “an increasing number of foreign fighters were reported to be participating in the fighting, including citizens of the Russian Federation.”

It said that former Russian servicemen and active duty personnel on leave were allegedly among them.

During the period covered by the report, pro-Russian armed groups had “continued to terrorise the population in areas under their control, pursuing killings, abductions, torture, ill-treatment and other serious human rights abuses, including destruction of housing and seizure of property,” it said.

It also detailed continued allegations of human rights violations by some pro-Kiev volunteer battalions.

Between August 24 and September 5, the report also noted “a sharp increase in detentions by the armed groups” on the pro-Russian side, as well as “alarming reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including mock executions and sexual violence.”

‘Thousands’ monitored by security services in London
Britain’s security services are monitoring “thousands” of people in London, the city’s mayor Boris Johnson said in an interview on Saturday, Oct 11 amid heightened fears of attack by homegrown Jihadists.

Johnson’s comments came as Scotland Yard continued to question five men arrested in the capital on Tuesday on suspicion of planning a terrorist act.

“In London we’re very, very vigilant and very, very concerned,” Johnson told The Daily Telegraph.

“Every day — as you saw recently, we had to raise the threat level — every day the security services are involved in thousands of operations.

“There are probably in the low thousands of people that we are monitoring in London.”

Britain’s terrorism threat level was raised to “severe” in August, the second-highest, which means that an attack is thought to be “highly likely”.

Intelligence services say the threat comes primarily from the Islamic State (IS) group and al-Qaeda.

On Friday, police across Britain were also warned by the top officer in charge of counter-terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley.

“The threat level to police officers and staff has been heightened, but we are used to confronting risk and danger, this is what we do on a daily basis, and we are well trained,” he said.

The government believes that around 500 people have travelled from Britain and are fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Johnson said that of these, “we think a third, maybe more — maybe half — come from the London area”.

34 killed in Baghdad blasts
Car bomb blasts in two neighbourhoods of the Iraqi capital killed at least 34 people and wounded 54 on Saturday, Oct 11 police and medical sources said.

A suicide car bomb exploded at a police checkpoint guarding Kadhimiya, a neighbourhood in northwestern Baghdad. A police colonel said at least 10 people were killed and 31 wounded, a toll confirmed by a medical source.

Farther west, in the district of Shoala, a car bomb went off in a busy commercial street, killing at least 24 people and wounding another 23, a medical source said.

There were conflicting reports as to whether the carnage in Shoala might have been caused by two consecutive explosions, but a source at the interior ministry gave a similar toll.

On Thursday, at least 12 people died in another car bomb attack on the sprawling Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City.

The United Nations said more than 1,110 people were killed in acts of violence across Iraq in September. According to an AFP count, more than 250 have already been killed this month.

While the bloodshed has been mainly on the frontlines where federal, Kurdish and allied forces battle the Islamic State Jihadist group, blasts and executions in Baghdad continue to take a heavy toll.

Germany trying to convince Turkey, Iran to join fight against IS
Germany is trying to convince Turkey and Iran to join the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a German newspaper. In an interview with Berlin’s Tagesspiegel daily, Steinmeier said longstanding animosities in the Middle East needed to be set aside to ensure a united front against IS and he vowed to raise this with Saudi Arabia’s leadership when he visits the country on Sunday, Oct 12.

“We are trying to convince the Arab countries, Turkey and Iran that it is necessary to work together against IS,” he told the newspaper. He added that Germany was urging Ankara to fight IS with “full force”.

Stein Meier’s comments came as over 20,000 people, mainly Kurds, demonstrated against IS in the western German city of Duesseldorf. Similar marches in Hamburg and Celle over the past week have led to violent clashes between Kurds and radical Islamists but police said Saturday’s demonstration was peaceful.

On Friday, a United Nations envoy warned that thousands of Kurds in Kobani were likely to be massacred if the Syrian town near the border with Turkey fell to advancing IS fighters. The besieged town is in full view of Turkish tanks that have done nothing to intervene. Kobani’s plight has unleashed the worst street violence in Turkey, home to 15 million Kurds, in years.

Iran has blamed the West for the rise of IS, which controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq, but also suggested the need for common action in confronting extremists.

Iran has been holding talks with six world powers on its disputed nuclear programme, but the two sides failed to meet a self-imposed July target date for a long-term accord and now face a new deadline of Nov 24.

Meanwhile, Kurdish forces defending Kobani urged a US-led coalition to escalate air strikes on Islamic State fighters who tightened their grip on the Syrian town at the border with Turkey on Saturday.

A group that monitors the Syrian civil war said the Kurdish forces faced inevitable defeat in Kobani if Turkey did not open its border to let through arms – something Ankara has so far appeared reluctant to do.

‘Iran must withdraw forces from Syria’
Iran must withdraw its “occupying” forces from Syria to help resolve that country’s conflict, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Monday, Oct 13 after talks with his German counterpart.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states support rebel groups which have been battling Assad since March 2011 in a war which has killed more than 180,000 people.

Assad receives financial and military aid from Iran, which denies having fighters on the ground. He is also backed by fighters from Lebanon’s pro-Iranian movement Hizbullah, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“If Iran wants to be part of the solution in Syria, it has to pull its forces from Syria. The same applies elsewhere, whether in Yemen or Iraq,” the Saudi minister said.

Iran is accused of backing rebels in Yemen, who overran the capital Sanaa on September 21.

Iran and Iraq have grown closer in the realms of government and security since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Among the many groups fighting Assad is the Islamic State group of extremists, which Saudi Arabia and four other Arab states are now battling under a US-led coalition. The Arab nations have taken part in or given support to coalition air strikes against the IS militants in Syria.

IS has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, declaring a “caliphate” where they have been accused of carrying out widespread atrocities, including mass executions, crucifixions and beheadings, and forcing women into slavery.

Such extremism “has nothing to do with Islam”, Saudi King Abdullah said last week.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Monday blamed the United States and the “wicked” British government for creating the Islamic State in his first speech since undergoing prostate surgery last month. The sharp remarks were a reminder of Iranian suspicions about the West despite the emergence of the militants in Iraq and Syria as the common foe of Tehran and Washington.

Khamenei’s accusation appeared to be reference to Western support for the rebel forces fighting Tehran’s close ally, Syrian President Bashar-al Assad. Hardline Islamists have emerged as the rebels’ strongest military element. Iran also believes the United States and Britain are using the Islamist threat to justify their renewed presence in the region.

Yemen rebels seize major Red Sea port city
Yemeni rebels have seized a major port city to add to their fast-expanding territory, just hours after a new premier was named in a bid to resolve the political crisis. The Huthi rebels met little resistance as they overran Hudeida late on Oct 14, taking control of Yemen´s second most important seaport, a security official said. “Huthi militants are deployed across vital installations, including the airport and the port,” the official said.

Military and rebel sources confirmed that Huthi militants were seen deployed across main roads in the city, which is home to more than two million people.

Witnesses and local sources said the militants had set up checkpoints at the city´s main entrances, while a security guard was reported dead when the rebels seized a court building.

A local official said that the Huthis had captured an arms depot near Hudeida before they launched their offensive.

The takeover came just weeks after the rebels swept into the capital Sanaa, 226 kilometres to the east.

The impoverished country has been wracked by political turmoil and sporadic violence since an uprising toppled strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012.

Rebels and militants have been battling to exploit a power vacuum in Yemen, which is located next to oil-rich Saudi Arabia and key shipping routes in the Gulf of Aden.

The rebels, who are traditionally based in the north, have been battling troops in recent months as part of their bid to spread their control across the country.

Huthi militiamen stormed into Sanaa on September 21, easily seizing key government installations, and they now man checkpoints and run patrols across the capital in almost total absence of the security forces.

American killed in Riyadh
A gunman shot dead one American and wounded another at a petrol station in the Saudi capital on Tuesday, Oct 14 in a rare attack on Westerners in the kingdom, police said.

The victims worked for Vinnell Arabia, a US-Saudi joint venture which provides training for the Saudi Arabian National Guard. US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki confirmed the incident and said the second American was “lightly injured”.

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.