Special Emphasis on Terrorism (June-2015)

Terrorist Activities in Pakistan

Suicide Attacks
At least three persons, including two Police officials, were killed on April 30 when former Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao’s convoy came under a suicide attack in the Umarzai town of Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports The Nation. The minister remained safe. According to officials and eyewitnesses, Sherpao was attacked as soon as he left the venue of a public meeting. When the suicide bomber tried coming close to Sherpao, Police officials shot him dead. However, the explosives attached to his body detonated killing two Police officials. Three people were also injured in the attack. This is the fourth attack on Sherpao in recent years.

One person lost his life while three others sustained injuries in a terrorist attack at a school ground when a football match was going on in Alizai area of Kurram Agency on May 6, reports The News. Security Forces sprung to action and killed one suicide bomber while another bomber blew himself up. Where the incident happened is a Shia-dominated area. Two Police official were also among the injured.

Bomb/IED Blasts
Four persons were killed and 20 others were injured in a bomb blast near the vegetable market on the Chakar Khan Road in Sibi town of same District in Balochistan on April 26, reports The News. District Police Officer (DPO) Anwar Khetran said unidentified militants had attached an explosive device to a motorcycle which went off when the market was full of buyers. The blast left at least four people dead and 20 others injured. Shops and vehicles around the blast site sustained damage.

At least five security personnel were injured in a roadside explosion in Loni Road area of Kulachi tehsil(revenue unit) in Dera Ismail Khan District on April 27, reports Daily Times. According to officials, the incident took place in Loni Road area where a bomb exploded near vehicle carrying security personnel.

One person was killed and another injured on April 28 as an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at Bagh-e-Naran Chowk in Hayatabad, reports Daily Times. According to Police, the explosion took place near a private school which was closed at that time. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations said a convoy of Security Forces (SFs) was passing by when the explosion occurred. No security personnel were injured in the blast and the van also remained safe. However, two passers-by sustained injuries who later succumbed to their injuries at hospital.

A peace committee member was killed on May 1 in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Nawagai tehsil of Bajaur Agency, reports Daily Times. Khalid Khan, son of Nawagai Aman (Peace) Committee Amir (chief) Guldad Khan, was hit by the IED planted on the roadside around 20 metres from his residence. The Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the killing.

Two persons including a father and a son were killed in a bomb blast in Mangah area of Mardan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on May 1, reports Daily Times. Police said that the blast took place in Mangah area where explosive material planted by unidentified militants in agricultural land suddenly blasted. As a result of the explosion, the motorcycle bourne father-son duo died on the spot.

Six people, including a pro-government tribal elder, identified as Malak Muhammad Jan, was killed in a remote-controlled Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Bar Kamar area of Mamond tehsil (revenue unit) in Bajaur Agency, reports Dawn. Muhammad Jan was on his way to the Har area when the IED exploded.

Three people were killed and over a dozen persons, which include several police officials, were injured after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) targeting President Mamnoon Hussain’s son Salman Hussain’s convoy exploded outside a local restaurant in Hub city of Lasbela District on May 24, reports Dawn. However, Salman remained unhurt in the attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Targetted Killings
At least three Shia Hazaras were shot dead in a targeted attack at local bus stop in Satellite Town area of Quetta on April 27, reports Daily Times. Station House Officer (SHO) Raja Qayyum said that three people, belonging to the Hazara community were sitting beside a tree outside the bus stop when unidentified assailants, riding a motorcycle, opened fire at them. As a result, two of them were killed on the spot, another was seriously injured, and later died in the hospital. The deceased were identified as Mirza Hussain, Asadullah and Mohammad Ali. They were waiting to buy a ticket for Makran bound bus at the terminal.

An Assistant Professor of the Department of Mass Communication of University of Karachi, identified as Dr Syed Wahidur Rehman was shot dead by four unidentified armed assailants in a targeted attack in Federal B Area of Gulberg Town in Karachi on April 29. Rehman received bullet wounds in the face, head and chest. Bullet casings recovered from the scene of the crime indicate that a 9mm pistol was used in the attack. Rehman was popularly known as Yasir Rizvi. Rizvi is a common surname among Shia families. But he was not a Shia. The Police, however, ruled out this possibility.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Abdul Fateh Sanghri (55), and two constables, serving as his security guard and driver, were shot dead in Gulshan-e-Hadeed area of Karachi on May 1, reports The News. DSP Abdul Fateh Sanghri who was a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) in Bin Qasim and lived in Steel Town, was heading towards the Gulshan-e-Hadeed market in his car when around five or six militants riding motorcycles fired gunshots at his vehicle. DSP died on the spot while his security guard Constable Mohammed Farooq and driver Constable Nazeer who were injured later succumbed to their injuries at hospital. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, Akbar Nagori, the brother of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) and Provincial minister Javed Nagori, was killed and three others including a Policeman were injured in a grenade attack, targeting the PPP office in Lyari area of Karachi on May 2, reports The News. The provincial minister remained safe in the grenade attack while four other people sustained injuries. The injured were taken to a hospital for treatment where Akbar Nagori succumbed to his injuries.

A man, identified as Waseem was shot dead on May 4 by unidentified armed assailants in Razi Goth area of Orangi Town in Karachi, reported Daily Times.

Separately, one Abdul Waheed was killed and one another, Ahmad Ali was injured when unidentified militants opened fire at Sarafa Bazaar in Paposh Nagar of North Nazimabad Town on May 4, reports Daily Times.

A man, identified as Mian Syed Jalal was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants at Qazzafi Town in Landhi Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh on May 7, reported Daily Times.

Separately, a dead body of a man, identified as that of Aamir was recovered from Bashir Chowk in New Karachi Town on May 7, reports Daily Times.

At least three suspects were killed in a Police encounter at Shah Faisal Colony in Shah Faisal Town of Karachi on May 10, reports Daily Times. Police official claimed that the alleged criminals were signaled to stop at a police checkpoint near the colony for security checking, on which the criminals opened fire at the personnel. The three criminals were shot dead after law-enforcing agencies retaliated in the clash. Weapons, ammunitions, hand grenades and repeater were recovered from the vehicle.

Separately, unidentified assailants opened fire at Shia Police officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Syed Zulfiqar Abbas, and his friend, identified as Shahzad, killing them on spot in a targeted sectarian attack at a restaurant near Eidgah Ground in Shah Faisal area of Shah Faisal Town on May 9, reported Dawn.

Elsewhere, a Shia homoeopathic doctor, Dr. Anwar Ali Abidi, was shot dead while another person sustained injuries when unidentified militants opened fire at his clinic in Paposh Nagar area of North Nazimabad Town on May 9, reports Dawn.

An unidentified man was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Mubina Town area of Gulzar-e-Hijri in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town of Karachi on May 11, reports Daily Times.

Elsewhere, an unidentified tortured dead body was found on Abul Ispahani Road in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town on May 11, reported Daily Times.

At least 47 Ismaili Shias were killed and 24 others were injured when unidentified militants opened fire on their Bus in Safora Chowrangi area near Dow Medical College in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town of Karachi on May 13. Initial reports revealed that the motorcyclists used 9mm pistols in the attack. Sources confirmed that the bus was attacked from all sides and many were left injured. Further, reports revealed that leaflets containing militant content were found at the scene.

Separately, an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), identified as Khurram alias Pathan was killed while his friend Sohail (47), was injured when unidentified armed assailants shot at their car near Hyderi Market located within the jurisdiction of the North Nazimabad Police Station in North Nazimabad Town on May 12, reported The News.

Elsewhere, an unidentified man was shot dead near Gutter Baghicha within the jurisdiction of Pak Colony Police Station in SITE Town on May 12, reports The News.

Four persons were killed on May 12 in Deewan Shah Rourri area of Kalachi in Tank District when unknown motorcyclists opened fire at them, reports Dawn. Source said that two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel and two workers from Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) were killed in the firing. The Security Force (SF) personnel were on duty at the Gomal Zam Dam road which is under construction.

A man belonging to the Hazara community was killed and five others, including two Policemen, were injured, apparently in a targeted attack at Kasi Road of Quetta on May 12, reports Daily Times. Police said that the Hazara community members were busy in the maintenance of a rickshaw in a shop at Kasi Road when unidentified armed men, wearing masks on their faces, opened fire on them. As a result, a man was killed and five others sustained injures. The deceased was identified as Ali Raza and the injured as Constable Abbas Awan, Sadiq Ali, Essa Mohammad, Ashraf and Safar. The attackers managed to escape following the incident.

An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Police, Shakirullah Khan, was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants when he was going to his office in Hayatabad area of Peshawar on May 14, reports Dawn. An official of Yakatoot Police Station said that 9mm pistol was used in the attack.

Three bullet riddled dead bodies, identified as that of identified as Asim Baloch, Shahjahan and Noshad Ahmed, were recovered from Tasp area of Panjgur District on May 15, reported Dawn. “All the three were shot in the head and chest,” hospital sources said.

Elsewhere, a man, identified as Mohammad Amjad, was shot dead when unidentified armed assailants opened fire him in Buleda area of Kech District on May 15, reports Dawn.

A man, identified as Fazal Khattak was shot dead at Swati Mohalla in Sherpao Colony of Landhi Town in Karachi on May 19, reports Daily Times.

Separately, an unidentified man was killed in Ganna Mandi area of Janjal Goth in Gadap Town on May 19, reported Daily Times.

Elsewhere, a three-day-old dead body of a man, identified as that of Qazi Hashmi (60), was found near Aqsa Masjid in Rasheedabad area of Baldia Town on May 19, reports Daily Times.

Bahadur Khan, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) belonging to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Peshawar Police, was shot dead by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants near Anam Sanam chowk in Gulbahar area of Peshawar in the morning of May 20, reports Dawn. Peshawar SSP (operations) Dr. Mian Saeed said that DSP Bahadur Khan was on his way to drop his daughter off to school when motorcycle-bourne militants opened fire on him as the police officer’s vehicle neared Anam Sanam chowk. DSP Khan’s daughter remained unhurt in the attack. The attackers managed to escape from the scene after the incident. Police sources added that the slain DSP had been receiving threats from militants. Muhammad Khorasani, the TTP ‘spokesperson’, claimed the responsibility of the killing.

Three persons, including a local leader of the Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal-Jama’at (ASWJ), identified as Syed Abdul Wahab (65), his two sons, identified as Farmanullah (35) and Asmatullah (30), were shot dead by unidentified armed assailants at Khyber Hotel in Bagh-e-Malir near Malir City Karachi on May 21, reports The News. A ‘spokesman’ for ASWJ Umer Muavia claimed that Syed Wahab was their leader of Malir District and termed it an act of sectarian violence.

One Shia person was killed and two others injured when unidentified assailants opened fire at a vehicle in Hayatabad area Peshawar on May 22, reports Dawn. According to the Police sources, Wali Ahmad Jan and his sons Ali Murtaza and Awais were travelling in a car when unknown motorcyclists opened fire at them. Ali Murtaza was killed on the spot while Wali Ahmed and Awais sustained injuries.

Miscellaneous
Frontier Corps arrested four suspects, including one “most wanted” terrorist during a search operation in Ghahi Khan Chowk near Sariab Road in provincial capital Quetta on April 29.

Separately, FC officials upon receiving intelligence reports arrested three suspected militants in Pasni area of Gwadar District on April 29.

The Intelligence Agencies personnel arrested four militants belonging to Mohmand Agency Chapter of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, identified as Mir Khan, Abdul Rehman, Zarab Khan and Ameer Khan, and recovered suicide jackets, huge cache of modern weaponry and explosive material from their possession during a crackdown in Youhanabad area of provincial capital Lahore on April 29, reports Daily Times. The arrested terrorists were shifted to an undisclosed location for further.

Five soldiers, a captain among them, and 27 militants were killed in clashes in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on April 30, reports Dawn. According to security sources, soldiers were entering militants’ strongholds when an intense ground battle took place. The officer who had lost his life in the line of duty was identified as captain Ajmal. With ground offensives continuing in parts of Tirah valley for the fourth consecutive day on April 30, Security Forces (SFs) entered Garhi Kamar Khel, Nakai Malikdin Khel, Zarmanza in Sikandar Khel and Dwa Thoe, Tangu, Mehraban Kalay, Khaeyst, Tharkho Kas, Mailu, Thor Darra and Malakabad localities in Kukikhel area. All these areas had been under the control of Tariq Afridi group of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan since 2010.

Five militants were killed and several others injured in clashes in Tor Darra area of Jamrud tehsil (revenue unit) in Tirah Valley on May 1, reports The News. Official sources said the militants attacked a convoy of Security Forces (SFs) when they were advancing in Tor Darra. The SFs retaliated, killing five militants and injuring several others.

Police foiled a major terror plan, recovered 320 kilograms of explosives and arrested at least two Afghan suspects from a house in Sethi Town area of Peshawar on May 1, reports Daily Times. Besides other material, recovered explosives included 70 electronic detonators, 72 bundles of prima card, 11 remote controls, two bags of urea nitrate and two bags of water gel along with various circuits and local detonators.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF) arrested three militants and recovered explosives from them during a search operation in Havelian tehsil (revenue unit) of Abbottabad District on May 1, reports Daily Times.

Military aircraft on May 2 bombed militant hideouts in North Waziristan and Khyber agencies, killing 44 suspected militants, among them many foreigners, reports Dawn. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that precision strikes were carried out in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan and Tirah valley of the Khyber Agency. Sixteen militants were killed in strikes on hideouts in the Dattakhel area, it said. Many foreigners were among the dead. In air strikes carried out in Tirah valley by fighter jets and helicopter gunships, 28 suspected militants were killed and many others injured, the ISPR said. A number of militant sanctuaries in Rajgul and Kando Gharebi areas of Kukikhel territory, under the control of Taliban since 2009, were destroyed in the strikes.

Five attackers were killed, in retaliatory fire, when they attacked suspended Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Malir Anwar’s convoy in the Malir area of Karachi city on May 2, reports Dawn. The Policemen, however, escaped unhurt. The SSP said that he was returning from slain DSP Fateh Muhammad Sangi’s residence, who was killed on May1, when unidentified assailants, in one car and three motorcycles, hurled hands grenades and opened fire at his convoy.

At least three suspected militants were killed and two Policemen were injured when Police retaliated an attack on one of its patrolling vehicles in Baldia Town in Karachi on May 3, reported The News. According to initial reports, unidentified militants attacked a Police mobile in Baldia’s Ittehad Town area, injuring at least two Policemen. The attackers also hurled a hand grenade at the Police mobile. Police then opened fire on the assailants in retaliation, killing at least three of them.

A plan to attack a religious gathering organised by the Shias was foiled by the Police who seized 15 kilogram of explosive material from Dhoke Hayat Ali area of Gujar Khan in Rawalpindi District on May 2, reported Dawn. The Counter-Terrorism Department also managed to trace and identify the suspected terrorists on May 3. According to details, Police officials patrolling the area spotted two suspicious men carrying a mysterious container. When the Police officials approached them, they got into a scuffle with the officials and managed to escape, abandoning their motorbike, parked nearby and the container they were carrying. Upon examination, the Police found 15 kilograms of explosive material in the container along with bolts, nails and a detonating device.

The Regional Police Officer (RPO) Mohammad Wasal Fakhar Sultan confirmed that the suspects have been traced and will soon be arrested.

Lasbela Police on May 6 arrested a militant belonging to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, identified as Alam Ziab, during a raid in Lasbela University in Lasbela District. “Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a room at Lasbela University and arrested Alam Zaib — he was a student there,” District Police Officer (DPO) Bashir Ahmed said, adding, “The militant belong to a banned organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and was involved in the killing of eight Police personnel and bomb blasts.” The DSP added that the militant had a PKR 3 million bounty on his head.

Separately, an Iranian national, identified as Muhammad Ameer, kidnapped three years ago was recovered from Dalbandin area of Chagai District on May 6, reported Dawn. “Muhammad Ameer had been missing for the past three years from his native town of Isfahan,” District Police Officer Chagai Mubarak Shah said, adding there were reports that the kidnappers had kept the Iranian somewhere in Chagai District. Police raided a place on the outskirts of Dalbandin town upon information about the presence of the Iranian national and recovered him. No arrest could be made as the abductors escaped before the raid.

Frontier Corps (FC) on May 8 conducted multiple raids in different areas of Balochistan and arrested a number of suspected militants, including three members of United Baloch Army (UBA), reports The Express Tribune. According to details, in one of these raids carried out in Mangochar area of Kalat District the FC personnel arrested three UBA militants and shifted them to an undisclosed location for further investigation.”

Elsewhere in Lehri area of Zhob District, the paramilitary force recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition while arresting two suspected terrorists. “At least seven rocket launchers, 14 improvised explosive devices, 12 anti-personnel mines, six bombs, two SMGs with 13 magazines, three hand-grenades, 80 detonator wires, a telescope and a Motorola cell phone were recovered,” said the FC official. He said the force also defused 26 bombs on the spot.

Separately, the FC also arrested four militants from Goth Hamzani, Goth Doda and Tibba areas of Sohbatpur District (earlier a town in Jaffarabad District).

In another raid, the law enforcing agency arrested two terrorists from Killi Thratta area of Pishin District.

Shikarpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Saqib Ismail Memon on May 8 claimed to have arrested two militants belonging to Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) during a search operation near Jaghan area in Shikarpur District, reported The News. The two terrorists were identified as Mir Hassan Rind and Waqar Mahar. During initial investigation he stated of getting training from a militant wing in Waziristan at Ustad Aslam’s Camp. SSP Memon said that the terrorists further revealed that they were the part of the sleeper cells of banned organisations that remained dormant till they were given directions to carry out terrorism.

A suspected militant was killed and three others were arrested when Frontier Corps personnel launched a search operation on May 10 in Biam Shai Nullah area of Sui in Dera Bugti District on suspicion of the presence of some militants involved in attacks on gas pipelines and Government installations, reports Dawn. An exchange of fire took place when the security personnel raided a house. An FC spokesman said the suspected militant was killed and three men arrested at the house. They were involved in a number of subversive acts, he said, adding that illegal weapons and ammunition had also been seized.

Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC) on May 14 killed eight militants and arrested several others while carrying out search operations in Juhan area of Kalat District and Mastung District, reports The News. Three FC personnel also received injuries during the exchange of firing. Weapons, including 12 SMGs, 20 hand grenades and 25 kilogram of explosive devices were recovered from their possession. The terrorists were involved in attacks on Security Forces and acts of sabotage in Nushki and other areas.

Separately, two militants were killed in an encounter with the FC during a search operation in the Tasp area of Panjgur District on May 14, reported The News. Two SMGs, two hand grenades, 12 magazines, a motorbike and a vehicle of Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) was recovered from their possession.

Meanwhile, FC personnel arrested two militants following a tip off in the Saeedabad area of Ormara in Gwadar District on ay 14, reports The News. They also recovered arms from their possession.

Two militants, identified as Faizullah and Sanaullah, were killed in an encounter in Hayatabad area of Peshawar on May 14, reported Dawn. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr. Mian Saeed said that Police had got information about presence of some terrorists in a house in the area. He said that Police raided the house but the terrorists opened fire on them. A Policeman identified as Tariq was injured in the firing, he added. The SSP said that two terrorists were killed in the encounter. They were wanted by police in different cases of extortion, kidnapping-for-ransom and street crimes, he added.

Air Force aerial strikes on May 15 killed at least 17 militants in the areas bordering Afghanistan in the Wareka Mandi area of Shawal tehsil (revenue unit) in North Waziristan Agency, reports Dawn. An official said that the killed militants included Uzbek and Afghan nationals and cadres of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Separately, TTP militants attacked a group of youths celebrating their victory in a cricket match in Karikote village near Wana town of South Waziristan Agency, killing one of them and injuring five on May 15, reports Dawn. Witnesses said by phone that some of the youths were beating drums after winning a cricket match in Karikote when followers of TTP leader Ainullah arrived there and ordered them to stop their celebration. When the boys refused to obey them, a scuffle ensued, during which the militants opened fire at spectators. Marka (16) was killed and five other people were severely injured.

Balochistan Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Abdul Wasey, who belongs to the Jama’at Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), narrowly escaped a remote-controlled blast in Pishin District on May 15, reports Dawn. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 20 militants, including nine ‘commanders’, were killed during an operation by the security agencies in the Kalat District of Balochistan on May 17, reports The News. “Security Forces, engaged in an extensive operation in the rugged territory, neutralised these low and high profile targets in the last 48 hours,” sources said. The Frontier Corps (FC) also recovered a sizeable stash of arms and explosives. Four camps of terrorists were also destroyed during the operation.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on May 19 sentenced, Qari Abubakar, a prayer leader of Kasur District to five years in jail for delivering a hate speech at a public gathering, reports Dawn. A case under Section 9 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) had been registered against Qari Abubakar at Kot Radha Kishan Police Station on a complaint lodged by a sub-inspector. However, the accused denied the charge and took the plea that he did not attend the gathering. The defence counsel accused Police of implicating his client in a fabricated case and requested the court to acquit him. After going through the case, Judge Haroon Latif sentenced the cleric to five-year term.

At least 13 suspected militants were killed on May 20 during airstrikes conducted by Army fighter jets in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan Agency, reports Dawn. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), five hideouts of the militants were also destroyed in the blitz. Troops have been deployed along its border with neighbouring agencies to block any movement of terrorists in and out of the region.

Four terrorists involved in the November 2, 2014, Wagah border blast, were killed during an encounter by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 21 in Ittehad Town of Baldia Town in Karachi, reported The News. CTD officers conducted a raid after receiving information from the intelligence department. The terrorists belonged to Umar Khorasani group. One CTD officer was also injured in the encounter. A huge amount of ammunition and explosives were recovered from their possession.

Five militants and one soldier were killed in a clash after militants attacked a military check post in the Garwaee area of Dattakhel tehsil (revenue unit) in North Waziristan Agency on May 22, reports The News. Official sources said that Sepoy Waqas was killed and Lance Naik Shafqat sustained injuries in the clash. Security officials said five militants were also killed in the clash after the attack on the checkpoint.

Three Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants were killed while others managed to escape after during an exchange of fire with Security Forces (SFs) in South Waziristan Agency on May 24, reports Daily Times Arms were recovered from their possession. The killed terrorists were stated to be hailing from Tank District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Separately, a Frontier Corps soldier was killed when militants from Kunar Province in Afghanistan attacked a check post in Mamond tehsil (revenue unit) of Bajaur Agency on May 24, reported The News. The militants escaped after SFs returned fire.

PAKISTAN

Terrorist arrested in Punjab
Police claimed to have arrested a suspected terrorist from outside a private school at Chungi No 9 in Multan on April 27, reports Daily Times. According to sources, Police received information about a suspicious teen wandering near La-Salle Higher Secondary School. Police arrested him and started investigation. During interrogation, the boy named as Hassnain said that some criminals abducted him the other day from his house in Mian Channu. He said that they locked him in a mini-van over the night in Multan. The source said that they forced him to place explosive bags outside the school and General Bus stand. He said when he was placing the bag outside the school people held him. The terrorists, however, fled from the scene, source added.

Five American jihadis killed by drones in Pakistan: report
Of the dozens of American nationals who had joined the jihadi (holy warrior) front in Pakistan, five have so far been killed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-run United States (US) drones in the tribal areas of Pakistan, including al Qaeda leaders, Adam Gadhn and Ahmed Farooq, who were droned in the January 15, 2015 attack in Shawal area of North Waziristan along with the now-slain American hostage, Dr Warren Weinstein, The News reports on April 28. According to information revealed by diplomatic circles in Islamabad, at least 125 Americans have gone or have attempted to go abroad to join jihadi fronts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen and Syria. Forty (40) of these would-be jihadis were arrested before they left the US and 25 were killed while “waging jihad” abroad.

Six of them exploded themselves as suicide bombers while five of them were perished in the CIA-run drone campaign. Thirteen more Americans were arrested while abroad, three of whom were extradited and prosecuted in the US. Fifteen wanted American jihadis are still at large. Of those known to have returned to the US, 32 were arrested and one was killed. Thirty-seven went or tried to go to Pakistan 34 went or tried to go to Somalia 20 to Syria 18 to Afghanistan and 11 to Yemen. The remaining Americans went to other countries.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama “secretly” approved a waiver to the rules for the US drone programme that gave the CIA more flexibility in Pakistan than anywhere else to strike suspected militants, The News quoting The Wall Street Journal reports on April 27. Citing current and former US officials, The Wall Street Journal said the rules tightened in 2013 were designed to reduce the risk of civilian casualties. “Mr. Obama also required that proposed targets pose an imminent threat to the US “but the waiver exempted the CIA from this standard in Pakistan,” the report said.

Karachi Operation to meet logical end
Federal Minister of Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on April 27 that the Karachi operation will meet its logical end, reports The News. He said harmony among the civil armed forces, intelligence and security agencies of the country will be created in order to overcome the security challenges. The Minister was expressing these views while chairing a meeting of the top hierarchy of civil armed forces at the Interior Ministry. He observed that the civil armed forces were playing a critical role in maintaining the security of the country. He paid tributes to the martyrs of the civil armed forces and said they were the real heroes of the nation. Pakistan is indebted to them and ‘we owe it forward their legacy but also to respect their memories and take care of their heirs’. He said at time when the country was faced with many challenges and there seems chaos at every level, there is still respect for uniform.

Security forces claim major major success in Tirah valley of FATA
Security Forces on April 28 took control of the entire Sipah and Akkakhel areas in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after flushing out Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) from these areas, reports Dawn. Official sources said that the control of Sipah and Akkakhel was so far the biggest achievement of SFs during the ongoing Khyber II military operation against joint forces of LI, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jama’at-ul-Ahrar (JuA).

The forces also pressed their ground advance towards the TTP-controlled Kukikhel areas in the valley with fierce ground battles in Dwa Thoe and Zarmanza areas of Kukikhel, Garhai of Kamar Khel, Jabbar Mela of Qambar Khel and Nakai area of Malakdin Khel. “The fall of Kukikhel is a matter of time now because the area has been encircled from almost all sides and militants were seen fleeing the area,” security officials said.

LI ‘spokesman’ Salahuddin Ayoubi said over phone from an undisclosed location that the loss of Akkakhel and Sipah was a ‘tactical retreat’ and they would soon retake the area with support of TTP and JuA militants. He said the Lashkar had killed nine soldiers and injured 11 during ground battle in the Dwa Thoe area, but the claim could not be independently verified.

Federal govt to seek extradition of Baloch insurgents
An unnamed top security official on April 30 said that the Federal Government is seeking to approach five countries and the United Nations (UN) for the extradition of top Baloch insurgents accused of fomenting unrest in Balochistan, as the security agencies have identified 161 training camps of insurgents, nearly two dozen of them are believed to be located in Afghanistan and two in Iran. “We are taking up the issue of Baloch insurgents with five countries [India, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Iran and Afghanistan],” said the official, adding that Dr. Allah Nazar, Hyrbyair Marri, Brahumdagh Bugti, Javed Mengal and some other wanted insurgents are commanding their fighters in the province.

He further said, “The Afghan Government has assured Pakistan its full support to stop Baloch insurgents from operating from its soil,” adding, “Pakistan is considering taking up the issue of Indian involvement in Balochistan unrest at the United Nations.” The official also said that the Government has requested Iran through its Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi to make maximum efforts to block the influence of some Baloch separatists operating from Iranian soil.

According to details, Hyrbyair Marri, the head of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), has been living in self-exile in the United Kingdom (UK) where he has been granted political asylum. Brahumdagh Bugti, the founder of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), has been living in Switzerland seeking political asylum.

Punjabi Taliban leader joins TTP Chief Fazlullah
One Punjabi Taliban leader, Qari Matiur Rehman, closely linked to al Qaeda, held a meeting with the ‘chief’ of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Mullah Fazlullah and announced allegiance to him, reported The News quoting unnamed source who revealed this on May 5. The sources claim that Rehman remained a close aide and a logistics provider of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current ‘chief’ of al Qaeda, whenever he travels.

The ‘spokesman’ of Amjad Farooqi Group, Abid Kalia called from an Afghanistan number and confirmed the allegiance of his leader to TTP ‘chief’ Fazlullah. Asked about the place of meeting, he refused to answer. Kalia claimed that three militants initially had a meeting and Rehman’s two close and trusted aides, Ehsanul Haq and Rana Ashfaq Ahmad, reiterated their confidence in Rehman. According to sources, Ehsanul Haq is childhood friend of Rehman as both of them hail from Bahawalpur District in southern Punjab from where they had started their militant activities. Both Qari Ehsan ul Haq and Rehman have PKR10 million head money.

Rehman has been at large and wanted by the Security Agencies for his role in attacks on former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf on December 25, 2003. Currently, he heads Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s subsidiary group, Amjad Farooqi Group from Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

KP takes a respite from terror incidents in the first four months of the year
The incidents of terror attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the first four months of the year are the lowest in the last four years mostly because of the military operations in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the actions by police and Counter Terrorism Department in the province, The News reported on May 6 quoting the statistics of the Central Police Office. During the first four months of the current year, 85 terrorist incidents took place compared to 183 in 2014, 173 in 2013 and 134 in 2012. “The modus operandi analysis shows that 37 incidents of IED took place during the year compared to 97 in 2014, 114 in 2013 and 83 in 2012. Similarly, during the current year two suicide attacks were carried out compared to six in 2014 and 10 in 2013,” said an official while quoting the statistics of the Central Police Office.

The officials said the hand-grenade attacks and target killings also recorded sharp decrease as 13 incidents of hurling grenades were registered compared to 26 last year. Also, the number of target killings reduced to 33 compared to 45 last year. “The casualties that took place during the current year are the lowest in the last four years. During the current year six persons have been killed and 104 injured compared to 194 killings while injuries to 511 others in 2014,” the official added. Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani appreciated the performance of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) particularly its head Salahuddin Khan as the force took proactive action against terrorists and hardened criminals all over KP

Weapons supplied to Pakistan were used by American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, says CRS
The United States (US) has handed over 14 combat aircraft, 59 military trainer jets and 374 armoured personnel carriers to Pakistan from the weapons it is leaving behind in the region, reports Dawn, quoting the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on May 6. The Agency, which prepares internal reports for the US Congress, reported that the weapons supplied to Pakistan were earlier used by American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Technically, these weapons are classified as “Excessive Defence Articles”, that is, equipment used by the US forces, which can be supplied to allied nations at withdrawal instead of shipping them back to the US. The weapons include F-16 armaments including 500 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles 1,450 2,000-pound bombs 500 JDAM Tail Kits for gravity bombs and 1,600 Enhanced Paveway laser-guided kits. All this has cost Pakistan USD 629 million.

Under Coalition Support Funds (in the Pentagon budget), Pakistan received 26 Bell 412EP utility helicopters, along with related parts and maintenance, valued at USD 235 million. Pakistan is also receiving military equipment with a mix of its national funds and America’s foreign military funding.

Govt challenges dropping of terrorism charges against former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s murderer Malik Mumtaz Qadri
The Federal Government on May 9 submitted an amended appeal against Islamabad High Court’s decision to drop terrorism charges against Malik Mumtaz Qadri, a former police guard who murdered Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer in Islamabad in 2011, reports The Express Tribune. The Federal Ministry of Interior, through Advocate on Record (AoR) Siddique Khan Baloch, filed an eight-page appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution, contending that Qadri’s acquittal under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 was not in accordance with the law.

“The high court was not right to acquit the convict under Section 7(a) by not appropriately considering the peculiar features of the case, in which the governor of a province, holding constitutional office was murdered mercilessly in a busy commercial area in broad daylight by a person (deputed officially as a security guard) to save and secure the life of the governor,” reads the Interior Ministry’s appeal. It argues that Taseer had “particular views on national issues due to which different religious and political groups were propagating against him and threats to murder him were also issued.”

Convicted murderer Saulat Mirza hanged till death in Balochistan
Convicted murderer Saulat Mirza was hanged till death on May 12 at Machh Jail of Bolan District, reports Dawn. Mirza had been on death row for nearly 17 years. Sentenced to death in 1999, Mirza was initially scheduled to be executed on March 19, 2015. But in a turn of events, video footage of Mirza hurling grave allegations at Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain and other leaders of complicity in crime was aired on television channels just few hours before his execution on March 19. The President immediately stayed his hanging for three days after the convict sought more time to give information regarding target killers and their alleged patrons.

A few days later, Mirza’s hanging was put off again as authorities wished to interrogate him for crucial details in relation to his confession. A 10-member Joint-Investigation Team later questioned Mirza over his confession and eventually concluded that his disclosures did not constitute any ‘actionable intelligence or cogent evidence’ that could help the judicial process. On May 2, 2015, the trial court issued Mirza’s black warrant for a third time, scheduling his hanging for May 12.

White House rejects US journalist’s claim that Islamabad had role in 2011 Operation Geronimo
The White House on May 11 flatly rejected claims that Pakistan was told in advance about Operation Geronimo that killed the then al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in his Abbottabad hideout, reports The News. Veteran United States (US) journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in London Review of Books that Pakistan’s security services not only knew about the raid, but had been holding bin Laden prisoner since 2006. That account was rejected by the White House.

“This was a US operation through and through,” said Edward Price, a White House National Security Council spokesman. “The notion that the operation” which killed the 9/11 mastermind, “was anything but a unilateral US mission is patently false,” he said, adding, “Knowledge of this operation was confined to a very small circle of senior US officials.” “The President decided early on not to inform any other Government, including the Pakistani Government, which was not notified until after the raid had occurred.”

Meanwhile, former President General (retired) Pervez Musharraf’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General (retired) Hamid Javed said that the army was not aware of the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, reported The News. Commenting on report of a US journalist, he said that nobody, including the army, was aware of Osama’s presence as long as he remained the Chief of Staff in the Presidency. The US vice president visited Pakistan in 2007 to raise issue of Osama’s presence in Pakistan but his talks with Musharraf was limited to two points. He told Musharraf that Osama is in Chitral, according to US intelligence report and Musharraf replied that Pakistan will check the information as they did not have any such information.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IGP Nasir Khan Durrani rules out
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nasir Khan Durrani on My 20 ruled out presence of militants in any religious seminary in the provincial capital and elsewhere in the province, saying that all the seminaries had been cleared of outlaws, reports The News. “All the Afghan prayer leaders have been removed from mosques and seminaries across the province,” he said. He said the Provincial Government has made legislation for maintenance of peace in the province and the police were ensuring strict implementation of the laws. Nasir Durrani said that a series of search operations was underway in different parts of the province. “Strict directives have been issued to the police officials to take the local elders into confidence during the crackdown,” he maintained.

Abducted son of former PM Yusuf Raza Gilani calls him after two years
Ali Haider Gilani, the kidnapped son of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani phoned his father on May 24 after two years in captivity and told him he was well, reports The News. Ali Haider was seized by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants in a hail of gunfire in Multan District of Punjab on May 9, 2013. “My son Ali Haider Gilani told me that he is happy and safe at (an) unknown place,” said Yusuf Raza Gilani, adding, “He enquired about the health of his mother and other family members. He declined to disclose more and said that Almighty Allah will surely help us. He said that he is safe and sound and we should not be worried about him.”

REGIONAL

Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics

BNP boycotts city polls
Bangladesh’s main opposition party pulled out of mayoral elections on Tuesday, April 28 saying the polls were rigged, deepening a political crisis plaguing the impoverished country.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced it was boycotting the elections in the two largest cities of Dhaka and Chittagong, more than four hours after voting got under way.

The polls are seen as a key test of the popularity of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her centre-left ruling Awami League party, which the BNP says is becoming increasingly autocratic.

“We’re formally announcing that we are withdrawing from these elections. There were riggings in 98 percent of the voting booths,” BNP spokesman Moudud Ahmed told reporters at party headquarters in the capital Dhaka.

“Our polling agents were not allowed to enter voting booths. Some were kicked out while others were arrested. This is no election. Once again it was proved that there is no democracy in this country,” he added.

Local media reported irregularities, violence and ballot-box stuffing while voting was suspended in at least two centres in Dhaka.

Election Commission spokesman S.M. Asaduzzaman said he had not heard of any complaints by candidates of rigging.

AQIS claims responsibility or murder of Bangladeshi-American secularist blogger Avijit Roy
Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) in a video posted on jihadist forums on May 2 claimed responsibility for the murder of Bangladeshi-American secularist blogger Avijit Roy on February 26, reports Dhaka Tribune. In the video, AQIS leader Asim Umar said that AQIS operatives murdered bloggers Avijit Roy, Oyasiq ur Rahman Babu, Ahmed Rajeeb Haider and Rajshahi University teacher AKM Shafiul Islam.

ABT militant arrested in connection with bank robbery in Manikganj District
Police arrested a militant of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in connection with the Ashulia bank robbery from Daulatpur upazila (sub-District) in Manikganj District on May 5, reports New Nation. The arrested man was identified as Jasim Uddin alias Asad of Chapainawabganj District. Police said that the militant organization wanted to rob the bank to collect money to support their activities.

On April 21 Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited (BCBL) of Ashulia District was robbed by armed militants. Eight people were dead in the incident.

BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and 37 others charged with murder for their involvement in petrol bomb attack in Dhaka city
Detectives on May 6 pressed murder charges against Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and 37 others for their alleged involvement in a petrol bomb attack on a bus in Dhaka city’s Jatrabari area on January 23 in which one person was killed and 30 others were injured, reports The Daily Star. According to the charge sheet, Khaleda masterminded the arson attack on the passenger bus. This is the first time Khaleda, also a former Prime Minister, has been charged in a criminal case. Currently she stands accused in five corruption cases and three defamation suits. In addition, she is facing four other cases over recent blockade violence.

GNLA linkman arrested in Mymensingh
A linkman of Garo National Liberation Army, identified as Rajya Sangma, was arrested by the Police from Halwaghat town of Mymensingh District on May 5, reports The Sentinel. Police said that Rajya Sangma is well known for his role in abetting the Garo-based insurgent groups besides sheltering the Garo militants of Meghalaya (India).

Four PBCP cadres including ‘regional leader’ arrested in Tangail District
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested four cadres of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) – Red Flag faction in Jamuna char area of Tangail District on May 10 reports, The Daily Star. The arrestees are Mohammad Afzal Hossain, a ‘regional leader’ of the outfit, its cadres Mohammad Abul Hossain, Mohammad Abdur Rahman and Abdur Rahim. RAB also recovered two pistols, five bullets and two magazines from their possession

Progressive writer and blogger killed in Sylhet
Progressive writer, blogger and editor of science fiction magazine, “Jukti”, Ananta Bijoy Das (32), was stabbed to death at Subidbazar Bankolapara residential area of Sylhet city in Sylhet District on May 12, reports The Independent. Witnesses told that four or five youths attacked Ananta Bijoy, stabbed him on the head and shoulder with knives and fled from the spot. Within hours of the murder, Ansar Bangla 8 on its Twitter account posted photos of his body and said “Alhamdulillah, All the Brothers of Operation team are safe.” The same page later claimed “Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS) claimed responsibility of killing Ananta Bijoy in Sylhet.

Police HQ suggest banning ABT
The Police Headquarters in a letter sent to the Home Ministry on May 12 suggested that the Government ban Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), believed to be involved in some recent attacks on secular bloggers and writers, reports The Daily Star on May 17. If banned, ABT would be the sixth such organization to be outlawed for militant and anti-state activities in the country. The other five are: Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) and Shahadat-e Al-Hikma (SAH).

NLFT- -BM militant killed in Khagrachari
Biswamohan Debbarma faction of National Liberation Front of Tripura ‘sergeant’ Mangal Debbarma has killed fellow NLFT militant Shanti Lal Tripura at Khagrapur village in Khagrachari District on May 16, reports Tripurainfo. The slain militant played the role of a mediator in the surrender of Athara Babu Halam, “deputy chief of army staff” of NLFT on May 9.

Two suspected IS operatives arrested in Dhaka
Police on May 24 arrested two people in Dhaka city for their suspected involvement with Islamic State (IS), reports The Independent. The duo Aminul Islam Beg and Sakib Hasan were arrested respectively from Gulshan and Lalmatia areas in Dhaka city. Aminul has been working as the chief IT officer at the Bangladesh headquarters of international beverage company Coca-Cola, located in Gulshan area of the city. As per the information provided by Aminul during primary interrogation, the Police arrested Sakib, an electrical engineer, from Lalmatia area.

India – Internal Dynamics

AR trooper killed in Nagaland
On April 25, an Assam Rifles trooper, identified as Rifleman Vijay Singh Rathore was killed after being fired upon with a 9 mm calibre, near Classic Island Raj Bhavan road in Kohima, by Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland militants, reports Nagaland Post. When chased by the AR party, the fleeing gunmen lobbed a grenade but it failed to explode. Kohima Police and AR party rushed to the site and recovered the unexploded grenade reported to be of Chinese make along with 11 empty shells of 9 mm calibre. A team from the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) also rushed to the site and later diffused it. Soon after the incident, a massive combing operation was launched in the capital by Kohima Police and AR. Security forces have confirmed the involvement of NSCN-K in the incident.

GNLA threatens to shoot choppers use for counter insurgency operations in Meghalaya
The Shillong Times reports that at a time when the State Police is mooting the idea of using choppers for anti-insurgency operations, Garo National Liberation Army’ joint publicity secretary’ Garo Mandei Ch Marak, on April 26 stated that “Our men are not trained to ask questions and they will have no knowledge about which chopper is used for surveillance and which is in use for ferrying passengers to Tura/Shillong. They will shoot down anything flying over their head,”

Separately, Achik National Liberation Army (ANLA) and A’chik Songna An’pachakgipa Kotok (ASAK) militant groups have distributed demand letters to all the shop owners in Mangsang village in East Garo Hills District, demanding all the shop owners to pay ransom ranging from INR 200,000 to INR 500,000, reports The Assam Tribune on April 26. The area is a safe haven for most militant groups due to remoteness as well as the lack of Police personnel.

Quit or die, Maoists warn policemen in Chhattisgarh
The Communist Party of India-Maoist warned lower rung Policemen working in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh to leave their jobs or “get killed at the hands of People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) guerrillas,” reports The Hindu on April 28. In a press statement issued by Madhavi, secretary of the West Bastar Divisional Committee of the Maoists, the CPI-Maoist took responsibility for the killing of Constable Bira Basant, who was abducted on April 7 and found dead two weeks later in Bijapur District. Blaming the State government and the Bijapur Police for the death of Bira, the Maoist leader claimed that the District Police did not initiate a dialogue for his release. “Instead, the police pressured locals and schoolchildren to organise protest rallies against us. Our party’s policy does not allow us to kill unarmed policemen. We have freed many jawans, who did not carry weapons. However, we cannot spare those who knowingly take part in inflicting atrocities on the people. Bira was one such policeman,” said Madhavi. “Bira’s killing should serve as a warning to all local and lower rung policemen working in Bastar. Stop fighting for corporates who are here to snatch tribal land. Take up any other job other than policing if you want to stay in Bastar. Otherwise be ready to die at the hands of the PLGA,” warned the Maoist leader.

Odisha doubles salary of doctors in Maoist areas
In an attempt to stop doctors from leaving Government hospitals and community health centres in poverty zones of Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) as well as Communist Party of India-Maoist-affected areas, the Odisha Government has decided to double their salary, reports Indian Express. The state Cabinet, which met April 28, decided the state would be divided into four zones depending on accessibility and vulnerability to Maoist violence, with V1 being the least vulnerable and highly accessible and V4, being most vulnerable and least accessible. As per the Cabinet decision, a non-specialist doctor in a V4 zone like Malkangiri and Koraput would get INR 80,000 a month, including INR 40,000 as incentive. Even inaccessible areas in coastal Districts would also be put under V4 zone. A specialist doctor in the same zone would get anything between INR 150,000 and INR 180,000. Those working in the remotest areas will get 100 per cent hike in their salary while the doctors working in the remote and far-off tribal areas will get additional INR 40,000 apart from their salary.

Eight security force personnel and one militant killed in Nagaland
In a major attack, eight troopers were killed in two separate ambushes by Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland, on May 3 while nine troopers were injured, reports Nagaland Post. One militant was also killed in retaliatory firing. According to sources, the first ambush occurred at around 2.45 p.m. on May 3 when the AR personnel in a truck were escorting a tanker to fetch water from Changlangshu to Tobu town. In the first ambush, three men died on the spot. On learning of the ambush, reinforcement party of the Assam Rifles, rushed to the spot where NSCN-K militants were lying in wait and launched the second ambush attack. Five troopers were killed in the second ambush. The AR reinforcement party reportedly retaliated in which one NSCN-K militant was killed, while another who was injured, was dragged away by the other militants. A massive operation has been launched in area. Times of India further adds that four AR men were missing.

In other news, NSCN-K reiterated that it was determined to “uphold and carry on the struggle, regardless of anti-Naga and anti-NSCN campaign launched by Naga collaborators and Indian agencies, after entering into cease fire with India.”, reports Nagaland Post on May 4

Maoists kill two brother in ‘jan adlat’ in Chhattisgarh
Two brothers, identified as Kunja Brahmaiah and Kunja Seetharamaiah, native of Burakanakota village falling in limits of Chituru Police Station [East Godavari District] of Andhra Pradesh, were brutally hacked to death by Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in Sukma District of Chhattisgarh on May 4, reports The Pioneer. They were suspected to be police informers. Preliminary investigation revealed that both were kidnapped on May 1 from their village which is near Chhattisgarh-Andhra Pradesh border. Prima-facie it seems that the victims may have subjected to severe torture before they were killed, the ASP added.

AQIS leader mentioned PM Modi as a threat to Muslims
A video of al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) that mentions Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has put security agencies on alert ahead of the PM’s visit to Kolkata on May 9, reports The Times of India. In the May 2, 2015 video, AQIS ‘chief’ Asim Umar says there is a global war going on against Muslims “through World Bank and IMF [International Monetary Fund] policies, drone attacks, Charlie Hebdo’s writings, the UN charter, and Narendra Modi’s utterances.”

The Centre has ordered Kolkata Police to exercise “extreme caution”. Meanwhile, an official source added, “We have been asked to enforce three to five layers of security, depending on the areas the PM will visit. While the innermost cordon will definitely belong to SPG [Special Protection Group], we will be deputing men from the Special Branch, STF (anti-terror force) and the detective department as spotters in the second ring. We have an idea of his schedule but it is the SPG that will review the security at each of these spaces and give the go ahead.”

One civilian killed in Manipur
Kanglaonline reports that on May 5, one person, identified as Gopal was killed and at least five were injured when unidentified militants opened fire indiscriminately on a group of people while they were taking out religious rituals Haraoba at Laiching Ching in Thoubal District.

14 students stopped at Hyderabad airport from joining IS, says report
Fourteen (14) students, who were en route to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State (IS), were stopped at Hyderabad airport, Zee News reports on May 6. The state as well as central intelligence agencies started verification of students with suspicious links after an engineering student, Mohammed Atif Waseem from Hyderabad, who joined IS, died fighting in Syria. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has launched ‘Operation Chakravyuh’ to counsel the youth who try to get recruited in the terror group IS. They remain under constant vigil. Police believe that a youth from Karimnagar District in Telangana was also accompanying Waseem to Syria. Intelligence agencies are trying to gather information about the youth.

Couple carrying inflammables for Maoists killed in explosion in Jharkhand
A couple, identified as Deepeshwar Mehta and Dhaneshwari Devi, allegedly involved in illegal trade and supply of explosives to Communist Party of India-Maoist were killed in an explosion under Padma Police Station area in Hazaribagh District on May 5, reports The Pioneer. The explosion was so strong that the two were blown into pieces. The incident took place when they were carrying explosives and other inflammable items into the forest for the Maoists. Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police (SP) Akhilesh Jha said “We had come to know about the involvement of the Mehta couple in this illegal trade and hence we had intensified the surveillance on them. It seems that the couple had got a whiff of our surveillance and probably in a hurry they began disposing off the explosives and in this process they got killed accidently.”

ULFA-I states in email that it is not interested in ‘so-called’ dialogue with Government
The United Liberation Front of Asom- Independent on May 7, in a statement e-mailed to the media, reiterated that it was not at all interested in so-called peace-talks with the Government and vowed to continue with its ‘revolution’ till it achieved its avowed goal of restoration of ‘sovereignty’ of Assam, reports The Shillong Times. The ULFA-I statement came in reaction to a comment made by the Director General of Police (DGP), Khagen Sarma on May 6. The DGP stated that doors had been closed for ULFA-I and its leader Paresh Barua for holding any dialogue.

On the same day, ULFA-I ‘commander-in-chief’ Paresh Baruah called up media houses from an undisclosed location to say, if the Central Government agrees to discuss ‘sovereignty’, which is the core issue of the outfit, he would agree to hold peace talks, reports Times of India. We don’t want the Government to place any condition for talks. We have no issue on our agenda except sovereignty. If the Government says only our core issue will be on the agenda, we are ready for talks,” Baruah said.

Explosives recovered in Jharkhand
In a late night raid on May 7, Police recovered a truckload of explosives from a godown in Tupudana locality in Ranchi Block in Ranchi District, reports The Times of India. The Police seized a huge cache of explosives from the spot. Among the items recovered were eleven bags of ammonium nitrate, fifty carton detonators, 20 cartons of power gel, 1800 gelatin wire and several fuse wire and codex wire.

Two persons injured in blast in West Bengal
Two women were injured in an explosion inside a house in Bardhaman District on May 9, reports Indian Express. According to the Police, the house was used to stock crude bombs. “The house is located in Begunkhola village. It collapsed from the impact of the blast, leaving two women injured,” Bardhaman Superintendent of Police (SP) Kunal Agarwal said. A senior police official said the house belonged to one Sanjoy Ghosh who was arrested from Katwa in the same District in connection to a criminal case a few days ago. The bomb squad reached the spot and collected samples for forensic examination.

Civilian killings double in Maoist-affe
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) data shows civilian killings have almost doubled as compared to the combined killings of security personnel and Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres over the last five years, reports intoday.in. Since 2010, around 61 percent of the killings in the Red zone have been of civilians. Most of them were branded as ‘police informers’ by Maoists. Nearly 45 percent of the civilians killed are those who are suspected to be helping the Police. This could also include people who do not follow the orders of the Maoist leaders. Officials on the ground say the number of civilians killed by Maoists could be much higher, but most cases are never reported. “Families of victims and the locals live in fear, they don’t even have the courage to report a killing to the police,” said an official.

NSCN-K claims nearly 20 AR men killed and 12 weapons were seized in Arunachal Pradesh in May 13 ambush
The Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland on May 15 claimed that they killed nearly 20 Security Force personnel and decamped with 12 weapons during the ambush on 14 Assam Rifles (AR) personnel on May 13 in Changlang District of Arunachal Pradesh, reports Nagaland Post. NSCN-K claimed that they exchanged heavy gun-fire for hours and of 20 SFs killed, 14 were recovered. Meanwhile Defence sources denied any casualty on their side.

71 villages in Tamil Nadu identified which could become Maoist base
In an attempt to thwart Communist Party of India-Maoist incursion in under developed tribal settlements across the Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu Q branch Police have identified and forwarded a list of 71 tribal villages to the District administration, seeking their immediate intervention, reports The Times of India on May 20. The Police have asked the revenue and other related departments to speed up the implementation of Government schemes mainly pertaining to basic amenities like issuing ration cards, health and rural connectivity. The 71 settlements identified are scattered in five Taluks including Valparai with high tribal populations. According to sources, the 71 settlements are coming under Valparai, Pollachi, Mettupalayam, Perur and Coimbatore North.

Being Maoist is not a crime , says Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court in a significant ruling on May 22 said ‘‘being a Maoist is of no crime” reports The Hindu. Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque while delivering a judgement said that State pay a compensation of INR 10000 and INR 10,000 as cost to the petitioner Shyam Balakrishnan from Wayanad District in the case. In his judgment Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque further held that in this case, “the facts will clearly indicate that the petitioner was arrested as a suspected Maoist. At the relevant time, the police had no clue about the offence committed by the petitioner. The only reason on which the petitioner was arrested was that he was a suspected Maoist. No doubt, the police, on realising the mistake, released the petitioner without registering a case.” The judgment pointed out that in this case “police violated the liberty of the petitioner by taking him into custody without satisfying that the petitioner was involved in any cognisable offence punishable under law.”The Court further said “if the Maoist organisation is a proscribed organisation under the law, activities of the Maoist organisation can be interfered. If the individual or organisation abhors and resorts to physical violence, the law agency can prevent or take action against the individual or organisation.” ‘‘The police version that the petitioner was rescued from the agitated mob cannot be believed. The General Diary and other action on the part of the police in searching the house of the petitioner will clearly indicate that the petitioner was taken into custody as a suspected Maoist,” the judgment said.

32 trucks set on fire in Bihar
32 trucks were set ablaze, reportedly by Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres on the busy Grand Trunk (GT) Road in Gaya District of Bihar in the intervening night of May 24-25, reports NDTV. The incident occurred during a two-day bandh (general shut down) call by the Maoists in the region. The bandh came into effect in the intervening night of May 24-25. The bandh call has been given by the CPI-Maoist to protest against the killing of Sarita aka Urmila Ganjoo, a member of the erstwhile Bihar-Jharkhand ‘special area committee’, which was replaced by the East Bihar Eastern Jharkhand Special Area, in an encounter with Police on May 17.

Monthly Fatalities
The following deaths related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period April 26, 2015 to May 25, 2015:

	Civilian	Indian Security Personnel	Militant	Total
Assam	03	00	02	05
Manipur	10	00	16	26
Meghalaya	06	00	02	08
Nagaland	00	08	10	18
Left-wing	15	03	08	26
Total	34	11	38	89

Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics

60% blame LTTE for war time abductions, says PCICMP Chairman Maxwell Paranagama
Sixty percent of the people who had appeared before the Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Persons (PCICMP), blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the disappearance of their kith and kin, PCICMP Chairman, Retired Justice Maxwell Paranagama, said on April 26, reports The New Indian Express. He said that “Thirty percent of the complaints were against the Sri Lankan Security Forces (SFs), 10 percent against the other (non-LTTE) Tamil militant groups, and 5 percent were against unidentified elements.” A total of 2500 people from the Northern and Eastern Provinces had appeared before the commission. There were 16,000 complaints from civilians and 5600 from the SFs. Paranagama added that “However, the blame figures varied from district to district. In Kilinochchi, 85 percent of those who deposed blamed the LTTE. In Mullaitivu, 80 percent blamed the LTTE. In Jaffna, people blamed the LTTE and the SFs equally (50:50). In the Eastern Province most of the complaints were against the SFs. The Karuna group (a breakaway group of the LTTE), was also blamed to an extent in the East.” Some of the cases have been referred for action and some for further investigations, he said.

The Commission has submitted its interim report to President Maithripala Sirisena. The Government has asked the panel to continue its work as it is also investigating allegations of war crimes.

Five Dutch nationals of Sri Lankan original jailed for supporting LTTE
Five Dutch nationals of Sri Lankan origin have been jailed for between nineteen months and six years three months for raising money for Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reports Colombo Page on May 1. The appeal court ruled the five, who range in age from 43 to 60, were members of the LTTE and had raised money for the terror group between 2003 and 2010. The charges involved threatening people who refused to make donations and organizing illegal lotteries, the court said.

Government warns against commemorating LTTE
Sri Lankan Government on May 13 warned that any attempt to commemorate Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the sixth anniversary of the end of the three-decade long civil war will not be condoned, reports Business Standard. Senior Minister Karu Jayasuriya said that “Anyone trying to commemorate the LTTE which was a terror group will not be approved by the government. There are elements who want to misuse the new democratic freedom in the country to show that terrorism could rise its head again.”

The Government’s response came as some members of the Tamil-controlled Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on May 12 inaugurated a week-long commemoration of the Tamils who died in the final battle with the army in 2009. However, M K Shvajilingam, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member dismissed the accusations that he was commemorating the fallen LTTE members.

May 19 no longer ‘Victory Day’, it’s ‘Remembrance Day’ says Sri Lankan Government
Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne on May 14 announced that the day, May 19 which was celebrated as “Victory Day” by the Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa to mark the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam defeat, will from this year onwards be observed as “Remembrance Day” to recall the sacrifices of all those who had fought in the Eelam War-IV to maintain the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka irrespective of their ethnicity, reports The Hindu. He also added that it would be a day that culminated the end of separatism.

In a bid to take this message of unity to the interior of the island, the function this year will be held, not in Colombo, but at Matara in the Southern Province, adds The New Indian Express. However, as in the past, there will be a military parade at which President Maithripala Sirisena will take the salute.

Meanwhile, supporting the Government’s position, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader M.A. Sumanthiran said that “TNA, even in 2010, a year after the end of the War, had called upon people to remember the dead without any reference to the LTTE or religion. Its point was there should be “no sense of triumphalism” but a “feeling of regret and sadness”, adds The Hindu.

Also, the Member of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) and former Member of Parliament (MP) M.K. Shivajilingam said that as part of the “genocidal week,” beginning on May 12, he took part in functions in Mullivaikkal, Trincomalee and Point Pedro in the last three days to pay homage to all those who died in the War” “The dead included those who belonged to the LTTE,” said Shivajilingam, who is the national organiser of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), now a political party.

SL war crimes
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said on May 20 that a local investigation into allegations of war crimes committed during the island’s separatist conflict would begin by June, vowing to prosecute anyone found guilty.

Sirisena said he welcomed any guidance from the UN Human Rights Council on setting up the probe, amid international pressure for the island to account for alleged atrocities committed during the war which ended in 2009.

INTERNATIONAL

93 Jihadists held
Saudi Arabia has arrested nearly 100 Jihadists, mostly linked to the Islamic State group, and foiled several plots to carry out attacks including on the American embassy, authorities said on Tuesday, April 28.

The arrests have taken place since December and most of those detained were Saudis, the interior ministry said in a statement published by the official news agency SPA.

Regime forces kill 21 Syrians
Air strikes by Syrian government forces killed at least 21 people, including six children, and wounded 50 on Wednesday, May 1 in the northern provinces of Aleppo and Idlib, a monitor said.

In the south of Aleppo city, a small girl was among four civilians killed in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Ferdus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Saudi-led air strikes kill 47 in Yemen
The United Nations warned fuel shortages threaten to halt all relief operations in Yemen “within days” as Saudi-led air strikes and ground fighting killed 47 people in second city Aden. Gulf Arab states rejected any neutral venue for UN-brokered peace talks as a confidential UN report supported their allegations that regional rival Tehran had been arming Yemen’s Huthi rebels since 2009.

Yemen was the poorest Arab country even before the rebellion against now exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi escalated last year and UN agencies said on Thursday that millions were at risk from any halt to food distributions.

The bombing campaign launched by a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states on March 26 has virtually halted the delivery of both humanitarian aid and commercial goods, including fuel.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the lack of fuel was preventing agencies on the ground from distributing even those stocks already inside the country, most of which are in the hands of rebels who are under a UN arms embargo. He called for an “immediate resumption of fuel imports to avoid making the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Yemen even worse.”

The World Food Programme said it was halting its food distribution in Yemen due to the severe fuel shortage. The agency is in urgent need of more than 200,000 litres of fuel to be able to continue distributing food supplies already in its warehouses, stocks that can feed 1.5 million people for one month.

The World Health Organisation said that as of Monday 1,244 had been confirmed killed in fighting in Yemen since March 19.

It said that the collapse of access to health care had also fanned the spread of epidemic diseases, with 44 alerts of suspected outbreaks of diseases including measles, dengue fever and meningitis.

Four die in Baghdad blast
A car bomb blast near the Baghdad headquarters of a militia fighting the Islamic State Jihadist group in Iraq killed at least four civilians on Tuesday, May 5 police said.

A police colonel told AFP that 13 other people were wounded in the explosion near the headquarters of Kataeb Imam Ali in the Karrada area of central Baghdad.

Yemen shelling kills five in Saudi Arabia
Shells fired from Yemen killed five people in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, May 6 in a second day of cross-border bombing blamed on Huthi rebels, civil defence authorities said.

Two civilians in a car and two passers-by were killed by a shell in the city of Najran, while 11 others were wounded, the civil defence department said in a statement carried by the SPA state news agency. A prison security officer was also killed and another wounded when a second shell landed on their patrol in the same area, the statement said.

Meanwhile, US diplomat John Kerry was to hold talks with Riyadh late on Wednesday on a “humanitarian pause” in Saudi-led military operations in Yemen as more Saudis were killed in cross-border attacks.

Riyadh has said it is considering temporary halts in air raids to allow aid deliveries into Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition took action on March 26 in an effort to halt an advance by Iran-backed rebels. Twenty-two humanitarian organisations warned their emergency aid operations in Yemen could grind to a halt due to fuel shortages, urging immediate opening of roads as well as ending air and sea blockades.

There has been growing concern for civilians as the conflict drags on, and on Wednesday 32 people were reported to have died while trying to flee the southern city of Aden by sea.

A health official accused the Huthi rebels of killing the civilians and wounding another 67 in the shelling that hit a fishing harbour and a barge. Before he flew to Saudi Arabia, Kerry told reporters in Djibouti he would raise the issue of a temporary halt to air strikes with officials in Riyadh.

The United Nations says at least 1,200 people have been killed in Yemen since March 19, roughly half of them civilians.

Turkey denies ‘new deal’ with S Arabia
Turkey on Friday, May 8 denied it had struck a secret new pact with Saudi Arabia to back Islamist rebels in Syria in a drive to bring down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Reports have suggested that Riyadh and Ankara agreed a special pact to militarily and financially support Islamist rebels in Syria in an all-out effort to oust Assad from power.

The suggestions emerged after Islamist rebels — including fighters from al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front — captured the Syrian city of Idlib from government forces and made striking new gains.

“What has been said about Saudi Arabia is nothing new, our views have coincided with Saudi Arabia on Syria for years,” foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said. He also rejected claims that Turkey was aiding Al-Nusra Front, noting the group was on Ankara’s list of prohibited terrorist organisations.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia have had long-standing differences on how to deal with Assad and relations also strained badly in recent years over Egypt.

But ties have recently shown signs of warming under newly-crowned Saudi King Salman, who Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited in March.

Turkey has long argued there can be no solution for the Syria conflict until Assad leaves power.

Indonesia struggles as migrants arrive by the hundreds
They washed up on Indonesia’s far west coast “sad, tired and distressed” after a treacherous high-seas journey: hundreds of Rohingya migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, with children in tow, in search of a better life.

They were never supposed to wind up in Indonesia’s Aceh region, said one Muslim Rohingya aboard the wooden boat which arrived at the weekend.

The 573 people had boarded in Thailand with the promise of reaching Malaysia before traffickers abandoned them off the coast with little fuel.

Local authorities in Lhoksukon, the capital of North Aceh, also were unprepared for the sudden arrivals, in one of four boats of Rohingya migrants rescued off the coasts of Indonesia and Malaysia since May 10.

Caught off guard, the authorities scrambled to find food and shelter for hundreds of exhausted people, some so dehydrated they needed intravenous drips and treatment at local health clinics.

“We actually don’t have money in our budget for this,” Mohd Yani, a local official of the North Aceh Social Welfare Office, told AFP. But he added: “We will think about it later. This is an emergency.”

Russia, rebels can attack with little warning: Nato
Russia and pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine now have the capacity to launch new attacks “with very little warning” after a sustained military build-up, Nato head Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, May 11.

“In eastern Ukraine, Russia and the separatists (now) have capabilities which enable them to launch new attacks with very little warning time”, violating a ceasefire agreed in February, Stoltenberg said.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter warned last week that the rebels were clearly “preparing for another round of military action,” a view shared by senior US military officers who have cited Russia’s increased activity as cause for concern.

France and Germany, together with Russia, brokered a second ceasefire between Kiev and the rebels in the Belarus capital Minsk in February after a September agreement collapsed.

The accord called on both sides to withdraw heavy weapons, allow full access to OSCE monitors to police the ceasefire and restore border control to Ukraine. While fighting has died down, both sides accuse each other of violations on a daily basis and the OSCE says it is being prevented from doing its job.

Stoltenberg said the Minsk accord was the only way forward and all sides had to respect its provisions if there was to be a peaceful solution.

The conflict, sparked in April 2014 as Ukraine cemented ties with the European Union and after Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula, has so far claimed more than 6,100 lives and plunged Western ties with Moscow into the deep freeze.

In what might be a sign of a slight thaw, US Secretary of State John Kerry is meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday.

Salman skips Obama summit
Newly crowned Saudi King Salman has refused an invitation to attend a landmark summit hosted by President Barack Obama, amid angst over US-Iran nuclear negotiations. Obama had invited six Gulf kings, emirs and sultans to the presidential retreat at Camp David, seeking to shore up wavering trust while Washington negotiates with regional power Tehran.

Obama´s plans now lie in tatters, with only two heads of state slated to attend the Thursday (May 14 meeting.

Saudi Arabia´s embassy in Washington said on Sunday that recently named Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef would instead lead the Saudi delegation to the meeting.

The king´s youthful son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who is tipped as a possible future successor and who has driven recent military operations in Yemen — will also attend.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Salman would miss the meeting “due to the timing of the summit, the scheduled humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen and the opening of the King Salman Centre for Humanitarian Aid,” according to the embassy statement.

72 die in Syria
At least 72 fighters were killed in a single day as the Syrian army battled to relieve some 250 besieged regime loyalists under rebel assault, a monitoring group said on Monday, May 11.

President Bashar al-Assad had personally pledged to rescue the trapped troops and civilians, who are said to include senior figures and have been holed up in a hospital complex since rebels captured the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughur two weeks ago. As the relief column fought its way to within two kilometres of the complex on Sunday morning, the rebels launched an all-out assault, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Burundi coup ends in failure, leaders arrested
An attempt to overthrow Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza ended in failure on Friday, May 15 as coup leaders admitted defeat and were arrested or hunted down by loyalist troops.

General Godefroid Niyombare, who launched the coup in the central African nation earlier in the week, told AFP by telephone that he wanted to give himself up, and said soldiers supporting the president were approaching him. “We have decided to surrender,” he said. “I hope they won’t kill us.”

It was not immediately clear if he was arrested or killed.

The coup leaders’ spokesman, Venom Ndabaneze, was also speaking to AFP confirming that the putschists had decided to surrender when loyalist troops arrested him, deputy coup leader Cyrille Ndayirukiye and another senior figure among the mutineers.

“We decided to give ourselves up. We have laid down our arms. We have called the security ministry to tell them we no longer have any arms,” Ndabaneze said, seconds before he could be heard being arrested.

The dramatic end to the coup attempt came shortly after the presidency announced that Nkurunziza — who was abroad when the coup was declared — had returned to the country.

He was in neighbouring Tanzania for regional talks on Wednesday when Niyombare launched the coup, in a culmination of weeks of violent street protests against the president’s bid to seek a third term.

Another coup leader, General Cyrille Ndayirukiye, said the rebels had been “faced with an overpowering military determination to support the system in power”.

Female suicide bomber kills seven in Nigeria
A girl about 12 years old carried out a suicide attack at a bus station in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday, May 16 killing seven and injuring 31, witnesses said, shortly after officials revealed that Boko Haram Islamists had recaptured a strategic town in the region.

The head of the local Sani Abacha hospital, doctor Gara Fika, said six bodies and 32 injured had arrived there with one person dying after being admitted.

The Damaturu bus station has been repeatedly targeted in a string of previous suicide attacks.

“I was in the station when I saw the young girl arrive,” said bus driver Musbahu Lawan. “I think she noticed the guards checking people at the gates and she decided to detonate the explosives in the middle of the crowd outside the gates.”

No claim of responsibility for the attack has been made but Islamist group Boko Haram has frequently used young girls to carry out suicide attacks.

In February, a woman suicide bomber attacked the same bus station, leaving seven dead and 32 injured.

The deputy governor in neighbouring Borno state, Mustapha Zannah, said on Friday that he had seen a security report indicating that Boko Haram has recruited several suicide bombers to help counter a regional military operation against them.

Syria air raids kill 48 civilians in Idlib
At least 48 civilians, including nine children, were killed on Saturday, May 16 in regime air raids on Syria’s northwest province of Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. It also said dozens of people were wounded, and some were in a critical condition.

Jihadists from the Islamic State group seized control Saturday of the northern part of Syria’s ancient desert city of Palmyra after fierce clashes with government forces, a monitoring group said.

“IS advanced and took control of most of northern Palmyra, and there are fierce clashes happening now,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. e said 13 Jihadist fighters were killed in ongoing clashes near the Islamic citadel in the city’s west.

Abdel Rahman had no details on regime casualties.

Most of Palmyra’s renowned ruins, including colonnaded streets and elaborately decorated tombs, lie to the southwest of the city. The official Syrian news agency SANA quoted a military source as saying that regime forces had prevented IS fighters from seizing a hilltop southwest of the Islamic citadel. The head of Syria’s antiquities department, Mamoum Abdulkarim, meanwhile voice concern for the ancient site.

IS began its offensive on Palmyra on Wednesday and inched closer to the ancient metropolis on Thursday and Friday, executing at least 49 civilians over those two days according to the Observatory.

Turkish warplanes on Saturday shot down a Syrian aircraft that violated Turkey’s airspace, media quoted Turkish military sources as saying, but Syrian state television said it was an unmanned drone.

Turkish jets, after taking off from the south of the country, shot down the Syrian craft that had crossed the border into the Hatay region, a Turkish general staff source told the DHA news agency.

Syria expels IS from Palmyra
Syrian troops pushed Islamic State group Jihadists back from the ancient city of Palmyra on Sunday, May 17 fears over the world heritage site, after fighting that left hundreds dead.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said nearly 300 people have been killed in four days of fighting since IS launched an assault on the desert oasis city on Wednesday.

The toll comprised 123 soldiers and loyalist militiamen, 115 IS fighters as well as 57 civilians, dozens of whom were executed by the Jihadists, the Observatory said, quoting sources on the ground.

On Saturday the Jihadists pressed their offensive and seized the northern part of the modern town of Palmyra, known as Tadmur in Arabic, but were driven out by regime forces. “IS’s attack was foiled,” said provincial governor Talal Barazi. He told AFP the army was “still combing the streets for bombs” after recapturing the northern districts. “The situation in the city and its outskirts is good,” he said. But the Observatory said clashes were still under way on Sunday in the northern suburb of Al-Amiriyah, around the prison east of the city and around Haql al-Hail gas field northeast of Palmyra.

Seven killed in Nigeria blast
At least seven people were killed and 27 others injured in a bomb blast in Nigeria’s northern state of Yobe. The attack, carried out by a 10-year old female bomber on Saturday, May 17 occurred as she approached a bus station at the heart of Yobe’s capital Damaturu.

Tunisia says 172 nationals held by Libya militia
Tunisia said on Monday, May 18 was negotiating for the release of 172 nationals being held by a Libyan militia as bargaining chips for one of its commanders detained in Tunis. The foreign ministry’s Arab and African affairs chief Touhami Abdouli said the Tunisians had been detained in western Libya by a militia that is part of the Libya Dawn alliance which controls the capital Tripoli and third city Misrata.

The Tunisian consul in Tripoli, Ibrahim Rezgui, told Jawahra FM radio late on Sunday that he had received complaints from Tunisian citizens about the arrests. Rezgui said the Tunisians were arrested “in retaliation for the arrest on Thursday in Tunis of one of their leaders,” Walid el-Klibi.

“Tunisian authorities are investigating this individual and if the judiciary finds nothing against him it will order his release,” he added.

Libya has been wracked by conflict since the 2011 overthrow of veteran dictator Moamer Qadhafi in a Nato-backed uprising, with rival governments and powerful militias battling for power.

Eight Egyptian policeman killed by gunmen
Gunmen on a motorbike shot dead an Egyptian policeman while two suspects in a failed bomb attack targeting a judge were killed in a shoot-out with police, officials said on Monday, May 18.

Militants have carried out regular attacks on policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Mursi in July 2013. Jihadists say their assaults are in retaliation for a government crackdown against Mursi’s supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.

The gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on a policeman during the night near a court in Belbeis, a town around 60 kilometres northeast of Cairo, a police official said. The policeman died in hospital.

In a separate incident, police killed two men suspected of involvement in a failed bomb attack that targeted judge Mutaz Khafagi in Cairo last week, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The two suspects, who lived in a Cairo suburb, were shot dead in a firefight when police went to arrest them, the ministry said without specifying when they were killed.

Khafagi sentenced 12 men to death in August 2014 after convicting them of murdering a police general in the town of Kerdasa near Cairo during a police crackdown targeting Mursi’s supporters. He also sentenced Muslim Brotherhood chief Mohamed Badie to life in prison in February.

On May 10, three small bombs exploded outside Khafagi’s home in Cairo, wounding four people and damaging the building. Khafagi was in his first-floor apartment at the time of the attack but was not wounded.

Rights groups accuse the authorities of using the judiciary as a tool to repress all kinds of opposition to the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Since the ouster of Mursi, hundreds of his supporters have been sentenced to death after speedy mass trials, described as the United Nations as “unprecedented in recent history”.

Yemen moot calls for safe zones
Yemeni political factions voiced support on Tuesday, May 19 for Saudi-led forces fighting Iran-backed rebels, calling for safe zones in the war-torn nation allowing the exiled government to resume its duties.

“We support this resistance to go on fighting (rebel) forces,” exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi told about 300 delegates at the close of a three-day meeting in Riyadh. He was referring to the Iran-backed Huthis — who boycotted the Riyadh talks — and their allies, forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A closing statement at the conference sought the quicker delivery of supplies to pro-government forces including “logistical equipment and weapons”. It also called for a safe zone where government institutions could resume their activities.

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.