Special Emphasis on Terrorism (Augst-2015)

Terrorist Activities in Pakistan

Suicide Attacks
A suicide bomber blew himself up while three others were killed in a joint search operation carried out by Police and Intelligence Agencies in Rachna Town and Khan Colony near GT Road area in Lahore District on June 29, reports Daily Times. According to details, during the raid, a suicide bomber blew himself up injuring nine people, including a Policeman. Another terrorist was killed on the spot by Police firing while two more sustained bullet wounds, who succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital. Three suicide vests, a rocket launcher, five Kalashnikovs, five pistols and two laptop computers besides explosives were recovered from the their possession, claimed the Police.

Meanwhile, Sources in the sensitive agencies said that the terrorists had plans to attack the offices of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) as maps of IB offices were recovered from their custody. They said one of the killed terrorist belonged to Wana town of South Waziristan Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and was the ‘chief’ of the Punjab Chapter of al Qaeda, adds The News.

At least two persons were killed in a suicide explosion near Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University on Brewery road area of at Quetta on July 17, reports Dawn. Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said that the bomber attempted to enter Quetta’s Hazara town area but was intercepted by security personnel. He added that the interception forced the attacker, who was wearing women’s clothes, to prematurely detonate his explosives. Those killed in the attack included the attacker and the security guard who had intercepted the 25-year-old bomber.

Bomb/IED Blasts
A man was killed and 15 others were injured after an explosion near the Bacha Khan Chowk in Quetta on July 5, reports The News. According to the Quetta Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Razzak Cheema, the bomb was fixed to a motorcycle parked in the area. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

Three persons were injured when a roadside bomb went off on Ring Road near Achini in Peshawar on July 8, reports The Express Tribune. According to an official of the Pishtakhara Police Station, the blast was caused by an explosive device weighing eight kilogrammes. The bomb had been planted on the road. “We have reason to believe that the attack was aimed at a security forces convoy which had passed on the road 10 minutes before the blast occurred,” he said. The official said the convoy was equipped with signal jammers. As a result, it did not go off until 10 minutes after the convoy had passed. “Three bystanders were injured in the explosion,” he said.

Two people, identified as Shehroz and Sadat Khan, were injured in a remote-controlled bomb blast under the Sariab Bridge in Quetta on July 10. An official of the Bomb Disposal Squad said the remote-controlled bomb was homemade. “Around four kilograms of explosive material was used in the device,” he said.

Two soldiers, identified as Naib Subedar Iftikhar and Lance Naik Mushtaq, were killed and five others were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Sandana area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 12, reports The News.

A bomb went off outside the residence of former provincial minister Hidayatullah at the Din Bahar Colony near Charsadda Road in Peshawar on July 15, reports The News. Locals said the bomb, planted outside the residence of Awami National Party (ANP) leader Hidayatullah, went off in the evening, damaging the main gate and boundary wall. However, no casualty was reported.

Separately, two explosive devices were detonated outside the house of Faiz Muhammad in Doaaba area of Hangu District on July 15, reports Daily Times. The explosions caused partial damage to the boundary walls of the house. No casualties were reported in the said incident.

Two children were injured as a toy bomb exploded in Tochi area of Bannu District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on July 21, reports Daily Times. According to reports, one of the injured children was stated to be in a precarious condition. The incident occurred in the Tochi area where two children were busy in playing outside their house. The children saw a toy bomb and started playing with it which resulted into an explosion.

A bomb planted by roadside exploded with a big bang in Jamrud area of Khyber Agency on July 21, reports Daily Times. However, no loss of life was reported. According to reports, traders were busy in opening their shops in Jamrud Bazaar when the bomb exploded.

Targetted Killings
A worker of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), identified as Nizamuddin Bhutto, was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants near Railway Phatak area of Naseerabad District in Balochistan on June 26, reported The News.

A journalist, identified as Zafarullah Jatak, was shot dead while he was asleep at his home in Usta Mohammad town of Jaffarabad District on June 28, reports Dawn. Jatak was working as a part-time correspondent for the Quetta Urdu daily Intikhab. A Police Official said that a number of journalists had complained of receiving threats from some unidentified groups.

A Police constable was shot dead by motorcycle bourne unidentified assailants in the Yakatoot area of Peshawar on June 29, reports Daily Times. The constable was targeted while he was going to the police lines for duty. The assailants managed to fled the scene.

Three Punjabi welders were shot dead in an ethnically motivated attack at a shop in Sirki Road area of Quetta on July 1, reported Daily Times. Senior Police Official Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that it appeared to be an “ethnic” killing as the victims were from Punjab.

Separately, two people, identified as Police Constable Imdad Ali and a passerby Zahid Ali, were killed and three other Police personnel sustained injuries in attack on a Police check-post in Mir Hassan area of Jaffarabad District on July 1, reports Daily Times. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

Elsewhere, a Levies constable was killed when unidentified militants opened fire at Badizai check post in Pishin District on July 1, reported Dawn.

A man, identified as Zahid was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in Mai Kolachi Bypass that connects Kiamari Town with Saddar Town in provincial capital Karachi on July 2, reported Daily Times. Separately, an unidentified dead body was recovered from Orangi Town on July 2, reports Daily Times.

In another incident, two people, identified as Muhammad Ilyas (60), and Muhammad (30), were shot at and injured near Rahmat Chowk in Orangi Town on July 2, reported Daily Times.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Qaim Ali Shah on July 2 claimed that the Government had controlled extortion and target killings in the Province, reports Daily Times. He said that the Sindh Government had given the Rangers rights under Anti Terrorist Act.

A local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), Dost Muhammad Khan, was shot by unidentified assailants on July 2 in Uthmanzai area of Charsadda District, reports Dawn. According to police sources, two motorcycle-bourne assailants opened fire at a local office of the ANP at Uthmanzai bazaar area, as a result of which Dost Muhamad Khan alias Khan Baba was killed on the spot. The attackers managed to flee from the scene.

Two persons were killed and three others sustained injuries in an incident of firing by unidentified assailants in Nasirabad area of Turbat District of Balochistan on July 3, reports Daily Times.

Three unidentified militants shot dead an Additional District and Sessions Judge, identified as Tahir Khan Niazi, in Sadiqabad Town area of Rawalpindi District while he was leaving his Judges Colony residence on August 5, reported Dawn. The assailants escaped from the scene after the attack.

A man, identified as Muzamil (32), was killed by unidentified armed assailants at Bengali Para locality in Ibrahim Haidery area of Korangi Town in Karachi on August 5, reports Daily Times.

Separately, one Shehzad (22), was killed and another Bilal (24), was injured when unidentified armed assailants opened fire at them near KMC Quarters in Pak Colony area of Orangi Town on August 5, reported Daily Times.

Unidentified militants shot dead three Punjabi labourers at a construction company in Zero Point area of Pasni tehsil (revenue unit) in Gwadar District on July 5, reported Dawn. Levies sources went on to say that the assailants also snatched weapons from Balochistan Constabulary personnel deployed to guard labourers and machinery in the area. All the three victims belonged to the Khanewal District of Punjab, adds The News.

Three Hazara Shia, including a Policeman among them, were killed while another woman inured in a suspected sectarian attack when unidentified assailants opened fire outside the passport office on the Joint Road area of Quetta, reports The News. Three persons including two real brothers Hassan Hazara and Shabir Hazara and a cop Kala Khan died on the spot.

Meanwhile, the manager of a local non-governmental organization (NGO) was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle bourne in Jinnah Town area of Quetta, reports The News.

A Sub-Inspector of Sindh Police and manager of a local bank among at least four people have been shot dead in separate incidents of firing in Karachi, on July 6, reports The News. Sub-Inspector Imran was killed by unidentified assailants as they opened fire at his car near Abdullah College in North Nazimabad town.

In a separate incident, Sheikh Nazir, the bank manager of National Bank of Pakistan’s (NBP) local branch was shot dead near UP Mor area of North Karachi.

In other incidents, a man identified as Bakht Mansha was killed near Ayesha Manzil area.

Meanwhile, an anonymous dead body was recovered from Sohrab Goth area.

Unidentified assailants shot dead a lawyer of the Sindh High Court (SHC), identified as Wakeel Sahib Khan, in Agra area of Khairpur District in Sindh on July 7, reports Daily Times. The assailants managed to flee from the scene after committing the murder.

Three unidentified bullet riddled bodies of men aged between 25 years and 30 years were found from Al-Noor Society in Surjani Town area of Gadap Town in Karachi on July 8, reported Daily Times.

Separately, one Waseem (25) was shot at and injured in Bihar Colony area of Lyari Town on July 8, reports Daily Times.

A Police constable, identified as Jannat Gul, was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants while he was patrolling at Anam Sanam Chowk in Gulbahar area of Peshawar on July 10, reported The News.

Unidentified armed militants shot dead two Balochistan Constabulary officers, identified as Sub-Inspectors Fazal ur Rehman and Hafeezullah, in a targeted attack in Satellite Town area of Quetta on July 13, reported Dawn.

Some unidentified assailants shot dead a shopkeeper, identified as Moulvi Wali, in Boghra bazaar of Chaman town of same District in Balochistan on July 15, reports Daily Times. The Levies force said that the armed men entered a shop in and opened indiscriminate firing at the owner, leaving him seriously injured. The assailants managed to escape from the scene, while the injured succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital.

A Superintendent of Police (SP) of Elite Force (Bannu), Hairul Haseeb, was killed on July 17 in Saleem Khan area of Swabi District, reports Dawn. According to District Police Officer Swabi Sajjad Khan, Hairul Haseeb was on his way home from a mosque after offering morning prayers when unidentified gunmen on motorcycle opened fire and killed him. SP Hairul Haseeb was a retired army officer and posted as Baunu elite police force SP.

Miscellaneous
Two Lyari gangsters, belonging to Sheraz Comrade group, were shot dead down in an encounter in Chakiwara area of Lyari Town in Karachi on June 27, reported The News. Hand grenades and other weapons were recovered from their possession.

In another encounter, two suspects were killed and two others were arrested in Salar Goth area of Malir Town on June 27 (today), reports The News. The Police claimed to have recovered ‘Awan Bomb’ and other arms and ammunition from their possession.

Air strikes killed at least 20 militants in the areas close to Pak-Afghan border in the Shawal Valley area of North Waziristan Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on June 28, reports Daily Times. The deeply forested ravines are a smuggling route between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, and are dotted with terrorist bases used as launch pads for attacks on Pakistani forces.

Further on the same day, 14 more militants were killed in the air strikes in the areas on the side of Khyber Agency, reports Daily Times.

The Balochistan Frontier Corps (FC) seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition during a raid at the hideouts of Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants in Bhaag area of Bolan District on June 28, reported The News. A spokesman for the FC said that they had dumped weapons and ammunition to carry out subversive activities in Sibi, Kohlu and Dera Bugti Districts. The FC teams had seized an RPG 7 with its eight rounds, two Chinese LMGs, four SMGs, five 3.3 rifles with 650 rounds, nine shotguns with 135 rounds, three AK-47 rifles with three magazines and 1,400 rounds, four seven mm guns with 280 rounds, a repeater gun, 30 fuses, 1,300 rounds of sniper rifles and a pickup vehicle.

Elsewhere, the FC said on June 28 that it arrested six suspected militants during two search operations in Kalat and Turbat Districts. According to the Frontier Corps (FC) spokesman, in the first operation the paramilitary force carried out an intelligence-based search operation in Kalat. “FC personnel arrested two militants of BLA and recovered automatic weapons from their possession,” the spokesman said. Both the militants were involved in attacks on security forces and the targeted killing of people.

At least 20 militants were killed in an exchange of fire that resulted after the militants belonging to Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacked the United Baloch Army (UBA)’s Karam Khan Camp in Peer Masori area of Dera Bugti District on June 29.

Separately, Police Inspector Mohammad Naseem was shot dead while he was on his way home from Industrial Police Station in Jan Mohammad Road area of Quetta on June 29, reports Daily Times. Industrial Police Station House Officer (SHO) Athar Rasheed said, “the killing was an act of targeted killing.”

At least 13 militants, including the brother and nephew of Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) leader Dr. Allah Nazar, and one security official, were killed during a search operation in Mashkay area of Awaran District on June 30. According to Frontier Corps (FC) spokesperson Khan Wasay, they conducted a search operation early on Tuesday in Mashkay, the hometown of BLF leader Dr. Nazar, to secure the release of hostages taken by the militants. Wasay said the militants were involved in killing of seven people on June 6, 2015 in Mashkay. “They also took 17 women and 30 children as hostages in Mashkay,” he said, adding that the hostages were released after the operation. The militants killed in the operation were identified as Safar Khan, Dr Nazar’s brother, Shahek Baloch, Dr Nazar’s nephew, and two ‘commander’s Balaach and Shahjahan.

12 militants and four soldiers killed were killed in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan Agency on July 5, reports The News. Four soldiers were killed and eight others sustained injuries when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Dattakhel area. Security Forces (SFs) lunched a search operation in which they had killed 12 militants. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the loss of four soldiers in the attack. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack. The TTP ‘spokesman’, Muhammad Khurasani, told reporters in a phone call from an undisclosed location that their cadres had planted the IED to hit the military convoy. He claimed nine soldiers were killed in the attack. There was no independent confirmation of these claims.

Further, militants opened fire on a security checkpoint in the Ladha subdivision of South Waziristan Agency, killing two soldiers and injuring three others on July 5, reports The News. Azam Tariq, spokesman for a splinter group of the TTP led by Khan Said Sajna, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, suspected militants blew the building of the Government Boys Primary School in Kamangarah area in Nawagai tehsil (revenue unit) of Bajaur Agency on July 5, reports The News.

Unidentified militants shot dead three Punjabi labourers at a construction company in Zero Point area of Pasni tehsil (revenue unit) in Gwadar District on July 5, reported Dawn. Levies sources went on to say that the assailants also snatched weapons from Balochistan Constabulary personnel deployed to guard labourers and machinery in the area. All the three victims belonged to the Khanewal District of Punjab, adds The News.

Separately, a man was killed and 15 others were injured after an explosion near the Bacha Khan Chowk in Quetta on July 5, reports The News. According to the Quetta Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Razzak Cheema, the bomb was fixed to a motorcycle parked in the area. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

A leader of the ruling National Party (NP) and a Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA), Haji Islam Baloch, and his family survived a rocket-and-gun attack near Pattak area of Besima tehsil (revenue unit) while he was travelling to Quetta from Panjgur District on August 5, reports Dawn. One of the security guards escorting the MPA was injured as he received splinters of the rocket that exploded near his vehicle. The attackers fired two rockets to target the MPA’s vehicle.

12 militants and four soldiers killed were killed in Dattakhel area of North Waziristan Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 5, reports The News. Four soldiers were killed and eight others sustained injuries when their vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Dattakhel area. Security Forces (SFs) launched a search operation in which they had killed 12 militants. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed the loss of four soldiers in the attack. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The TTP ‘spokesman’, Muhammad Khurasani, told reporters in a phone call from an undisclosed location that their cadres had planted the IED to hit the military convoy. He claimed nine soldiers were killed in the attack. There was no independent confirmation of these claims.

Further, militants opened fire on a security checkpoint in the Ladha subdivision of South Waziristan Agency, killing two soldiers and injuring three others on July 5, reports The News. Azam Tariq, spokesman for a splinter group of the TTP led by Khan Said Sajna, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, suspected militants blew the building of the Government Boys Primary School in Kamangarah area in Nawagai tehsil (revenue unit) of Bajaur Agency on July 5, reports The News.

Two militants, along with weapons, explosives and hand grenades, were arrested on July 5 when Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) raided a house near Farooq-e-Azam Chowk in Charsadda town of same District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports Daily Times. The CTD personnel recovered 80 kilogram explosives, two hand grenades and weapons from the house.

Security Forces (SFs) on July 7 killed three militants including Mehmood-ur-Rehman Rind, the leader of an anti-Shia outfit, Jaish-ul-Islam, during a targeted operation at Eastern Bypass on the outskirts of Quetta, reports Daily Times. One Frontier Corps officer was wounded in the exchange of fire. Jaish-ul-Islam has claimed many of the recent attacks on Hazara community in Balochistan.

Police on June 8 foiled an alleged terrorist attempt and killed a suspected terrorist who had entered a stadium located at Sheikhupura road in Gujranwala District, recovering a suicide jacket and arms from his possession, reported Dawn. Police reports later confirmed that one suspect was killed in an encounter while the other managed to escape. According to City Police Officer (CPO) Waqas Nazeer confirmed the incident.

Security Forces on June 8 arrested four Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants from Nawan Killi area of Quetta, reports Dawn. Official sources said the arrested militants were wanted in criminal cases, including explosions and target killings. “They belonged to the banned TTP’s Sajna group,” a spokesman for the Frontier Corps (FC) said, adding, “They were planning to carry out subversive activities in and around Quetta.”

Separately, FC and Police personnel arrested four suspected militants during a joint operation in Killi Deeba and Huda areas of Quetta on June 8, reported Dawn. A senior security official said the arrested militants included ‘commander’ of a banned militant organisation. “They were involved in recent killings in different areas of Quetta,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Balochistan, Mohammad Amlish Khan, on June 8 confirmed the arrest, reports Dawn. The IGP claimed that the militant leader was planning a suicide attack on the Yaum-e-Ali procession in the city on June 8, 2015. About security, he said that around 1,500 Policemen had been deployed at mosques and Imambarghas.

Nine persons, including the former ‘commander’ of a militant outfit, identified as Fazal Haider, his brother Obaid alias Mout, and four of their guards, were killed when unidentified armed assailants opened fire at their car in Naseerabad area of Turbat District on July 10, reported The News. Three others were identified as Bahar, Waheed and Haroon. One of them remained unidentified.

Separately, Levies found three unidentified dead bodies in Hoshap area of Turbat District on July 10, reports Dawn.

Police on July 13 arrested a suspect, identified as Muhammad Nasir alias Dhobi alias BBC allegedly involved in the targeted killing of a Shia cleric and son of known scholar Allama Abbas Kumaili in September 6, 2014, during an encounter in Manghopir area of Gadap Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, reported Dawn. Karachi Police Chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo confirmed the arrest. “He is associated with the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and during the initial investigation it emerged that his group was involved in 29 sectarian killings.”

At least 14 militants were killed in airstrikes carried out by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in Alwara area of North Waziristan Agency on July 14, reported Dawn. Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said that some important militant ‘commanders’ were among those who were killed, adding that terrorists were seen to be dragging the bodies of some of the deceased while fleeing the area.

Meanwhile, Director General (DG) ISPR Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa in an interview with British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on July 14 said that the operation against terrorists in the Khyber Agency had been completed and the Pakistan Army also wanted to complete the Operation Zarb-e-Azb in NWA as early as possible, reports The News. He said that the first phase of the operation against the militants in North Waziristan had also been completed and vowed to clear Shawal from the possession of terrorists as soon as possible.

At least nine militant ‘commanders’, who were reportedly involved in the killing of 44 personnel from frontier works department, were killed on July 19 during a clash with Frontier Corps (FC) in Awaran District of Balochistan, reports Times of India. Frontier Corps, on a tip off about the presence of militants, launched a search operation. On seeing the FC personnel, the militants opened fire on them and in retaliatory fire nine of them were killed. The FC seized large cache of arms and explosives from the possession of the militants.

Three militants were killed in a clash with Security Forces (SFs) after a bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint at the newly-constructed Degree College in Draban area of Dera Ismail Khan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the night of July 17, reports The News. The sources said that a militant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the checkpoint at the Degree College, Draban. After the suicide attack, militants led by their commander Amin Jan alias Malang attacked the checkpost with heavy arms. However, SFs repulsed the attack and killed three militants, including one Amin Jan. A constable of the Quick Response Force Amin Nawaz was killed in the exchange of fire.

A man, identified as Mohammad Din, who claimed affiliation with Jama’at-ud-Dawa (JuD), was arrested on July 23 from Lahore District for planning to target foreign dignitaries visiting a private club along the canal through a tunnel from his house, reports Dawn. Mohammad Din had dug a six-foot-long tunnel in his house, Counter-Terrorism Department Superintendent of Police (SP) Maroof Safdar Wahla said. According to him, the suspect claimed that he had been associated with JuD since 1994 and got militant training in Mansehra District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2001. However, JuD rejected the claim, saying Mohammad Din had never been associated with it.

PAKISTAN

Former ISI Chief Hamid Gul says Osama bin Laden died natural death in 2005
Former inter-services intelligence (ISI) chief Lieutenant General (retd) Hameed Gul has said that al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden died in 2005, and not in the US Navy Seals raid in Abbottabad, reports Daily Times. “In my opinion Osama was not there (Abbottabad). He died a natural death in 2005,” Hameed Gul said in a TV interview. The former ISI chief added that the truth would come out about the May 2, 2011, Abbottabad raid. Hameed Gul said he had good relations with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. According to Gul, Benazir Bhutto was killed because she was “sincere towards Pakistan”.

Army operation in KP ends successfully
The Army has successfully brought to a close a massive offensive in Khyber Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), effectively flushing out militants and blocking their crossing points on borders with Afghanistan, reports Dawn. The Army formally brought Operation Khyber-II to a close on June 15, significantly enough, on the first anniversary of Operation Zarb-i-Azb (Sharp and cutting) in North Waziristan Agency.

Four days later, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif visited the troops in Tirah to take stock of the military offensive and the gains made in the nearly three and a half month long operation. The military had gained control of strategically important areas, depriving Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) of space in one of their toughest strongholds in the tribal regions. The military, the sources said, had also taken physical control of the three passes from Afghanistan into Tirah – Mzatal, Kandao Gharibi and Dramudrad situated at 7,300 to 9,300 feet altitude above the sea level.

Two of the passes have been physically taken over by the military, while the third is under direct fire power, thus putting an end to any movement through that pass. But the success did not come easily. The military lost more than 50 men, including officers, in the second phase of Operation Khyber, while another 100 or so were wounded. “It was not easy,” a security official said, requesting he not be named. “The area was heavily mined,” he said. “There were mines every 15 metres. The mining was done professionally.”

Why no action has been taken against the terrorist organisations, asks Justice S. Khawaja
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, on July 2 asked the Attorney General to explain as to why the government’s action plan was only focused on Deeni Madaris (seminaries) and no action was being taken against the terrorist organisations, reports The News. “Why terrorist organisations are overlooked by them? Action should be taken against them as well. Governments should do their job. The court will issue no directive. No one can heave a sigh of relief. Every day a terror incident is published in newspapers. This is the level of seriousness of governments that terror incidents are taking place every day. Tell us, what the government has done within six months and six days,” asked Justice Khawaja.

The court sought the details of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating in the country besides calling proposals from the Federation and the Provinces for bringing the NGOs within the ambit of law and the Constitution. Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja remarked: “You have an action plan, then why it is not being implemented? What performance has been shown by the five governments with reference to the NGOs so far? Has the account of anyone been frozen so far? Why the name of Deeni Madaris is mentioned only?

The hearing of the case was adjourned till July 3, 2015.

HUI-S chief Samiul Haq announces support to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour
Jama’at Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief and administrator of the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania, Maulana Samiul Haq along with other teachers of the seminary on August 5 announced support to the new leader of the Afghan Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, reports The News. The announcement was made in a ceremony at the start of the new academic year at the Darul Uloom Haqqania on Wednesday. Hundreds of Ulema and clerics from Afghanistan also attended the event.

Maulana Samiul Haq urged the Afghan Taliban to set aside their differences and extend cooperation to Mulla Akhtar Mansour for the cause of Taliban and Islam. He said that unity among the ranks of mujahideen (holy warriors) was needed at this critical juncture when foreign forces were still present in Afghanistan. He said that differences among the Taliban leaders would encourage the enemies of Islam to hatch conspiracies against the Muslim world.

Brothers ‘funding TTP with ransom money’ arrested from Lahore
Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) on July 7 arrested two suspects from Lahore allegedly linked with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, involved in kidnap for ransom and recovered illegal weapons, along with PKR three million in cash, from them, reports Dawn. According to a news release, a CIA team led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Umar Virk carried out raids on the information provided by intelligence agencies and nabbed the two suspects Mukarram and Moazzim – of Dera Ismail Khan while they were heading to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The suspects were brothers and had links with the TTP’s Matiur Rehman group based in Miranshah of North Waziristan Agency of FATA, the CIA police said. The group was allegedly also involved in an attack on former President General Parvez Musharraf. The suspects during interrogation confessed to have committed several kidnappings for ransom.

Federal Minister for Interior Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan directs NADRA to prepare anti-terrorism database
The Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on July 7 directed NADRA to prepare the national counter-terrorism database and that of the INGOs, reports The News. He said this during his meeting with senior officials of NADRA during a visit to the NADRA headquarters. Taking notice of the difficulties being faced by the people due to long queues at every office of NADRA, the Minister directed the chairman NADRA to put in place an online CNIC application system. This, he said, would not only benefit the Pakistanis in the country but also the overseas Pakistanis.

Afghan Govt and Afghan Taliban begin talks in Islamabad
Afghan Government officials and Taliban representatives on July 7 began two days of discussions in Pakistan, Afghan officials said, signaling a possible start to a formal peace process, reports The News. The meeting was one of the highest-level contacts between the two warring parties in recent years, offering hope that a formal peace process aimed at ending the long-running conflict could soon begin. A senior Afghan official said the US and Chinese officials took part in July 7’s meeting as observers. Their attendance, together with Pakistan’s willingness to play host, is significant as it points to a broadening involvement of key players in a possible peace process.

Former senior TTP Commander killed in drone strike in Afghanistan
A former senior commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Gul Zaman has been killed in a US drone strike in Achin District of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan on July 8, reports The News. Sources said Gul Zaman, who was the deputy head of the TTP for Orakzai Agency before joining the Islamic State group, was killed along with several other militants in Achin. Gul Zaman was deputy to Hafiz Saeed Khan Orakzai, who earlier headed the TTP unit in Orakzai Agency and is now the Islamic State chief for the Khorasan chapter, which includes both Afghanistan and Pakistan. It isn’t known if Hafiz Saeed is also based in the same area in Afghanistan.

First half of 2015 more peaceful
The first half of 2015 was more peaceful compared to the corresponding year in KP, The News quoting official statistics reported on July 8. As per the statistics, 131 terror incidents took place during the current year compared to 290 in 2014, 281 in 2013 and 203 in 2012. The incidents dropped 59 percent compared to last year. Similarly, during the current year, 63 deaths occurred compared to 212 in 2013. Out of those 63 casualties, 23 Police personnel embraced martyrdom. The casualties are 70 percent less than 2014 and 83 percent less than 2013. Similarly, 156 persons were injured during the current year compared to 590 in 2014 and 1,074 in 2013 showing a decrease of 74 percent compared to last year and 85 percent in comparison to 2013. The Counter Terrorism Department is now handling all terrorism related cases right from the registration of cases to investigation. During the current year, the CTD has traced 104 terrorism cases, including high profile and also cases of target killing of police officers. During the current year, the CTD launched 9,865 search operations resulting in the recovery of around 8,063 arms and 332 kilogram explosives. The report said that the strategy of denying bases to the terrorists in settled areas has also helped the police in reducing these incidents.

Daesh commander in Afghanistan Shahidullah Shahid killed in Nangarhar drone strike
Maulvi Shahidullah Shahid, a former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman and the first to pledge allegiance to Daesh in Afghanistan, was killed along with 25 others in a drone strike in Achin District of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan on July 8, reports The News. Shahid, who was the leader of Daesh for the Khorasan province – a state Daesh announced for the region – was killed in the drone strike, in which deputy commander of Daesh Gul Zaman, his deputy Jahanyar and 23 others were also killed, said the National Directorate of Security (NDS).

Govt to use Daesh instead of instead of Islamic State in a move to delegitimize it
Pakistan’s Foreign Office on July 9 decided not to call Islamic State (IS) by this name and instead refer to it as Daesh, an acronym that stands for Al Dawla al Islamyia fil Iraq wal Sham (translated as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), reports Dawn. “I would refer to the outfit as Daesh as there is nothing Islamic about it,” Foreign Office spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said. The Foreign Ministry had previously been using both IS and Daesh in its statements. There have been calls by Muslim scholars for calling the group Daesh in a move to delegitimize it.

However, the group likes to be called IS because it negates the concept of borders and promotes a vision of one Muslim caliphate. It also suggests existence of a central authority instead of roving groups of mercenaries. It feels offended when called Daesh and had threatened to cut the tongues of those who used it.

“Pakistan has alerted its security agencies to the threat posed by Daesh. Our authorities are vigilant and have been advised to take necessary action in this regard, if required,” FO spokesman Khalilullah said.

US has three key interests in Pakistan, says US Marine Corps head General Joseph F. Dunford
The United States (US) still has three key interests in Pakistan, averting al Qaeda’s re-emergence, preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and promoting regional stability, said the next chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F. Dunford Junior, who currently heads the US Marine Corps, during a three-hour long hearing at the US Senate Armed Services Committee on July 10 in Washington, reported Dawn. The lawmakers showed a keen interest in the future of US-Pakistan relations. If confirmed by the Senate, General Dunford would succeed Army General Martin E. Dempsey on October 1, 2015. He said that the US-led coalition and the Afghan Government were closely watching the Islamic State’s (IS) attempt to expand its reach to Afghanistan and Pakistan and were collaborating closely to prevent this threat from expanding.

He further said that regional partners have an important role to play in ensuring a stable, democratic Afghanistan. “We have encouraged stronger ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan and have been pleased with their recent bilateral efforts to address their security concerns,” Dunford said. Areas of divergent interest with Pakistan include “our views on the use of proxies and the importance of a positive and stable Pakistan-India relationship”.

Christians and Sikhs get tribal elder status in FATA
The Khyber Agency political administration in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on July 10 granted the status of ‘Lungi holder’ (tribal elder) to four representatives of minority communities, Christians and Sikhs, living in the Agency, reported Dawn. Officials said that it was for the first time that minorities living in FATA were granted the status of tribal elders, thus formally merging the community into the tribal society. They said that those who were granted the status of ‘Lungi holder’, who in local parlays are referred as ‘Speen Rubay”, included All Fata Minorities Social Welfare Organisation chairman Wilson Wazir, Jamrud church caretaker James Michael, and two representatives from Sikh community Gormeet Singh and Narenjan Singh.

Terming the government decision historic, Wilson Wazir expressed optimism that the move would end discrimination between local residents and the minority community living in tribal areas.He said that under the rules of political administration the four minorities’ Lungi holders were entitled to all the official perks and privileges along with having authority to stamp their attestation on all the important national documents, including those for computerised national identity card, domicile certificate and passport. Wilson Wazir said that earlier members of the minorities’ community would approach the local tribal elders for attestation of national documents.

Govt decides to install ‘ankle chip’ for electronic surveillance of terror suspects
The Law Enforcement Agencies decided on July 10 to install ‘tracking chips’ on the ankles of 1,600 ‘terror suspects’ in Punjab after Eid ul Fitr (Holy month of Eid) to monitor their movements, reports Dawn. There are some 1,600 terror suspects on the list of the Fourth Schedule in Punjab. The Fourth Schedule defines a terror suspect as a “person who is concerned in terrorism or he belongs to a proscribed organisation”. “The Punjab Government has decided in principle to start electronic surveillance of 1,600 Fourth Schedulers by installing tracking devices on their ankles (commonly known as ankle-band) so that their movements can be monitored,” an unnamed spokesman for the Provincial Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said.

Official sources said that the Government had decided to install the ‘ankle chip’ after reports that a number of high-profile members of banned organisations were flouting the official order “to stay in a particular district or area”. “We cannot deploy cops outside the residence of each fourth scheduler to watch his activities,” the official said. The official said the fourth schedulers’ movement was restricted under the law would be summoned for the purpose. He expressed the hope that the use of the technology would not only help law enforcement agencies in keeping an eye on the suspects’ movements but also help reach ‘hard core terrorists’. The Anti-Terrorism Act Section 11 (EE-f) empowers law-enforcement agencies to carry out electronic surveillance of the fourth schedulers.

Police foils potential terrorist attempt to sabotage CPEC in Gilgit Baltistan
The Gilgit-Baltistan Police arrested a suspect from Skarkoi area of Gilgit District and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from his possession, averting a terrorist act before the commencement of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Project. Acting upon intelligence information, the Police raided a house and arrested the suspect, said a police official. “More than a dozen Kalashnikovs, pistols and bullets have been seized from the militant,” confirmed a Police Official.

Separately, the Police also carried out another raid during which army and police uniforms were found at a raw material store. According to station police officer Zahoor Ahmed, the raid was conducted as part of a plan that was devised to keep a check to prevent terrorist activity. “Cases have been registered against the culprits,” added Ahmed.

Surge in number of suspects killed in Police encounters in Karachi, says HRCP Report
The number of suspects killed in Police encounters in Karachi has shown an increase of over 64 percent in the first six months of 2015 as compared to the same period during 2014, according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Report released on July 15, reports Dawn. The report states that while 191 people were killed in Police encounters in 2014, the number of those killed in Police encounters jumped to 255 during the same period in 2015.

The report, however, says that the overall number of those killed in the first six months of last year was 1,558 and the number of those killed during the corresponding period this year was 1,040, a drop of over 34 percent. There has been a drastic drop in the number of targeted killing of non-political people. While 403 such people were killed last year, the number of such people killed during the current year was 128, a drop of around 68 percent.

Further the report states that 79 political activists were killed in 2014 while the number of those killed during the current year was 33, 58 percent less than those killed last year. The number of dead bodies found this year also dropped by over 46 percent as compared to that of 2014, when 201 bodies were found, while 109 bodies were found during the current year.

Rangers stay in Sindh extended by one year
The Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on July 17 extended the Rangers’ stay in Sindh by one year to assist the civil administration and the provincial police in combating crimes and improving law and order, reports The News. According to a spokesman for the Sindh chief minister, the Sindh Rangers’ stay in the province was coming to an end on July 19. Like the previous practice, this time too the Sindh Government extended the Rangers’ stay in the province by one year. Earlier, on July 9, the Sindh CM had extended the anti-terror and anti-crime policing powers of the Rangers in the Karachi Division by one month only.

Without choking funds, war on terror cannot be fought: SC
The Supreme Court on July 22 observed that the war against terrorism could not be fought without choking funds to terror outfits, reports The News. The Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction at the Federal Government’s report showing a lack of progress on the establishment of the Joint Investigation Directorate (JID) at the National Counter-Terrorism Authority (NACTA), the most important organisation tasked to implement the National Action Plan to deal with the menace of terrorism. The court also expressed grave concern over the Federal Government as well as the Provincial Governments for their failure to compile the baseline data pertaining to sources of funding of local as well as International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) operating in the country.

REGIONAL

Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
Three HuT militants arrested in Chittagong
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three militants of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) in Muradpur area of Chittagong city in Chittagong District on June 29, reports The Independent. The arrestees are Muntasir Alam, a teacher of an English medium school Nur Mohammad, an advocate of a judge court and AKM Salahuddin.

12 AQIS militants arrested in Dhaka
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested 12 militants of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from different areas of Dhaka city on July 1, reports Dhaka Tribune. Of the arrestees, two are AQIS Bangladesh Chief Coordinator Mufti Mainul Islam and Advisor Maolana Zafar Amin. Mainul is a former leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh. A large amount of explosives, sharp weapons and Jihadi book were recovered from their possession.

Three suspected militants arrested in Madaripur district
Police arrested three suspected militants from an orphanage in Madaripur District on July 2, reports New Age. The arrestees were identified as Saidur Rahman, Sobahan Mia and Mahmuda Sikdar. Police said they conducted a drive at Islamic Orphanage Project and arrested the trio along with 80 jihadi books, 172 leaflets, two CDs and other propaganda equipments.

Meanwhile, sources said that the militants of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) are now working together with the other outlawed militant groups and platforms to wage destructive activities, reports Dhaka Tribune on July 4. Since all the outlawed and other radical Islamist groups had different ideologies, now their aim is the same – uprooting the Government and take over power to establish Shariah law. Detectives have also discovered that some of the former HuT members were taking training to join the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.

HuT militant arrested in Dhaka
One militant of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) was arrested along with ‘anti-state books’, leaflets and CDs at Dhaka University (DU) in Dhaka city on July 4, reports The Daily Star. Students caught Abdul Matin, master’s student of the Institute of Education and Research, while he was trying to indoctrinate a psychology teacher in his room. DU Acting Proctor M Amzad Ali said Matin was suspended from the university and was handed over to Shahbagh Police, who later handed him over to the Detective Branch.

4 people arrested with 1200 kgs of explosives in Dhaka
Police arrested four persons and recovered 1,200 kilograms of explosive materials during a raid in Dhaka city on July 5, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Awal, Alam, Sharif and Saidul. Police said that although the seized materials sulphur, hexachloride and lithium are used in different industrial works, those cannot be bought or sold without government permission. The materials are also used for making firecrackers and crude bombs.

JMB militant killed in Gaibandha
A militant of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh was killed death by unidentified gunmen at Mamudpur village in Gaibandha District on July 19, reports The Independent. The deceased was identified as Fazle Rabbi. Police arrested another JMB militant named Enayet Ullah in connection with the killing. Police said Rabbi might have been killed over internal conflict of JMB.

India – Internal Dynamics
Two civilians killed in blast in Nagaland
At least two persons, including a woman have been killed and two others critically injured in an a blast in the premises of Christian Institute of Health Sciences & Research (CIHRS) at Dimapur, reports The Times of India on June 27. The fatalities have been identified as Prakash Vishwakarma and his daughter Ruth Gurung. The injured are Deepak Gurung and his son Robin.

Indian rebel leader held for deadly ambush
India on Monday, June 29 arrested a rebel leader accused of involvement in the killing of 20 soldiers in the remote northeastern state of Manipur earlier this month, an official statement said. India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) captured Khumlo Abi Anal of the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) more than three weeks after heavily armed rebels ambushed a military convoy, killing 20 soldiers.

A week after the June 4 incident — one of the deadliest attacks in the restive region — New Delhi said its forces had hunted down a rebel group operating in the mountainous forests of Manipur, close to Myanmar’s long western border. Local Indian press had cited sources as saying soldiers had crossed into Myanmar and killed some 15 militants who escaped across the border, after coordination between the two countries. But Myanmar later denied the reports, saying it would not tolerate rebels using its soil to attack neighbours.

The remote Hindu-majority state of Manipur is home to dozens of tribal groups and small guerrilla armies fighting New Delhi’s rule with demands ranging from secession to greater autonomy.

At least 50,000 people have lost their lives in insurgency-driven violence in six of India’s seven northeastern states since the country’s independence from Britain in 1947, authorities say.

The seven states are home to dozens of guerilla and tribal groups, which often compete against each other.

Reports indicate CPI-Maoist resurgence in Jangalmahal region of West Bengal
Only three days after State Police Director General of Police (DGP) G.M.P. Reddy said that there was nothing to worry about Communist Party of India-Maoist-activities in the Jangalmahal region of West Bengal, a report by the central intelligence department to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) indicated several Maoist groups are operative in the area, reports The Times of India. The report is all the more alarming because Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had personally enquired about the Maoist activities there. The report has been mentioned that there are at least 10 groups — all from Jharkhand and Odisha — which are frequenting parts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore and conducting meeting with the villagers and local youths. In the report, there is mention of Gopal Pande and Rahul who are making rounds in the Jangalmahal area regularly.

Village elder killed by suspected GNLA militants in Meghalaya
Suspected Garo National Liberation Army militants, on July 3, shot dead a village elder identified as Livingstone R Marak, at Kherapara area of West Garo Hills, reports The Shillong Times. He was killed on suspicion of being a Police informer. Police inform that GNLA ‘commander’ Hedeo was behind the killing.

Meanwhile, a cloth merchant identified as Mundi Prasad was abducted from Bollore weekly market near Gambegre in West Garo Hill District, on July 3, reports The Shillong Times. Unconfirmed reports say that A’chik Songna An’pachakgipa Kotok (ASAK) is behind the abduction.

Maoists blow up forest department office in Maharashtra
The Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres blew up a range office of the forest department at Decchli village in Aheri tehsil (revenue unit) in Gadchiroli District on July 8, using Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders meant for distribution among tribals under a government scheme, reports Indian Express. All official documents were gutted in the explosion and the roof of the office blown off. The Maoists left a written warning that no villager should work for any forest department programme such as plantation, protection monitoring etc. “Around 50-60 Naxals (left Wing Extremism, LWE) came at midnight, took two of the cylinders in our stock to the range office and ignited a blast. All documents were gutted in the fire,” said a senior forest official. “Naxals have warned the villagers not to work for us in any manner,” he added. The Decchli range office was burnt by the Naxals in a similar fashion in 2011-12.

Huge cache of Maoist dump seized in Andhra Pradesh, four persons arrested
A huge cache of detonators and gelatin sticks were seized and four persons arrested in this connection in East Godavari District on July 8, reports Zee News. The dump found at the Maredumilli bus stand comprised 328 gelatin sticks, 218 electric detonators and 68 electric wires, Ramachopdavaram ASP S Fakirappa said. The four arrested persons are from Chittoor, Maredumilli and Rajahmundry, he said. “We are interrogating them,” he said. The Hindu adds that the accused confessed that the materials were meant to be supplied to the Communist Party of India-Maoist.

UMHA declares whole of Nagaland as “disturbed area” further for a period of one year
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) has declared whole of Nagaland as a “disturbed area” for a further period of one year from June 30, 2015, reports The Times of India on July 8. Notification in this regard states that the Government of India (GoI) is of the opinion that the entire state is in such a “disturbed” and “dangerous” condition that the use of armed forces in aid of civil power is “necessary”.

Also, Prime Minister’s Office has sought a definite action-plan from Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) on what it proposes to do once Khaplang faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) is banned, reports The Times of India on July 7. UMHA sources stated that only after their is clarity on the action ahead that the Cabinet note proposing the ban will be taken up. According to sources, the action plan will include identification and arrest of the outfit’s cadres who are working in groups of 25-30 each in Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Besides, the UMHA, through the National Investigation Agency (NIA), plans to invoke provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to freeze the assets and properties of NSCN-K leaders. According to a UMHA official, ‘lieutenant general’ Niki Sumi, one of the chief architects of June 4 ambush had recently moved closer to the border with Nagaland and used an Indian SIM card to contact his wife in Nagaland. Intelligence inputs suggest he has four properties in Nagaland, and though their location is known, the exact properties are being identified while there are around 700 cadres of NSCN-K based in Taga in Myanmar Naga Hills.

IED recovered in Assam
Police recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Singra jungle in Kamrup (rural) District besides National Highway (NH) 36 on July 11, reports Business Standard. The IED was later safely defused by the bomb disposal squad.

One STF trooper killed in Chhattisgarh
A Special Task Force (STF) trooper was killed while another was injured in a gun-battle with Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in the forests under Kukanar Police Station limits in Sukma District in Chhattisgarh on July 12, reports Zee News. The gun-battle took place while a joint team of security personnel was carrying out an anti-Maoist operation. While Security Forces (SFs) were cordoning off Mundapal forest, they were confronted with a group of armed Maoists who opened indiscriminate firing, leaving a trooper injured.

Explosives recovered in Jharkhand
Security Forces on July 12 recovered a seven kilograme pipe bomb planted under the Ghori Ghat Main road in Chatra District, reports The Hindu. On a tip off, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the District Police personnel launched a search and recovered the explosive. It was apparently planted by Communist Party of India-Maoist to target security forces, from the arterial road passing through Jolhatetaria village, Superintendent of Police (SP) Surendra Kumar Jha said.

Two CRPF personnel injured in blast in Chhattisgarh
Two personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in Sukma District on July 13, reports The Hindu. “A road opening patrol of the CRPF’s 223 battalion was targeted by the Maoists near Timilwada village on Dornapal- Jagargunda road of Sukma. CRPF Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Shiv Prasad and constable Pradeep were injured,” Santosh Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) (Naxal operations), Sukma, said. “Both suffered multiple injuries on limbs and chest. We airlifted them to Raipur for treatment and they are out of danger,” Singh added.

Meanwhile, four assistant constables, recruited by Chhattisgarh Police as auxiliary personnel, were abducted by suspected Maoist cadres in Bijapur District on July 13, reports The Telegraph. “An armed group stopped a passenger bus in which the four were travelling and abducted them,” Bijapur superintendent of Police (SP) K.L. Dhruv said. The four have been identified as Jaydev Yadav, Mangal Sodhi, Raju Tela and Rama Majji. Paramilitary reinforcements have been rushed to comb the nearby jungles.

11 police informers killed in Chhattisgarh this year
As many as 11 Police informers were killed by Communist Party of India-Maoist in the first six months of this year in Chhattisgarh which witnessed 245 incidents of Maoist violence, reportsptinews.com on July 9. According to Union Home Ministry statistics, informers were killed mostly in rural areas of Chhattisgarh where Maoists continue to have dominance. However, there have been improvement in the security situation in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Maharashtra where incidents of Maoist violence has come down significantly. A total of 562 incidents of Naxal (Left Wing Extremism) violence were reported across the country from January 1 to June 15, 2015, of which 155 were reported in Jharkhand (188 incidents in corresponding period in 2014), 55 incidents in Bihar (55 in 2014), 31 in Odisha (61 in 2014) and 25 in Maharashtra (43 in 2014. Similarly, there has been a fall in casualties in Naxal violence from 177 in first six months of 2014 to 111 in 2015. 184 Naxals have surrendered till June 15 this year while 176 extremists surrendered in the same period last year. In Chhattisgarh, 82 Maoists have surrendered so far this year while last year only 35 extremists had given up arms. In Jharkhand, security forces killed 19 Maoists till June 15 this year in comparison to just two in the corresponding period in 2014. As many as 177 Maoists were arrested by security forces in Jharkhand in comparison to 142 in the same period last year.

Maoists kill four auxiliary constables
Four auxiliary constables belonging to Chhattisgarh Police were killed by the Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in Bijapur District early on July 15, reports Indian Express. The Special Police Officer (SPO)-turned-auxiliary constables, identified as Jaydev Yadav, Mangal Sori, Raju Tela and Rama Majji, were abducted in the afternoon of July 13, by the rebels. Three of them were posted in Kutru Police Station, another was in Bedre. Their bodies were found today morning near Kutru in the District. Confirming the incident, Additional Director General (ADG) (Naxal Ops) RK Vij said, “Four policemen have been killed. Their bodies were found today morning.”

Two civilians killed in Assam
United Liberation Front of Asom – Independent (ULFA-I) killed two civilians, a Hindi-speaking businessman identified as Nandalal Shah and his daughter identified as Kajal Shah, at Bijulibon area under Pangeri Police Station in Tinsukia District on July 14, reports The Shillong Times. The wife and the son of the businessman were seriously injured in the attack. Police suspected that the attack was carried out by the militants because of failure of the businessman to meet their extortion demand.

Maoists hire sharp shooter to kill former journalist
Senior Communist Party of India-Maoist leaders put sharpshooters on the job to gun down a former journalist in Gumla District on July 9, 2015 to avenge his apparent role in putting a Maoist ‘zonal commander’ behind bars in June, 2015 the Jharkhand Police said after the arrest of three youths on July 15, reports The Telegraph. Interrogations of the youths, Md Nasir, Md Azad and Md Azim, revealed that Maoists believed Satish Tiwary, the journalist turned-farmer, was the prime mover behind the arrest of Prasad Lakra, a ‘zonal commander’. The murder of Tiwary, who was also believed to have facilitated the arrest of another Maoist with INR One million rewards on his head some years earlier when he was working for a vernacular daily, was planned meticulously. The three youths revealed they had been deputed to keep track of Tiwary’s movements and kill him. Allegedly, a Maoist ‘area commander’, who identified himself as Birbal, had given the trio “mobile phones and other logistical support” to keep tabs on Tiwari and then kill him. The Police have seized four cellphones, including the ones used during recce and for making calls to the local reporters after last week’s killing. Gumla Superintendent of Police (SP) Bheemsen Tuti said Tiwary’s young nephew was seen as instrumental to Lakra’s arrest, leading Maoist leaders to believe that the uncle helped the young man.

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

	Civilian	Indian Security Personnel	Militant	Total
Assam	08	05	11	24
Manipur	02	00	02	04
Meghalaya	03	01	03	07
Nagaland	02	00	02	04
Left wing	09	06	05	20
Total	24	12	23	59

Nepal – Internal Dynamics

Madhesi parties torch copy of Constitution draft
The united Madhes alliance on July 1, burnt the copies of preliminary draft of the constitution that was presented at the Constituent Assembly (CA) meeting on June 30, reports Ekantipur.com. After tearing and burning the constitution draft in front of Department of Road office in Babar Mahal, Kathmandu, Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) vice chairman Brishesh Chandra Lal, Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) vice chairman Laxman Lal Karn and Sanghiya Samajwadi Party (SSP) General Secretary Rajendra Shrestha, and Tarai-Madhesh Sadbhavana Party (TMSP) senior leader Ram Naresh Ray Yadav, addressed the gathering. The disgruntled came down heavily upon the preliminary draft of the constitution and warned of stern protests if the major political parties did not pay heed to their demands.

Petrol bombs hurled on Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat’s vehicle in Nuwakot
Three Petrol bombs were hurled targeting the vehicle carrying Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat in Suryamati VDC (Village Development Committee) in Nuwakot District on July 20, reports The Himalayan Times. Minister Mahat was on his way to Nuwakot Constituency-2 to collect people’s feedback on the preliminary draft of new constitution. However, no one was hurt in the incident. An unidentified person had hurled three petrol bombs targeting the vehicle carrying the Finance Minister.

Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics
SL president sacks parliament
The president of Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena on June 27 ordered the immediate dismissal of parliament, a government spokesman said, clearing the way for a snap election 10 months ahead of schedule.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghem has pressed for early elections to increase the majority of his United National Party (UNP), which sat in opposition until Sirisena’s victory in January’s polls ousted strongman Mahinda Rajapakse who had ruled for almost a decade.

The election will be held on August 17 and the new parliament convened on September 2, officials told AFP.

Sirisena inherited the outgoing parliament from his autocratic predecessor Rajapakse who still controlled a loyal band of lawmakers who repeatedly blocked reforms pushed by the new government.

Wickremesinghe had faced a no-trust resolution initiated by the opposition, which commanded a majority in the 225-member assembly and would have remained until April 2016 if not for the dissolution.

Former LTTE cadre sentenced to 10 years for assassination attempt on President in 2006
Polonnaruwa High Court on July 3 sentenced Sivaraja Jenivan alias Mohommadu Sulthan Cader Mohideen, a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadre to a 10 year prison term for his involvement in an assassination attempt on President Maithripala Sirisena in 2006, reports Colombo Page. Jenivan was charged with setting up a claymore mine in an attempt to assassinate President Sirisena when he was the Minister of Mahaweli Development. He was arrested while travelling in a bus from Polonnaruwa to Batticaloa on April 23, 2006.

Govt recruits 3600 rehabilitated LTTE cadres to the Civil Defence Force
The Government has recruited 3,600 rehabilitated former combatants of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to the Civil Defence Force, reports Colombo Page on July 5. They have been appointed to permanent positions in the Civil Defense Force and as such, entitled to pension schemes of the Government. The newly recruited personnel will be appointed to provide services to preschools and farm houses in the northern areas. The Force has nearly 40,000 personnel in permanent and pensionable Government service. They are deployed in major cities and towns to assist the police in maintaining public security.

TNA bars former members of LTTE from contesting parliamentary elections next month
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has barred former members of the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from contesting parliamentary elections next month, reports Colombo Page. Several ex-LTTE members had reportedly applied to be nominated from the former battle zone Districts in the north and eastern provinces for the August 17 polls. The party has even rejected a bid to contest by Ananthi Sasitharan, wife of Elilan, a senior LTTE member from the eastern province in Trincomalee District. Sasitharan is one of TNA’s elected members in the Northern Provincial Council. The TNA said rehabilitated former LTTE members will be considered for selection at future elections.

Ex-LTTE cadre arrested along with cyanide capsules and other equipments in Tamil Nadu
Police on July 20 arrested a former militant of the proscribed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, identified as K Krishnakumar (39) and recovered 75 cyanide capsules, 300 grams of cyanide, four Global Positioning System (GSP) sets and seven mobile phones at coastal Uchipulli in Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu (India), reports The Hindu. Acting on a tip-off, a Special Branch team, led by Inspector of Police Vellaiyappan arrested the Sri Lankan Tamil along with two local Tamils R Sasikumar (25) and N Rajendran (44), who reportedly brought him from Madurai bus stand in a car to Uchipulli, Police said.

According to report, the seizure of the suicide pills carried by the LTTE militants tied around their necks triggered speculation that the LTTE was trying to revive the movement after it was defeated by the Sri Lankan forces in the civil war, which ended in 2009. The Police also seized seven mobile phones,INR 46,200 in Indian currency, LKR 19,300 in Sri Lankan currency, Indian and Sri Lankan driving licences from the Lankan Tamil, K Krishnakumar, who had served in the LTTE in the 1990s and came to Tamil Nadu in 2009.

However, Press Trust of India reports that Police arrested five persons including the ex-LTTE cadre and seized cyanide and other equipment from a car travelling to Uchipulli during a vehicle check in the District. Report said that the special branch Police team intercepted a car coming from Madurai at Uchapuli on suspicion the team arrested all the five.

Arrested ex-LTTE cadre is a close aide of Velupillai Prabhakaran, says Indian Police
One of the two Sri Lankan Tamils arrested on July 20 along with communication gadgets and cyanide in Ramanathapuram District of Tamil Nadu (India), has been identified as Krishnakumar, a close associate of slain Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, said the Indian Police, reports Colombo Gazette on July 22. A top Police officer said that sleuths from Intelligence Bureau (IB), Tamil Nadu ‘Q Branch’ Police, and Special Intelligence Unit are now interrogating the LTTE militant, arrested along with two others during a routine vehicle check at Uchipuli in the Ramanathapuram District. Police also said all coastal Districts in the state had been alerted to monitor for movement of members of LTTE and checkposts asked to be extra vigilant. It was suspected Krishnakumar would have arrived in the country in the immediate aftermath of the decimation of LTTE and killing of Prabhakaran by Sri Lankan Security Forces (SFs) in 2009, Police said.

While local Police had earlier said five persons, including two Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, were detained, it was clarified later that only three had been arrested. They were identified as Krishnakumar, Rajendran, also a Sri Lankan national, and Sasikumar, a local who drove the car. Krishnakumar was planning to go to Sri Lanka by illegal ferry when he was arrested. Sasikumar, the driver of the car, and Rajendran, an alleged ‘ganja’ (drug) peddler residing in Uchipuli, were arrested for providing shelter to the militant of a banned organisation, Police said. Police said Krishnakumar and Rajendran could be sent to a special camp (for former Tamil militants) after interrogation.

INTERNATIONAL
IS kills 164 civilians in assault on Syria’s Kobane
The Islamic State group killed 164 civilians in its offensive on the Kurdish town of Kobane, in what a monitor on Friday, July 26 called one of the Jihadists’ “worst massacres” in Syria. The killing spree, which took place mostly inside Kobane itself, was widely seen as vengeance for a series of defeats inflicted on the Jihadists by Kurdish militia in recent weeks.

At least 120 civilians were killed in a 24-hour rampage on Kobane, and another 26 were executed in a nearby village, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The bullet-riddled bodies of 18 people — including children — were found on Friday morning in the streets of Kobane, the Britain-based Observatory said, adding that they had been shot “at close range”.

The assault — in which 42 IS fighters and 10 Kurds also died — began on Thursday when three IS suicide bombers blew up vehicles at the entrances to Kobane, a symbol of Kurdish resistance. Women were also among civilians whose bodies were found in their homes and on the streets, the Observatory said.

Local journalist Mostafa Ali said there was no military dimension to the assault.

An IS suicide bomber also killed at least 20 regime troops on Friday, when a booby-trapped car targeted the criminal security headquarters in the south of the city, the Observatory said.

No need for more talks: Yemen govt
Air strikes by a Saudi-led force hit military bases across Yemen on Friday, July 26 residents said, and the country’s foreign minister was quoted as saying there was no need to convene another peace summit after the first round of talks failed.

Talks in Geneva last week ended without a resolution to the conflict, which has claimed more than 2,800 lives, as the Iran-allied Al Houthi movement and Saudi-backed President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi refused to back down.

Ten people were killed in air raids in Jawf, a northern province bordering Saudi Arabia, residents said. Fighter jets also struck the capital Sana’a, the Al Houthis’ northern stronghold in Saada, as well as the provinces of Marib, Shabwa, Bayda and Aden in the centre and south of the country.

Hadi’s foreign minister Reyad Yassin Abdullah said his government had no interest in organising a new meeting in Geneva, Saudi newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat reported on Friday, and would instead work with all parties to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 2216.

The Al Houthis reject that resolution, which calls for them to withdraw from captured areas, return seized arms and allow Hadi to return from his Riyadh exile.

IS attacks kill 40 Syrian govt forces
Islamic State group Jihadists have killed at least 40 Syrian government forces in consecutive attacks on three checkpoints in central Syria, a monitor said on Saturday, June 27.

In less than two hours of clashes on Friday, IS Jihadists seized the checkpoints near Sheikh Hilal, a village in Syria’s Hama province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. He told AFP that the Jihadists later withdrew from the checkpoints when it appeared that government forces in the region had called for reinforcements.

The checkpoints lie along a road used by government forces to dispatch reinforcements to Aleppo in the north, where the regime has been battling rebel groups since 2012. “If they seize control of this road, they’ll cut off the regime forces in Aleppo, since the government won’t be able to send reinforcements or supplies there,” Abdel Rahman said.

Tourists scramble to leave Tunisia after massacre
Thousands of scared foreign holidaymakers were being flown from Tunisia on Saturday, June 27 after an Islamist gunman killed 38 people, most of them British tourists, at a beach resort. The Islamic State Jihadist group, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Tunisia’s recent history. So far, 10 of the dead have been identified. Eight were British, one was Belgian and one was German, the Tunisian health ministry said.

In London, Prime Minister David Cameron warned the country needed to prepare “for the fact that many of those killed in the attack were British”. He added: “These were innocent holidaymakers, relaxing and enjoying time with their friends and families.”

Another 39 people were wounded when the assailant pulled a gun from inside a beach umbrella and opened fire on crowds of tourists on the beach and by a hotel pool in the popular Mediterranean resort of Port el Kantaoui.

Prime Minister Habib Essid on Saturday announced that from next month armed tourist security officers would be deployed all along the coast and inside hotels. But a heavy blow had already been delivered to the key industry with British tour operator Thomas Cook announcing it would offer all customers the possibility to change bookings to the North African country up to and including July 24.

Kuwait arrests suspects in mosque attack, mourns dead
Kuwait’s interior ministry said on Saturday, June 27 it had detained among others the owner of a vehicle which a suicide bomber used to get to a mosque where he blew himself up, killing 27 and wounding 200 people mid-prayer. Militant group Daesh (Arabic for the group calling itself Islamic State) claimed responsibility for the country’s worst militant attack on Friday, one of three attacks on three continents that day apparently linked to hard-line Islamists.

The interior ministry said it was now looking for the driver who vanished shortly after Friday’s blast in Kuwait, which has been spared the rampant violence in neighbouring Iraq and recent spate of Daesh bombings of mosques in Saudi Arabia. A security source said “numerous arrests” had been made in connection with Friday’s bombing, which government officials said was intended to stir enmity between Kuwait’s Sunni majority and Shia minority.

Two Iranian nationals were among those killed, foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted as saying by Iranian state media on Saturday.

Saudi guard dies
A Saudi soldier was killed in a rocket attack on the kingdom’s border with Yemen, where Riyadh is leading an air war against Iran-backed rebels, the interior ministry said.

The rocket fire in the southern city of Jazan killed Faisal Mohammed Belqasem Maqaadi and wounded another soldier, an interior ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency late on Saturday, June 27.

Egypt’s top prosecutor killed
Egypt’s state prosecutor has died hours after a powerful bomb hit his convoy in Cairo on Monday, June 29 officials said, following Jihadist calls for attacks on the judiciary to punish a crackdown on Islamists.

“He has passed away,” Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind told AFP at the hospital where Hisham Barakat had been taken following the morning bombing.

Boko Haram kills 170 in Nigeria
Boko Haram waged fresh attacks in northeastern Nigeria, locals said on Friday, July 3 bringing to nearly 170 the number of people killed this week in violence President Muhammadu Buhari blasted as “inhuman and barbaric.” Militants have launched multiple attacks in restive Borno state since Wednesday, with people attending evening prayers during the holy month of Ramazan gunned down, women shot at home, and men dragged from their homes in the dead of night.

A young female suicide bomber also killed 12 worshippers when she blew herself up in a mosque in Borno and while there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Boko Haram has used both men and young women and girls as human bombs in the past.

The wave of attacks, which took place over less than 36 hours, is the bloodiest since Buhari came to power in May, vowing to root out the insurgency that has claimed more than 15,000 lives.

News of the violence first emerged on Thursday, when survivors described raids on three different villages in Borno the previous evening that left at least 145 people killed and houses burnt to the ground. On Friday, fresh details of these killings emerged from a resident of Kukawa, the worst-affected village.

Less than 24 hours later, a girl blew herself up in a mosque in Malari village, more than 150-km away from Wednesday’s attacks.

And early on Friday morning, as people were sleeping, Boko Haram militants dragged men out of houses in Miringa village and shot them for escaping forced conscription. They “picked 13 men from selected homes and took them to the Eid prayer ground outside the village where they opened fire on them,” resident Baballe Mohammed said, adding 11 died and two managed to escape.

Five die in Libyan car bomb attack
At least five people were killed and 15 wounded in a car bomb attack in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, national news agency LANA reported on July 4.

The news agency, which is close to the internationally recognised government, added that it was a suicide attack.

The attack came after clashes between local militiamen controlling the city and Islamic State group fighters. Libya descended into chaos after a revolt unseated longtime secular dictator Moamer Qadhafi in 2011. It now has rival governments and parliaments, as well as powerful militias battling for influence and a share of its oil wealth.

The recognised government is based in the east of the country while the rival administration is in the capital Tripoli, which was overrun last year by a militia alliance, including Islamists.

Myanmar man convicted for 2013 hotel blast
A Myanmar man has been sentenced to life in prison for planting a bomb that exploded two years ago inside a luxury Yangon hotel wounding an American woman, state media reported on Sunday, July 5.

Myanmar was rattled by a series of small blasts across the country in October 2013 which appeared to target tourist spots as the emergent nation experienced an influx of foreign visitors following its switch two years earlier from junta rule and the subsequent lifting of many western sanctions.

Yangon’s western district court on Friday convicted Saw Myint Lwin of planting two devices in the commercial hub, one of which was a small bomb that exploded inside the luxury Traders Hotel, the Mirror newspaper reported.

The unnamed American woman was taken to hospital with wounds to her thigh and her hand after the blast ripped through a guest room in the downtown hotel, which has since been rebranded the Sule Shangri-La. Two other men were acquitted of planting bombs, the Mirror reported. The 29-year-old was arrested days after the blast with police saying he stayed in the same room where the bomb was placed.

Heavy US-led raids kill dozens in Raqa
A US-led coalition has carried out some of its heaviest air strikes yet on the Islamic State group’s de facto Syrian capital, killing more than 39 people, including six civilians. The strikes on Saturday (July 4) night and Sunday morning also damaged infrastructure in Raqa city, the group’s bastion in northern Syria.

Elsewhere, regime forces backed by Lebanon’s Hizbullah advanced on the last rebel-held town in the Qalamun region by the Lebanese border.

And fighting continued between government troops and two rebel coalitions seeking to capture territory from the regime in northern Aleppo city.

In Raqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 39 people had been killed in US-led coalition strikes late on Saturday and early Sunday. The dead included six civilians, among them a child, but the rest were IS fighters, the Britain-based monitor said.
The raids came after IS released a video on Saturday showing the execution of 25 Syrian soldiers in the ancient amphitheatre in the city of Palmyra. The executions had been reported earlier, in the days after IS seized the town from government forces on May 21, but the video was the first evidence of the killings. The soldiers were shot in the head by boys and teenagers in military uniforms, with a large IS flag hung behind them on the amphitheatre’s stage.

Five Ukrainian soldiers killed
Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed when a landmine exploded in the separatist east, a military spokesman said on Sunday, July 5 as clashes raged on despite a four-month truce.

“Five of our soldiers died and three more were wounded as a result of a landmine explosion” some 45 kilometres from the pro-Russian rebel hub Lugansk, military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told reporters.

Italian spying company hacked
Hacking Team, a controversial Italian firm which sells surveillance ware to governments and agencies with dodgy rights records, has had more than 400 gigabytes of data breached and leaked, media reports said on Monday, July 6.

The attack is a huge loss of face for the Milan-based firm which was set up in 2003.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper said the hackers posted internal documents, defaced the company’s logo and made public embarrassing details of the firm’s commercial dealings.
Company officials were unavailable for comment and its webpage was inaccessible.

Hacking Team sells the Da Vinci malware surveillance software to law enforcement agencies, according to media reports, although it claims to only deal with ethical governments.

It has been marked as an Enemy of the Internet by media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

According to the leaked documents, the company’s clients include outfits based in countries such as Sudan, Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Hungary.

Jordan attack
Jordanian authorities have foiled a “terrorist” attack and arrested an Iraqi man in possession of explosives said to have come from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a judicial source said on Monday, July 6.

Obama to boost support for Syrian opposition
President Barack Obama pledged to increase US support for the moderate opposition in Syria’s civil war on Tuesday, July 7 and said the United States needed to do more at home to prevent attacks and combat Daesh efforts to recruit followers. Obama, speaking during a visit to the Pentagon, noted the difficulty of preventing small-scale attacks by “lone wolves” within the US homeland despite success at preventing large attacks since the September 11, 2001 assaults on New York and Washington.

Obama said there were no current plans to send additional US troops overseas and repeated that the fight against the militant group would not be quick. He said US training of Iraqi forces had been ramped up after being too slow. The US military has lamented that Iraq had not provided enough recruits to meet US training targets.

Meanwhile, dozens of families fled the Islamic State group-controlled Syrian town of Palmyra on Tuesday after unprecedented heavy government air strikes which killed at least five people, a monitor said.

A Syrian activist originally from Palmyra confirmed “an intensification in the air strikes on residential areas, with more than 60 raids in 24 hours”.

Spain detains IS ‘recruiter’
Spanish police arrested on Tuesday, July 7 a woman on the Canary Islands suspected of recruiting girls and teenagers for the Islamic State group, the interior ministry said.

The woman, who was arrested on Arrecife on the island of Lanzarote, “maintained direct contact with Daesh operatives in Syria,” it said in a statement, using an acronym for the IS group.

25 dead in suspected suicide attack in Nigeria
At least 25 people were killed when a bomb blast ripped through a packed government office in Zaria, northern Nigeria, on Tuesday, July 7 in a suspected suicide attack likely to be blamed on Boko Haram. The explosion occurred at about 9:00 am (0800 GMT), as primary school teachers and public sector workers were queueing for identity checks, according to witnesses.

Zaria, a mainly Muslim city some 75-km north of the state capital Kaduna city, is near the border with Katsina and Kano states.

On Monday night, a young girl believed to be aged just 13 was killed when explosives strapped to her body detonated near a major mosque in Kano city.

That bombing followed a twin attack on a mosque and restaurant in the central city of Jos on Sunday, which left 44 people dead, and a suicide bomb attack on a church in Potiskum that killed five.

Boko Haram has increased the intensity and frequency of its attacks on civilians since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power on May 29 vowing to crush the rebels. But he been unable to stem the bloodshed from guerrilla-style attacks on “soft” targets.

30 soldiers killed in Yemen army mutiny
At least 30 Yemeni soldiers were killed in coalition air raids and clashes after troops attempted to defect to Iran-backed rebel ranks near the border with Saudi Arabia, a military source said on Wednesday, July 8.

Saudi-led coalition jets, which have bombed Yemeni rebel positions since March, intervened when “dozens of soldiers defected and announced their support” for Huthi rebels on Tuesday, prompting clashes with pro-government troops, the source said. The incident took place at the 23’rd Mechanised Brigade, stationed near the border with Saudi Arabia and left “at least 30 soldiers killed and dozens wounded” on both sides, he told AFP.

“Armoured vehicles and troop carriers were destroyed or damaged” in the air raids and clashes between rival units before the situation was brought under control, the source added.

Troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have joined forces with the Huthi rebels, who seized the capital almost unresisted in September before advancing southwards in the impoverished Gulf country.

The UN says more than 3,200 people have been killed and 1.26 million displaced in Yemen since fighting broke out in March.

Iraq police and militiamen clash in Baghdad
Iraqi paramilitaries exchanged fire with police in Baghdad on Thursday, July 9 the latest sign of tension between the government and the country’s militias, security sources said. An interior ministry officer said around 15 gunmen from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) force stormed an unfinished health ministry building in the Zayyounah neighbourhood overnight.

The Hashed al-Shaabi is made up of volunteers and several mostly militias. They are theoretically under the prime minister’s command but largely escape his control. The militias, several of which have close ties with Tehran, have done much of the heavy lifting in the fight against the Islamic State Jihadist group that took over swathes of Iraq last year.

The interior ministry issued a statement that appeared to allude to the overnight clash in Zayyounah. “In the wake of the latest incidents, the minister and ministry officials discussed the situation in Baghdad and the means to provide security and stability,” it said.

The statement said the minister had asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, his party and other political groups, “to support the ministry in its efforts to confront undisciplined groups.”

Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghaban himself is a member of the Badr organisation, the political wing of one of Iraq’s most prominent militias.

Suicide bomber in Burqa kills 14 in Chad capital
A man dressed in a woman’s Burqa blew himself up in the main market in Chad’s capital N’Djamena early on Saturday, July 11 killing 14 people and injuring 74, a police spokesman said. No group immediately claimed responsibility but Chad blames Boko Haram, the Islamist militant group based in neighbouring Nigeria, for a series of bombings and shootings in the central African country in recent weeks.

A witness saw at least ten bodies lying near the entrance to the market where aid workers helped injured people into ambulances. Security forces stopped people entering the area and searched stalls for more explosives.

Several witnesses said that the bomber had tried to enter the market wearing a woman’s Burqa. Chad authorities banned the head-to-toe religious garment last month, citing the risk that attackers could use it as a disguise or hide explosives underneath.

Chad has been at the forefront of a regional military campaign against Boko Haram, which is seeking to carve out an Islamist state in northeast Nigeria and has mounted raids in neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

In June, two suicide attacks on police sites in N’Djamena killed at least 34 people. Since then, authorities in the central African country have made at least 60 arrests and raided an arms cache in an effort to dismantle the militants’ networks.

Bomb hits Italian consulate in Egypt, killing one
A car bomb ripped through Italy’s consulate in Cairo on Saturday, July 11 killing one person, the first attack on a foreign mission in Egypt since Jihadists launched a campaign against security forces two years ago. The early morning explosion was heard across the capital and tore down the facade of the consular building, which forms part of a large complex that also houses a social club and a school.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the consulate located near the prosecutor’s office and Supreme Court in central Cairo.

It comes less than two weeks after suspected militants assassinated the country’s top prosecutor in a Cairo car bombing, in an attack that has also gone unclaimed.

Health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said Saturday’s blast killed a civilian and wounded nine people, including policemen and passers-by. Officials said the explosion was caused by car bomb, and an AFP reporter on the scene reported that the mangled wreck of a vehicle was strewn on the street outside the consulate.

Kuwait sets up new anti-’terror’ group
The Gulf state of Kuwait, hit by the worst suicide attack in its history last month, decided on Monday, July 13 to set up a permanent committee to fight “terrorism” and extremism.

At its weekly meeting, the cabinet “decided to form a permanent committee to coordinate between various bodies to ensure security and fight against all forms of terrorism… and extremism,” a statement said.

A Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in Kuwait City on June 26, killing 26 worshippers and wounding 227 others in an attack claimed by the Islamic State Jihadist group.

The interior ministry has arrested more than 40 people in connection with the attack and referred them to the public prosecution for legal action.

The cabinet statement said the new committee will also work to drain sources of “terror” funding and intensify awareness programmes. It said the move came after the recent surge in “terrorism”.

The interior ministry has said two Saudi brothers arrested by police in Saudi Arabia transported the explosives into Kuwait. It said they delivered the explosives to Abdulrahman Sabah Eidan Saud, a stateless Arab who passed them on to the suicide bomber and drove him to the mosque.

An IS-affiliated group calling itself Najd Province claimed the Kuwait bombing and also said it carried out two suicide attacks at mosques in neighbouring Saudi Arabia in May.

Clashes rage in Ukraine
Ukraine lost eight soldiers on Wednesday, July 15 in a dramatic spike in fighting with pro-Russian gunmen that further imperilled a truce Washington’s top European envoy is desperately trying to salvage in Kiev. Separatist rebels also reported the death of two fighters and a civilian in shelling across the eastern industrial heartland of the former Soviet nation that took a decisive tilt toward the West more than a year ago.

The resulting crisis has created waves of concern across Europe and sparked the sternest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. The Kremlin denies backing the militias in order to exact revenge for the February 2014 ouster of a Moscow-backed president that was soon followed by Russia’s seizure of Crimea and the onset of one of Europe’s worst conflicts in decades.

Kiev’s Security Council said early on Wednesday that the previous 24 hours had witnessed “some of the most intense bombardments of Ukrainian territory since the signing of the Minsk (truce) agreement” in February. It said 16 servicemen had also been wounded but failed to specify where the most deadly exchanges of heavy weapons fire were being waged.

The insurgents said on their main website that the number of Ukrainian attacks had more than doubled to 85 from the 35 recorded on Tuesday.

Kiev and Washington accuse Russia of plotting periodic ground offensives that it backs up with tanks and rocket launchers as well as highly-trained military personnel.

Western reporters have also witnessed unmarked armoured vehicles crossing from Russia into the southeastern Ukrainian conflict zone. But Moscow brushes off such charges as fabrications designed to discredit Russian President Vladimir Putin and distract from alleged Western meddling Ukraine.

Over 50 IS child soldiers killed in Syria
More than 50 child soldiers recruited by the Islamic State group in Syria have been killed since the beginning of this year, a monitoring group said on Wednesday, July 15. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 52 child soldiers, all under the age of 16, who had been part of IS’s “Cubs of the Caliphate” programme.

The programme provides intense military and religious training to children throughout IS’s areas of control in Syria, the Britain-based Observatory said.

As many as 31 were killed in July alone, in explosions, clashes, and air strikes by Syria’s regime and the US-led coalition.

The child soldiers are used to man checkpoints or gather intelligence from areas outside IS control, but IS has been increasingly using them to execute prisoners or conduct suicide attacks. So far this year, IS has used eight children as suicide bombers, most recently in its fight against Kurdish militia in northeastern Syria.

The Observatory said it had received information on dozens more children killed, but that it could not confirm their deaths. Since the beginning of 2015, IS has recruited more than 1,100 children.

France foils ‘terror’ attack on military
Three young men, including a former naval signalman, were being held on Thursday, July 16 by France’s intelligence services, accused of plotting to kidnap and decapitate a member of the armed forces at a military base. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said security forces staged dawn raids on Monday and arrested four people, aged between 16 and 23, who were “planning to commit a terrorist act” at a French military installation.

The youngest was quickly released but the other three are suspected of planning to kidnap and behead a member of the military on film, possibly on December 31 when the facility was thinly staffed. The oldest of the group served as a navy signalman at the base around the southern town of Collioure, which is also used for training by elite commando forces. Identified only as Djebril, he was discharged from the navy in January 2014 for back problems, said a source close to the investigation, and the target is thought to have been his former boss.

The other key plotter was just 17, and was already being closely watched by authorities due to his activities on social media and connections to French Jihadists in prison.

All three had been planning to travel to Jihadist-controlled areas of Syria, the security source said, but the 17-year-old’s mother became concerned about his radicalisation and contacted the authorities. He was interviewed by counter-terrorism officials and was aware he was under surveillance.

No weapons were found during the arrests, the source said, although officials discovered documents on preparing explosives. The news of the arrests followed a statement from President Francois Hollande, who said attacks had been thwarted in recent days.

The suspected plotters are now in the custody of France’s intelligence services, the DGSI, and anti-terrorism prosecutors in Paris have opened a probe. News of the foiled attack came a day after two blasts on Tuesday at a petrochemical plant near Marseille, described by Cazeneuve as a “criminal act”. Investigators had yet to pin down a motive for the explosions and there was currently “no link” with the foiled attack on the military base, he added.

Current Threat Levels
City/Region	Threat	Levels
Islamabad	Level 2	**
Karachi	Level 2	**
Lahore	Level 2	**
Punjab	Level 2	**
Khyber Paktunkhwa	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 References
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, especially if traveling.
Threat Level 3	***
Indicates that law and order situation is cause for concern and travel should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Foreigners should rehearse plans for evacuation.
Threat Level 4	****
Indicates complete breakdown of civil administration and law and order leading to possible anarchy. All foreigners 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.