Terrorist Activities in Pakistan
Suicide bombings
A teenage suicide bomber killed at least 17 people, including six women, two children and two Policemen, and injured 23 others at a court complex in Shabqadar tehsil (revenue unit) of Charsadda District on March 7 in what a Taliban faction called revenge for last week’s hanging of Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed killer of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer. District Police Officer (DPO) Sohail Khalid said that the bomber appeared to be in his teens. “He was carrying six to eight kilogrammes of explosives in his suicide vest.”
Regional Police Officer (PRO) Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Saeed Wazir said that the bomber shot dead the Policeman standing guard at the gate before entering the complex where he was intercepted by two more Policemen. “In the ensuing scuffle the bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his chest,” DIG Wazir said. The bomber wanted to target the judges, lawyers and police inside the courtrooms.
Two soldiers and two women were killed when Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-Diamer faction ‘commander’ blew himself up during a siege laid by the Security Forces at his house in Smagal area of Darel Valley in Gilgit-Baltistan on March 17. The ‘commander’ was identified as Hazrat Noor. The two women killed were his wife and a daughter. A suicide jacket and arms were seized from the house. According to official reports, Noor was allegedly involved in attacks on foreign tourists, case investigators and passengers on the Karakoram Highway over the last few years.
Bomb/IED blasts
A girl, identified as Khateeja (6), was killed while four others were injured in a grenade attack at a medical store located at Meera Naka near Lee Market in Lyari Town of Karachi on March 3, reports The News.
At least 15 persons were killed and 25 others injured when a powerful bomb ripped through a Civil Secretariat bus, carrying Government employees, near Sunehri Masjid in Peshawar on March 15, reports Dawn. The bus was carrying Government employees from Mardan to Peshawar. Superintendent of Police (Cantonment Circle) Muhammad Kashif said the blast was caused by explosive material planted inside the bus.
Three Rangers personnel were injured when unidentified armed assailants hurled hand grenade at their check post near Korangi Crossing in Korangi Town of Karachi on March 18, reports The News. Director General Sindh Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar said that the four suspects involved in the attack were arrested but their names could not be disclosed. He said Police and Rangers were being targeted in three types of bomb attacks in Karachi by three different groups. “Groups from Lyari are involved in the first kind of attacks on Police and Rangers. Bombs made of plastic containers are being used in the second type of attacks, which lead to suspicion that a political party might be involved. While the third type of blasts, he said, are carried out by terrorists.”
Targetted Killings
Levies force recovered three unidentified dead bodies from Mashkay area of Awaran District on February 27, reports Daily Times.
Unidentified armed assailants shot dead a local office bearer of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Abdul Rasheed, near his residence in Korangi Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh on February 29, reports Dawn. A 15 year old passerby girl was also injured as assailants resorted to aerial firing while fleeing the scene.
A woman, identified as Mehreen (35), was shot dead unidentified armed assailants near Siddiqui General Store in PIDC area of Sultanabad Colony of Liaquatabad Town in Karachi on March 4, reports Daily Times.
In another incident, a man was shot at and injured in a firing incident near Shalimar Bus Stop in Saddar Town on March 4, reports Daily Times.
An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), identified as Syed Ali Ahmed, was killed when unidentified militants opened fire at a Police checkpoint near Kili Ghirsheenan in Pishin District on March 5. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.
Lieutenant Colonel, Tariq Ghafoor, was shot dead while he was on his way to a nearby mosque to offer Friday prayers near Ring Road in Hayatabad area of provincial capital Peshawar on March 11, reports Dawn. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman, Muhammad Khorasani, claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to journalists.
Lakki Marwat District Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kifayat Hussain was found dead in his official residence on March 15, reports The News. An official source said the residence of the deceased police official was located in the congested urban locality.
A Sunni Tehreek (ST) cadre, identified as Muhammad Iqbal Hanif (32), was shot dead in a targeted attack when he was with his friends by a roadside near Qatar Hospital in Sector 8 area of Orangi Town in Karachi on March 18, reports The News. His companion remained unhurt.
A former regional director of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Phase 7 area of Hayatabad in Peshawar on March 24, reports Daily Times. Abdul Latif, who was also a professor at Qurtaba University, had gone to Phase 7 to meet his relatives when assailants on a motorcycle shot him dead, Police said. Tatara Station House Officer (SHO) Abid Afridi said Latif (61), had retired as a regional director from the ISI three years ago. During his career, Latif served on key positions, including as the first secretary in Pakistan’s embassy in Afghanistan in the 90s, he added.
Unidentified motorcycle borne assailants shot dead two Policemen in Dera Ismail Khan of same District on March 24, reports Daily Times.
Miscellaneous
A death row convict, Saeed Khan, involved in attack on Sialkot cantonment, was hanged till death at the Central Jail of Adiala in Rawalpindi District on February 26, reports The News.
At least 19 suspected militants were killed and four security forces personnel, including a captain, lost their lives during a gun battle near the Pak-Afghan border in Mangroti area in Shawal valley of North Waziristan Agency on February 27, reports Daily Times. The ground forces surrounded a group of fleeing militants in Mangroti area killed 19 of them during an intense exchange of fire, the army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement. On February 24, Pakistan Army launched its final phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb to go after the terrorists still holed up in the strategic valley.
Separately, Air Force jets pounded militants’ hideouts in the in the Maizer area of the Dattakhel tehsil(revenue unit) in NWA and killed at least 15 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants on February 27, reports Daily Times. “As many as four hideouts were destroyed in the strikes this morning. Among the 15 killed militants six were Uzbeks,” a security official in the area said.
Malik Mumtaz Qadri, an Elite Force commando convicted of killing former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer on January 4, 2011, was executed at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi District at around 4.30 am on February 29, reports Dawn. Qadri was sentenced to death for assassinating Taseer on October 1, 2011. Qadri said that he killed Taseer over what he called the politician’s vocal opposition to blasphemy laws of the country. His mercy appeal was rejected by President Mamnoon Hussain.
Police and law enforcement agencies on February 27 apprehended a wanted terrorist among 60 suspects during search operations in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reports Daily Times. According to Police, the law enforcement agencies carried out targeted search operations in Muslim Town, Khushhal Colony and Hakimabad area of Nowshera District. At least 20 suspects including 11 Afghan nationals were taken into custody. The suspects were shifted to unknown location for interrogation.
A suspect, associated with a banned organization, was arrested, on charges of distributing literature against the Government and for seeking enforcement of Shariah in the country, from Murree in Islamabad on February 28, reports Dawn. Shaukat Ali, an official of the Bhara Kahu Police, said that the suspect was distributing literature that was against the govt, in front of Farooqia Masjid on Murree Road when he was arrested.
Security Forces (SFs) killed 12 militants, including a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-Shehryar faction ‘commander’ Hezbollah, in Shawal Valley of North Waziristan Agency on February 29, reports Dawn.
Unidentified armed assailants targeted the convoy of Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti in Dera Bugti District on February 29, reports The News. However, he escaped the attack. The attackers managed to flee.
Security Forces killed four suspected militants during an exchange of fire in Kohlu District on March 2, reports Dawn. The spokesman for Frontier Constabulary, Khan Wasey, said the miscreants killed in Kohlu district belonged to an outlawed militant organisation operating in the area. He said that five sanctuaries were also demolished during the search operation and a cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from their possession.
Separately, three suspects, including a key ‘commander’ of the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), were killed and two others were injured in Kech District on March 2, reports Dawn. Wasey said that the SFs recovered weapons from their possession.
Two Lyari gangsters, identified as Younas alias Obama, and Muhammad Farooq alias Farooqa, were killed and a Rangers personnel was injured during an intelligence driven raid conducted by Sindh Rangers in Tharu Lane of Lyari Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh on March 2, reports Daily Times. They were allegedly involved in targeted killings, extortion and firing and grenade attacks on Policemen.
Three Lyari gangsters, identified as Khalil Baloch, Sagheer Baloch and Ala Daad, affiliated with Uzair Baloch gang, were killed in a Police encounter during a raid at a hideout in Machar Colony area of Keamari Town, Karachi on March 3, reports The News. Weapons were also recovered from their possession.
Mobs clashed with Police, attacked a media office and a press club in Karachi and Hyderabad District on March 4 as protesters took to streets after Friday prayers against the hanging of Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, reports Daily Times. The protesters pelted the office of a private TV channel with stones and damaged vehicles parked outside the office. Also, some enraged people took to the streets in parts of Karachi on Friday, manhandling media teams, closing shops and beating up Police.
Police claimed to have killed four militants belonging to Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) during an encounter near Inara Garden in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town of Karachi on March 5, reports Dawn. Malir Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar said that suspects were allegedly involved in the killing of security personnel and members of Shia community. The militants were involved in the killings of traffic officials, Policemen and Shias.
Separately, four unidentified militants attacked a Police post near Al-Asif Square in Sohrab Goth area of Gadap Town on March 5, reports Dawn. According to Malir SSP Anwar Rao, “They opened fire on the Police check post from some distance but Policemen manning the bunker retaliated with return fire, forcing the attacker to flee.”
At least 21 militants were killed in fresh airstrikes and ground operations in the Shawal Valley of North Waziristan Agency on March 8 where the military is conducting the last phase of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The military claims to have gained control of strategic positions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the snow-covered mountainous regions of NWA.
Eight Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants, including ‘commander’ Aslam Achou alias Merick Baloch, were killed in an exchange of fire during an encounter with Security Forces in the Sangan area of Sibi District on March 9, reports The News. Two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were also killed during the gun battle. A spokesman for the Balochistan Government, Anwar-ul-Haque Kakar, said that the BLA ‘commander’ Aslam Achou alias Merick Baloch was an Afghan Tajik.
The District Malir Police claimed to have shot dead three Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan terrorists in Northern Bypass area of Malir Town in Karachi on March 9, reports The News. According to details given by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwaar, a Police team was attacked by four gunmen on motorcycles near a snap-checking picket in the Northern Bypass area. The Police retaliated and arrested three terrorists in injured condition, while the fourth one escaped. They later succumbed to their injuries.
Five militants were killed and one arrested during a security operation carried out by Frontier Corps (FC) along with other law enforcement agencies in Dera Bugti District of Balochistan on March 13, reports Daily Times. An FC spokesman said that on a tip-off, FC teams along with other law enforcement agencies raided a place in Dera Bugti. Exchange of fire took place between FC personnel and the armed men, he said adding “five militants were killed and one arrested in Dera Bugti operation.
At least five militants were killed in an encounter with Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) forces in Nankana Sahib District of Punjab on March 13, reports Daily Times. CTD forces raided a house on a tip-off in a village and an encounter took place. During the crossfire, five terrorists were killed while two others managed to escape. Explosive material and ammunition were recovered from their possession. The identity of the suspects could not be ascertained immediately.
At least five alleged terrorists were killed in exchange of fire with the personnel of Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Samasata area in Bahawalpur District in Punjab on March 14, reports The News. According to reports, the CTD personnel, on a tip-off, launched action in Samasata area. Exchange of fire took place at Bahawalpur overhead bridge in which five terrorists were killed. The officials also seized hand grenades and explosives from the possession of the militants, affiliated to a banned outfit.
Sindh Rangers thwarted a major terror bid by killing four terrorists in Manghopir area of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, in the night of March 14, reports The News. According to Rangers spokesman, the paramilitary force, on a tip-off, raided a house in Sultanabad area, where terrorists opened fire. In retaliatory fire, four terrorists were killed. Two Rangers personnel also sustained injuries in the shootout.
Three lady health workers of a polio team were shot at and injured by unidentified militants in Garhi Yasin area of Shikarpur District on March 16, reports Dawn.
At least five terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire when militants besieged a security check post in Dara Darmodrab area of Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency on March 17, reports Tribune. The Inter-Services Press Release (ISPR) confirmed the incident.
A ‘commander’ of Islamic State (IS), identified as Kamran Aslam Gujjar, was killed in a Police encounter in Manghopir area of Gadap Town in Karachi on March 17, reports Dawn. According to a press release issued by Sindh police, District West Police and Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) personnel, acting on a tip-off, launched a search operation in Ittehad Town area where the raiding party came under fire. One of the attackers and two policemen were severely injured during the encounter. Police claimed to have recovered a sub-machine gun, three hand grenades and explosive material from his possession. According to the Police statement, Gujjar is a ‘trained Daesh commander’ who had also worked for Al Qaeda in the subcontinent (AQIS) in the past and was carrying a bounty of PKR 2.5 million on his head. The accused had also confessed to his involvement in target killings, grenade attacks and bank robberies and claimed to have recently joined Daesh.
Four suspected Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants were killed and a senior leader of a banned organisation was injured in an encounter with Security Force (SF) personnel in Chattar area of Nasirabad District on March 19, reports The Dawn. The injured militant leader and 13 other suspected militants were taken into custody.
At least 12 suspected militants, including two Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) ‘commanders’, identified as Jamir and Baloch Khan, were killed in an exchange of fire during an operation with Frontier Corps (FC) personnel in Nasau area of Kohlu District on March 21, reports Dawn. The FC recovered large cache of arms and ammunition from their possession. “Exchange of fire is still underway”.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of Sindh Police claimed on March 22 to have arrested three suspected militants, including an engineer, who were allegedly associated with the banned Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), reports Dawn. The CTD’s Additional Inspector General Dr. Sanaullah Abbasi said. “They are associated with the AQIS and were arrested after an encounter with a CTD team in Karachi West. We have also seized two AK-47 rifles and a TT pistol from their possession.”
Police claimed to have killed three abductors and recovered three hostages in a joint raid carried out by Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) in Ibrahim Haideri area of Korangi Town in Karachi on March 24, reports The News.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested an alleged militant in the Matta tehsil of the Swat district on Thursday, official sources said. They said acting on a tip-off, the CTD officials raided a house at Sambat area in Matta and arrested a militant identified as Bahadur Shah. He was wanted by the police in terrorism-related cases in the Swat district. The officials shifted him to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
PAKISTAN
Two USAID officials killed in IED attack in FATA
Two United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officials were killed and two others, including a tehsildar (revenue officer), sustained injuries when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded in Ambar tehsil (revenue unit) of Mohmand Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on March 1, reports Dawn. According to the political administration officials, tehsildar Faramosh Khan was on an anti-poppy drive in Ambar tehsil area along with Anti-Narcotics Force officials and USAID campaigners when an IED device planted on the roadside exploded. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-Jama’at-ul-Ahrar (TTP-JuA), claimed responsibility for the attack.
Osama wanted money left by him to be used for global jihad, reveal declassified documents
Documents seized by United States Special Forces personnel during the May 1-2, 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad District revealed that al Qaeda leaders were increasingly worried about spies in their group, drones patrolling the skies and secret devices tracking their movements, reports Dawn, quoting translations released by Intelligence Agencies to media. The document — part of a cache of 113 documents — has been described by intelligence officials as Bin Laden’s will. The documents are mostly dated between 2009 and 2011 and comprise the second cache from the raid to have been declassified.
In one of the declassified documents, bin Laden outlines how at least USD 29 million stashed in Sudan should be apportioned after his death, requesting that most of it be used to continue global jihad. He writes, “I hope for my brothers, sisters and maternal aunts to obey my will and to spend all the money that I have left in Sudan on jihad, for the sake of Allah.”
AQIS and LeJ hiring militants belonging to HuMA in Karachi, reveals Home Department
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) are hiring Karachi-based militants of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen al-Alami (HuMA), and are planning attacks on major important installations in the city, reports The News on March 5, quoting the Home Department letter issued to Police and Rangers. According to the letter, “During the interrogation of some recently apprehended high-value terrorists, it was learnt that on the directives of AQIS and the Tehreek-s-Taliban Pakistan, they had gathered information about some important installations and targets in Karachi, but the attacks could not be carried out because their leaders were arrested”. The targets were American employees of an oil refinery in Keamari, the United States (US) consulate Saddar Division, the Sindh Assembly building, the Police Club, the residence of senior police officials, Rangers vans, and Police check posts.
Separately, an Intelligence Agency informed the Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) through a letter that “AQIS, the TTP, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) and the LeJ are planning to attack Counter Terrorism Department official Raja Umar Khattab”, reports The News. Khattab said that continuous operations against banned outfits had resulted in a decrease in terrorism-related cases and many key terrorist leaders, including Naeem Bukhari of the LeJ and Farooq Mussana of AQIS, had been arrested. However, he added, a cell of AQIS still existed in Karachi and operating in small groups as after Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the tribal areas, their network had been dismantled and now they were showing their presence by attacking Rangers, police and schools.
Former Punjab Governor’s abducted son Shahbaz Taseer recovered from Balochistan after five years in captivity
Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, from Kuchlak town near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, five years after he was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from Lahore, reports Daily Times. A statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) confirmed that the intelligence agencies have recovered Shahbaz Taseer from an area near Kuchlak. Shahbaz was kidnapped from Lahore on August 26, 2011 near his company’s head office few months after the assassination of his father. A senior police official confirmed that Shahbaz was recovered during a raid jointly conducted by the Counter-Terrorism Department and intelligence agencies near Quetta. Quoting a Frontier Corps officer, a TV channel confirmed the development. “An intelligence-based operation was conducted by FC and police, resulting in his (Shahbaz) safe recovery.”
34% decline in terror incidents during 2015
Pakistan witnessed a decrease of 34 percent in terrorism activities during the year 2015 as compared to 2014, official sources said on March 14, reports Daily Times. According to reports, incidents of terrorism reduced from 5,496 in 2014 to 3,625 in 2015 and the New Year has so far witnessed 80 percent decline in terror acts and extremism by breaking network of terrorists in FATA, Karachi and Balochistan after developing much needed consensus among the political parties. The sources said this achievement is due to the fact that all political forces clustered around National Action Plan (NAP) to take it to logical conclusion. The sources said NAP has also brought relief to the nation as the country has witnessed overall decline in heinous offences.
India kills three terrorists on Pak information
Three of 10 alleged Pakistani terrorists, who entered India earlier this month reportedly via Gujarat, have been killed, the Indian media reported quoting government sources on Mar 16. The location of the others is known, said the sources, stressing that no other information can be revealed because it could jeopardise security plans. The information about the terrorists journeying to India was shared with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval by his Pakistani counterpart Nasser Khan Janjua.
Gujarat was put on high alert after the warning, with increased security at the Somnath Temple on the occasion of Mahshivratri, one of the most important dates of the Hindu calendar. Intel agencies then said the terrorists may have travelled to Delhi, where malls and public places were asked to be especially vigilant.
The terrorists are reportedly members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba or LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed or JeM, NDTV reported. Pakistan’s disclosure about the men is seen as an attempt to prove it is genuine in its offer to prevent India from attacks planned across the border. In January, seven military personnel were killed in a deadly assault by terrorists at the air force base in Pathankot in Indian Punjab, where military high-value assets including fighter jets are stationed. India has agreed to a visit by Pakistani investigators assigned to examine the evidence at the air force base by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Balochistan Home Department announced head money for 99 Baloch militants
Balochistan Home Department on March 17 announced head money for 99 militants, ranging between PKR 500,000 and PKR 15 million, reports Dawn. Chief Minister (CM) Nawab Sanaullah Zehri vowed ‘not to pardon’ people involved in terrorist activities. The militants belong to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Baloch Republican Army (BRA), Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) and Lashkar-e-Balochistan (LeB).
But the names of Nawabzada Brahamdagh Bugti, Nawabzada Hairbyar Marri, Nawabzada Mehran Marri and Mir Javed Mengal, who are accused of instigating terrorist activities in Balochistan, have not been included in the list. The CM said that it was not clear whether the BLF chief (Dr. Allah Nazar) was dead or alive. However his name has been included in the list.
Pakistan ensuring nuclear safety in befitting manner: US
The administration’s Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a congressional hearing, “Pakistan’s Centre of Excellence have really done an excellent job to establish a programme there that is not only serving Pakistan’s interests, but is also serving on a regional basis to provide training with the help of the IAEA, and so forth.”
Gottemoeller also mentioned India stepping up to the plate. “India is at an early stage of establishing their own Centre of Excellence for nuclear security,” she said, adding that the administration has seen quite a bit of advancement in India’s working on the Pak-India nuclear race problem in recent years.
Responding to a question, she pointed out that battlefield nuclear weapons were a security concern but it also has been made known to Pakistan that these weapons cannot bode as secure. “We have made our concerns known, and will continue to press them about what we consider to be the destabilising aspects of their battlefield nuclear weapons programme,” she said.
Senator Bob Corker commented that both countries were enlarging and improving their nuclear arsenals in an attempt to gain an upper hand but there has been “virtually no progress made to address nuclear security”.
Corruption random in our society: NAB Chairman
National Accountability Bureau Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, while addressing NAB’s newly recruited 104 investigation officers who were after training posted in eight NAB’s regional Bureaus for on job training, said that corruption is rampant in our society and labelled as mother of all ills. “It gives birth to multifarious problems, including nepotism and favoritism. It negates meritocracy, transparency and accountability,” he said on March 19.
The NAB chairman said that the Bureau was established to eradicate corruption in a holistic and integrated manner and recovered looted money from corrupts. “This is the backdrop against which NAB is striving to accomplish its mission—to rid the nation from corruption and corrupt practices,” he said.
He said that an effective accountability mechanism is quintessential for economic growth, investment and stability of social order. The intervention by NAB has acted as a catalyst, as transparency is a prerequisite for promoting investment and economic growth. Since its inception, NAB had adopted the enforcement based approach in its fight against corruption. Controlling corruption on a sustainable and long term basis requires a broader vision and multi-faceted strategy, which banks heavily on awareness and prevention of corruption in addition to the enforcement approach. Special focus is, therefore, being given to awareness and prevention activities to educate the people at large about the ill effects of corruption.
No bar of time, speed on Karachi operations
Pakistan Rangers Sindh Director General (DG) Major General Bilal Akbar on Sunday, March 20 said that the Karachi operation was free of all restrictions including time and speed as it would continue till the complete eradication of terrorism. He expressed these views while talking to a delegation of the All Pakistan Security Services (APSS) led by Brigadier (retd) Rashid Malik at the Rangers Headquarters, Jinnah Courts.
The DG Rangers said that the Karachi Operation had no limit or period of time as it would continue till the eradication of terrorism.
The spokesman for Sindh Rangers said that the DG Rangers had briefed the participants of the delegation about the Rangers operation in Karachi. He told the 70-member delegation of the APSS that the Sindh Rangers had taken the responsibility for countering terrorism under tough circumstances.
Maj Gen Akbar said that the Karachi operation was only against criminals and not against any group or party. He also asked the religious and political parties not to provide shelter to terrorists and criminals in their rank and file. He said their mission was to crack down on criminal elements adding that the targeted operation against militants would continue till their elimination.
The team was briefed on the law and order situation and the Karachi operation. He asked the security companies to share information with the law enforcement agencies regularly. The APSS delegation lauded the Sindh Rangers’ steps taken for peace in the city.
12 miscreants killed in Kohlu
Twelve terrorists were killed during a shootout with Frontier Corps (FC) personnel in Kohlu on Monday, March 21. On a tip-off, the FC personnel raided a hideout which triggered a gun battle. During the clash, two key commanders of the terrorist outfit, Yameen and Bandoos Khan, and 10 others were killed. According to an FC spokesperson, the suspects were involved in attacks on security forces, extortion and kidnappings for ransom.
353 convicts executed since APS Peshawar attack, Supreme Court told
The Supreme Court was informed on March 22 that as of February 2, 2016, as many as 353 convicts had been executed since the lifting of moratorium on the death penalty by the Federal Government, reports Dawn. The information was laid before a two-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, on behalf of the Interior Ministry by Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sajid Ilyas Bhatti. The report was, however, quiet about whether the executed convicts also included militants who were convicted by military courts and whose executions began soon after the Army Public School Peshawar attack on December 16, 2014.
Pakistan Day celebrated in Bara after eight years
The Pakistan Day was marked on Wednesday, Mar 23 with zeal and enthusiasm in the Bara tehsil of the Khyber Agency after eight years. A colorful programme in connection with the 23rd March was jointly organised by Fata Sports of Directorate, Afridian Welfare Foundation and Army officials at the FC Ground in Bara tehsil.
It was first such major event in connection with the Pakistan Day in Bara as the people had to leave the area due to militancy and subsequent military operation. The peace to the Bara tehsil of the Khyber Agency was recently restored and people returned to abodes after successful military operation.
Various competitions of gymnastic, volleyball, painting, athletic, tug-of-war and others took place at the event. Political Agent of Khyber Agency Khalid Mehmood, Member National Assembly (MNA) Khyber Agency, Nasir Khan Afridi, Senator Momin Khan Afridi, Fata Sports Director Tayyab Abdullah, Assistant Political Agent of the Bara tehsil Muhammad Arif, tribal elders, politicians, students, army officials and others were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, Political Agent Khalid Mehmood said that restoration of peace in the militancy-hit Bara tehsil of the Khyber Agency would pave the way for development and prosperity.
RAW’s Serving Indian Navy Commander Held In Balochistan
Security agencies have captured an agent of India’s top spy agency from Balochistan, a provincial minister said on Thursday, March 24 in the latest evidence of Islamabad’s claim that the neighbouring country is actively trying to destabilise Pakistan. In a media statement here Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti said that the captured agent was an active Indian serviceman who was active in Balochistan with an aim to destabilise Pakistan. Maps of different installations and sites were also recovered from his possession. According to sources, the man was arrested by a Pakistani intelligence agency in Balochistan three days ago and he was later shifted to Islamabad for investigation.
The arrested agent of RAW had contacts with separatist groups operating in Balochistan, the sources said, adding that he was a commander in the Indian Navy.
Bugti congratulated the country’s intelligence forces on the high-level capture. He declined to give further details about the identity of the captured Indian agent or where in Balochistan he was arrested from. “What is important is that he is a serving RAW agent and he has been captured from Balochistan. We have always maintained that India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) has been involved in creating unrest in Balochistan,” said the provincial minister. He said that the apprehended agent was being further investigated.
REGIONAL
Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
Three JMB militants arrested in Panchagarh
Police on February 26 arrested three militants of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), including Abdul Hares, the mastermind of the February 21, 2016, killing of a Hindu priest Jogeswar Dasadhikari (50), from Panchagarh District, reports Dhaka Tribune. The other two arrestees were identified as Ramzan Ali and Rabiul. Police recovered all the weapons used in the killing – a machete, two pistols, five rounds of bullets, three knives and three crude bombs.
ABT’s new den busted in Dhaka
A joint team of Detectives and Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit on February 27 busted a new den of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) in Dhaka city’s Dakkhinkhan area, reports Dhaka Tribune. Two hand bombs and a large cache of bomb-making materials were recovered from there.
JeL leader found dead in Jessore district
Abu Huraira, a Jhenidah District unit leader of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) was found dead beside Jessore-Jhenidah road in Chura-mankathi Beltala area of Jessore District on February 29, reports The Independent. Family members alleged that Abu Huraira was picked up by plainclothes Policemen about one month ago. Whereas MA Hashem, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Detective Branch of Police, Jhenidah District, said, “We have never arrested the man.”
JMB gives public threat to public prosecutor in Panchagarh District
Jama’at-ul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) on March 3 gave a death threat through a letter to Aminur Rahman, Public Prosecutor who has been conducting the case filed for killing of a priest in Panchagarh District on February 21, reports The Daily Star. The letter, with JMB written at the bottom, threatened to bid Aminur farewell from earth forever. Aminur Rahman filed a General Diary (GD) with Panchagarh Police Station the same afternoon.
Three JMB militants arrested with crude bombs in Rajshahi
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested three militants of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) with crude bombs from a mango orchard in Rajshahi District’s Bagmara sub-District while they were plotting subversive activities on March 6, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Aminur Rahman, Abu Sayeed Manik and Shahenshah. RAB recovered 16 crude bombs, 7 petrol bombs and 8 Jihadi books from their possession.
JMB gunman killed in Dhaka city
Pias (30), a militant of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was killed in a gunfight with Police at Khilgaon in Dhaka city on March 8, reports The Daily Star. Police recovered three hand bombs, a pistol and three bullets from the spot. According Police Pias had been involved in the bomb attack on Hossaini Dalan, Shia Muslim community headquarters in the Old part of Dhaka, on the occasion of the holy Ashura.
Five JMB militants arrested in Dhaka city
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested five militants of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh in a raid at Dhaka city’s Demra area on March 13, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Hujaifa Akand alias Shaheen alias Siyam (25), Yasin Ali alias Shafique (31), Mamunur Rashid (23), Abul Hashem (32) and Shafiul Islam Khalid (30). RAB recovered bomb-making materials along with books provoking extremism in the drive.
Homoeopathic medicine practitioner hacked to death in Jhenaidah District
Abdul Razzaq (45), a homoeopathic medicine practitioner was hacked to death with sharp weapons on March 14 after he shut down his shop and was heading back to his village in Jhenaidah District, reports Dhaka Tribune. According to US monitoring group SITE, Islamic State (IS) in a statement said “We were able to assassinate the polytheist apostate Hafidh Abdul Razzaq, one of the top preachers for the Rafidha [Shia] religion.” Razzaq had been following the Shia form for over 20 years.
ABT set up eight hideouts in Dhaka city to carry out killings of secular people, says CT Chief Monirul Islam
Counter-Terrorism and Trans National Crime Unit (CT) Chief Monirul Islam said that Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) set up eight hideouts in Dhaka city to carry out killings of secular people, reports Dhaka Tribune on March 19. A group of 20 militants called “the killing squad” maintained these hideouts. CT garnered the sensational information from two suspected ABT militants Shahin alias Jamal (26) and Salahuddin alias Hiron (30), who were arrested during a drive on February 19.
Freedom fighter converted to Christianity from Islam hacked to death in Kurigram District
Hossain Ali (65), a freedom fighter who converted to Christianity from Islam was hacked to death by suspected Islamic militants at Garialpara area of Kurigram District on March 22, reports Dhaka Tribune. Hossain was walking on the road beside his house when three miscreants riding on a motorcycle hacked him with sharp weapons. Locals said Hossain Ali, along with his family members, had converted to Christianity from Islam 17 years ago. Police arrested three suspected cadres of Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Mostafizur Rahman (22), Shariful Islam (20) and Jahidul Islam (18).
Meanwhile, on March 23 the United States-based militancy monitoring group SITE reported that Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the murder of Hossain Ali, reports New Age. The Police investigators, however, dismissed the claim made by either SITE. Instead, they suspected it was an act by home-grown militant outfits, such as, Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Four suspected JMB militants arrested in Dhaka city
Police arrested four suspected Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants on March 21 from Dhaka city’s Kalyanpur bus stand area, reports Dhaka Tribune. The arrestees are Abdur Razzak Omayer, Faysal Ahmed, Ahmad Fazle Akbar and Abu Nayeem Mohammad Jakariya. Police said that they confessed to their previous involvement with JMB. A number of militancy literatures were also recovered from their possession.
India – Internal Dynamics
Constable injured during an exchange of fire with GNLA militants in Meghalaya
A constable was injured during an exchange of fire with suspected Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militants when an abduction attempt by the outfit was foiled by the Police on February 24, reports The Assam Tribune. The incident occurred when the Police foiled the bid to abduct traders from the Gabil weekly market, at the tri-junction of three Districts of East, West and North Garo Hills. According to information, a Police team was returning from Gabil market, when an unidentified gunman fired at the Police while the latter were in the midst of abducting two traders. Havildar Sengbath Marak sustained injury on his hand, said Inspector General of Police (IGP) – Law and Order, GHP Raju.
Maoists kill four villagers in Chhattisgarh
The Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres have allegedly killed four villagers in Narayanpur District, reports The Times of India on March 1. Superintendent of Police (SP), Narayanpur District, Abhishek Meena informed that Police have begun investigation after they received information about the incident. “We have yet to get the exact number of villagers being killed by Naxals since the area from where killings were reported is deep inside Abujmarh forests, more than 50 kms away from any of police camps and the area is highly Naxal infested,” added the SP. According to the SP, Police received information that Maoists have thrown bodies of four villagers on road after killing them. Commenting on the source of information, he said that local level intelligence has confirmed the killings by Maoists in past one week. He also added that there is no way to go inside the village and recover the bodies.
One more COBRA commando killed
A Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) trooper was killed in a Communist Party of India-Maoist ambush in Sukma District of Chhattisgarh on March 3, reports The Business Standard. Officials said while two Commandos, identified as Constables Linju N and Fateh Singh, had succumbed to bullet injuries on March 3, their colleague Lakshman Singh died on March 4. At least 15 others, including CoBRA Commander P.S. Yadav and the chief of the State Polices’ District Reserve Group (DRG), have been injured in the encounter which ended on March 4.
8 of 10 districts in Telangana are LWE affected, says report
In an official release, the Central Government has said that eight of the 10 districts in Telangana are Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) affected, reports The Times of India on March 5. The Districts named are Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Medak, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal and Nizamabad. Only the two urban districts of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy have been excluded from the list. Incidentally, among the 106 Districts declared as LWE-affected, eight districts of Andhra Pradesh also figure – Anantapur, East Godavari, Guntur, Kurnool, Prakasam, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram. “By this reckoning, 16 of the 23 districts of erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh are hit by Naxalite violence. How could this be possible?” wondered a senior police official.
IS threat in India emerges not from Pakistan, but Bangladesh, says report
The investigations that are being conducted into the various Islamic State (IS) related cases in India have one conclusion and that this threat emanates more from Bangladesh than Pakistan, oneindia.com reports on March 8. India Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials reveal that if the threat has to be countered, then the outfits based in Bangladesh are more worrisome in nature when compared to Pakistan. The National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval has appraised the Prime Minister about the situation. It was following this input that the government had decided to undertake a major deradicalisation programme. India says that the IS threat will not emerge directly in India. It will come in through groups such as the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The JMB had openly pledged support to the IS and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In the recent days the JMB has been carrying out attacks in Bangladesh in the name of the IS or the Caliphate. India has taken this development very seriously.
Maoists kill two troopers and inure several others in Chhattisgarh
Two Border Security Force (BSF) troopers, identified as Vijay Kumar and Rakesh, were killed and four others were critically wounded in an encounter with Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in Becha forests of Kanker District on March 12, reports The Hindu. A special operation was launched from Chotibetia BSF camp at 11.45 pm on March 11 by the parties of 170, 122 and 165 battalions of the BSF. The BSF parties had an exchange of fire with the Maoists at around 2.25 am on March 12 near Becha village.
Meanwhile, Maoists triggered a landmine blast killing a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) head Constable and leaving 11 personnel injured in Morli forest area near Kunta town of Sukma District on March 11, reports The New Indian Express. The incident took place as CRPF personnel, deputed to ensure security to road works from Kunta to Gollapalli, were patrolling the area. Talking about the incident, Bastar Inspector General of Police (IGP) S.R.P. Kalluri said though they were taking all precautions, Maoists were able to strike back.
Maoists kill Constable in Maharashtra
The Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres killed a Constable of Hedri Police Post in Etapalli Division of Gadchiroli District on March 11, reports The Times of India. The victim, Deepak Sadmake, was shot by the Maoists from close quarters when he was patrolling a village market with his colleagues.
AQIS operative running Terror Camp in Jharkhand Forest, claim Delhi Police
Delhi Police on March 12 claimed before a court that suspected al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operative Maulana Abdul Rehman Kasmi has set up a training base for terror activities “somewhere in Jharkhand forests” and the investigators are ascertaining it, reports NDTV. The Special Cell of Delhi Police informed the court that Kasmi, who was arrested on December 17, 2015 in the case for allegedly radicalising youths and propagating the terror agenda of the outfit, had set up a training base which was yet to be located.
“There are specific inputs that Maulana Abdul Rehman Kasmi, in cooperation with others, has set up a training base somewhere in Jharkhand forests which is yet to be located. The investigation in this aspect is at an advanced stage and teams are examining several leads to corroborate the inputs,” the Police said in its plea seeking extension of period of probe into the case till June 10. The Police also alleged that there were specific inputs that wanted accused Abu Sufiyan, a resident of Jharkhand, had traveled to Pakistan along with arrested accused Mohammad Sami.
It claimed that Sufiyan has returned after receiving training at Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and AQIS facilities and his apprehension was crucial to find out the missing links of the larger conspiracy. Police said that some associates of Kasmi have been arrested by Jharkhand police in January and their interrogation has revealed many new facts regarding his role in motivating and recruiting youths for LeT and AQIS.
Gadchiroli villagers face Police wrath after Maoists kill Policeman
People in Reknar village in Etapalli taluka (revenue unit) were at the receiving end of Police wrath on March 13 when a Crack-60 team of Hedri Police post in Gadchiroli District thrashed them in retaliation of killing of Constable Deepak Sedmake two days earlier (March 11) by the Communist Party of India-Maoist, reports The Times of India. A minor, force fed with chilli powder that had also been ed in his anus, was among several to be tortured on the suspicion of having helped the Maoists team that killed Sedmake. Dasrath Usendi, a local farmer, said four villagers bore the brunt of Police atrocity while others were slapped and kicked. “After having vented their wrath, Police also whisked away four people to their post but released them in the evening,” he said. “A day later, villagers lodged protest before tehsildar and sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) but nothing happened,” he said. Earlier, sources from Hedri said Police had rounded up several traders from the weekly market where the Constable was killed. The traders were also thrashed at the camp. According to a source, two traders sustained fractures due to beating. A local source in Etapalli said the injury reports of the traders were later fudged under Police pressure too to show they had suffered a fall from tree. Inspector General of Police, Nagpur and Naxal range, Ravindra Kadam condemned the thrashing stating such incidents only pushed back the initiatives several years behind. “We have already called for explanation from the post in-charge and commander of the force at Hedri holding them responsible for the high-handedness. Actions would follow after the explanations are received,” said Kadam.
Ammunition recovered in Assam
A joint team of Manja and Dillai Police recovered huge cache of ammunition from Serlongri Tisso Gaon under Manja Police Station in Karbi Anglong District on March 15, reports The Sentinel. As per information, the joint Police team acting on specific information launched an operation at midnight at Serlongri Tisso Gaon about six kilometres west of Manja and recovered 66 hand grenades, 240 rounds of live ammunition of AK series, 100 rounds of live ammunition of 7.65mm pistol and other belongings from the village in the following morning of the non-governmental organisation Evidence.
Bomb blast in Manipur
A bomb exploded in front of the Moreh Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) office at ward No-3 under Moreh Police Station in Chandel District on March 18, reports Kanglaonline. However, no one was injured in the explosion. A Police team has inspected the explosion site.
Meanwhile, an archaic bomb was recovered during digging work at the residential compound of Oinam Manglemba Singh of Oinam Bazar in Bishnupur District on March 18, reports Kanglaonline. The bomb was retrieved by a bomb expert team of the Police around 5 pm.
Two Muslim cattle traders tortured, hanged in Jharkhand
In another shocking incident provoking violent protests, two Muslim men, who were on their way to a Friday (Mar 20) market with eight buffaloes, were tortured and hanged to death in Jharkhand, according to Indian media reports.
Muhammad Mazloom, 35, and Azad Khan, 15, were allegedly hanged from a tree after being tortured in the Jhabbar village of Latehar district near Ranchi on Friday. The two had their hands tied together behind their backs and their mouths were gagged with a cloth.
Reports were that the attackers were Hindu extremist vigilantes.
India is the world’s largest exporter of beef and its fifth biggest consumer, but the killing of cows is forbidden in some regions, including in the state of Jharkhand, as many Hindus regard the animal as sacred. Locals claimed the assailants were Hindu radicals. An FIR has been lodged against unknown persons for the murder.
The event comes months after the Dadri lynching where a man was murdered for consuming beef.
Despite heightened security the influx of Bangladeshi nationals into coastal villages of Odisha pose serious threat, says report
Despite heightened security and frequent mock drills on waterways, the influx of Bangladeshi nationals into coastal villages of Jagatsinghpur District of Odisha has posed a serious threat to public safety and a challenge to District Police, New Indian Express reports on March 21. After the 26/11 (November 26, 2008) Mumbai (Maharashtra) attack, the coastal security agencies have been holding joint exercises every year on Odisha coast to prevent sea-borne terror attacks and infiltration. Though ‘Operation Hamla’ and other security drills have been carried out in the Bay of Bengal since 2012, there is no visible improvement in checking the influx of Bangladeshi nationals into the coastal villages of the district.
‘Operation Hamla,’ a mock drill conducted by both the State and the Centre to test the Security Forces’ preparedness in handling terror strikes, is carried out every six months. Moreover, a drive has been launched to verify their identities in different villages and slums. Locals are being sensitized about unauthorised settlements of outsiders or infiltrators, he added.
Lottery becomes new Maoist strategy to recruit children in Jharkhand
The Communist Party of India-Maoist is recruiting children through lucky draw in Jharkhand where names are written down in small bits of paper and randomly picked, reports The Deccan Chronicle on March 21. This is being dubbed as a new strategy of the adopted by the Maoists as with dwindling forces and unwilling parents, they have found a new recruitment strategy for child soldiers. Though they previously claimed that it does not recruit children below 16, the outfit however has boasted its ‘bal dastas’ or child soldiers, whom it claims have been ‘gifted’ by parents after being motivated by the organisation’s friendly approach. In the past, the recruited children were mostly occupied in non-combat roles and were trained in computer and imparted other technical skills. But falling numbers of the armed group has forced them to introduce children in more risky situations, following which parents have become skeptical in ‘gifting’ their children to the insurgents. Elaborating on his daughter’s plight who was forcibly taken away when she was 11, 38-year-old Fandu Munda said, “Six years later when she abandoned the rebel outfit to start life afresh, they accused her of being a Police informer and killed her.”
Maoists kill two civilians in Chhattisgarh
A civilian, identified as Kicche Mukka, was killed by Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres on the charges of being a police informer under Polampalli Police Station area in Sukma District on March 22, reports The Times of India. As per preliminary information, a group of Maoists stormed into the house of Kichhe, after he returned from his fields. He was dragged out and killed with sharp weapons.
Meanwhile, Sona Muchaki (40) was axed to death by Maoists under Chhindgarh area in Sukma District on March 21, reports The Times of India. He was brutally axed to death in front of his wife and children at Rokel village under Chhindgarh Police outpost. According to pamphlets dropped by the Maoists, Sona allegedly helped Security Force (SF) personnel in setting up a police camp in the village.
Maoists shift to IED, shun guerilla war, says report
The Communist Party of India-Maoist has revised its strategy by choosing blast attacks over guerrilla warfare to target Security Force (SF) personnel, intelligence sources said on March 24, reports The Asian Age. “Maoists have upgraded their insurgency level by moving over to guerrilla warfare from blast attack nearly 5-6 years ago. They seem to have scaled down their insurgency level now by reverting back to the primary level of insurgency in which Security Forces are targeted with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks”, a senior Police officer disclosed. “The key reason behind Maoists deciding to withdraw from guerrilla warfare, albeit temporarily, was neutralization of red cadres to a significant level by Security Forces by engineering mass surrender of Naxals, particularly in the core areas of CPI (Maoist) in south Bastar districts of Bijapur, Sukma and Narayanpur in the past eight months”, he indicated.
Naxal activities continue to be a matter of concern, says UMHA annual report
Naxal-[Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)] activities continue to be a matter of concern with 35 Districts in seven states being badly-hit, according to the annual report of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) for 2015-16, reports PTI. “Left Wing Extremism (LWE) remains an area of concern for internal security of the country,” the report submitted to Parliament said. While 106 Districts in 10 States are affected by Communist Party of India-Maoist activities in varying degrees, 35 Districts in seven states are the most affected. “CPI (Maoist) continues to be the most potent among the various LWE outfits in the country and accounts for more than 80 per cent of total LWE violence incidents and resultant deaths,” the report said.
Monthly Fatalities
The following deaths related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period Feb 26, 2016 to March 25, 2916:
| Civilian | Indian Security Personnel | Militant | Total | |
| Assam | 03 | 00 | 00 | 03 |
| Manipur | 02 | 00 | 02 | 04 |
| Meghalaya | 04 | 00 | 02 | 06 |
| Nagaland | 02 | 00 | 01 | 03 |
| Left wing | 26 | 11 | 16 | 53 |
| Total | 37 | 11 | 21 | 69 |
Nepal – Internal Dynamics
Country would witness a huge revolution if newly promulgated Constitution was not rewritten, says FSF-N Chairman Upendra Yadav
Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal (FSF-N) Chairman Upendra Yadav speaking at a press meet organized by the party’s District Working Committee in Gaur town of Rautahat District on March 7 said that the country would witness a huge revolution if the newly promulgated Constitution was not rewritten, reports The Himalayan Times. He said “We are collecting energy for a decisive protest and we won’t rest until our rights are achieved. People belonging to Madhesi community, who are treated like second class citizens of the country, are ready to sacrifice their lives but not their rights.”
Federal Alliance urges public to prepare for a decisive joint people’s movement
Federal Alliance issuing a press release on March 21 urged the public to prepare for a decisive joint people’s movement, reports The Himalayan Times. The Alliance said that it would continue to fight for identity-based federalism no matter how difficult and how long the battle was. The Alliance also said that the first amendment to the Constitution addressed none of the vital issues related to identity-based federalism, autonomous provinces, and multi-language policy, Upper House of the Parliament, federal judiciary, local bodies and multi-nationalities.
Meanwhile, Sadbhawana Party (SP) Chairman Rajendra Mahato speaking at a function organized in Saptari District headquarters Rajbiraj on March 21 said that Madhesi struggle will continue until the rights of the Madhesi people were assured in all sectors of the state, reports The Himalayan Times. He said “There must be representation of the Madhesi people in the executive, legislative and judiciary. As time and again, the rulers have betrayed us, this agitation is against them, not against the nation and people from the hill community.”
JTJP ‘military commander’ and one cadre arrested in Dhanusha District
Janatantrik Tiger Janshakti Party (JTJP) ‘military commander’ and one cadre were arrested from Dhanusha District on March 24, reports The Himalayan Times. The arrestees are ‘military commander’ of JTJP Kailash Thakur (20) aka Prithvi Singh Yadav and Binod Yadav aka Kaari Yadav (30). Police recovered a pistol, a magazine and seven round bullets from them.
Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics
North Province CM seeks intervention to set up a federal Government system in Northern and Eastern Provinces
Northern Province Chief Minister (CM) C.V. Wigneswaran has sought India’s intervention to set up a federal Government system in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, reports Colombo Page on February 28. Describing how India intervened to rescue the Tamil people when they lived in a politically very dangerous environment, the Chief Minister expressed confidence that India will intervene this time also to accommodate his request. He further said that the then Government accepted the 13th Amendment to the Constitution brought about by the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord because of India government’s pressure. As a result of that Amendment, at least the North and East got two provincial councils albeit without the power, he added. Claiming that after the end of the war, the Tamil people have been caught in a storm again, Chief Minister Wigneswaran said India has understood that a federal Government is the only political solution for the Tamil issue.
Govt was in process of repealing PTA and introducing new counter-terrorism legislation, says Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera
Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera in his address at the meeting of the Governing Council of Community of Democracies in Geneva on March 2 said that the Government was in the process of repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and introducing a new counter-terrorism legislation that is in line with contemporary international practices, reports Daily Mirror. He said that the Government, under President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s leadership, had been working closely with the international community, resurrecting strained relations with the United Nations and other traditional partners.
President orders stern action to control underworld crimes in Sri Lanka
Alarmed by the rising underworld activities in capital Colombo and other areas, President Maithripala Sirisena on March 6 ordered the Police and security forces to take stern actions under a joint plan to control the underworld crimes which are raising their heads recently in the country, reports Colombo Page. Police launched special security measures similar to those implemented during the civil war including special raids, snap road blocks and random checks on vehicles.
Former Defense Secretary summoned to appear in Special High Court to testify against LTTE suspects on May 3
Former Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been summoned to appear in the Special High Court to testify against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suspects on May 3, reports Colombo Page on March 23. The former Defense Secretary has been called to give evidence in the case filed against five LTTE suspects, who are charged with aiding and abetting an ex-LTTE suicide cadre charged with attempting to assassinate the Defense Secretary. The Attorney General has filed the case against the suspects on charges of conspiring with the suicide cadre and assisting him to carry out the suicide bomb attack which killed two Army officers and injured several others. After considering the request by Senior State Counsel Rohantha Abesuriya appearing for prosecution the Judge noticed the former Defense Secretary to appear in court.
Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq on March 21 reiterated the requirement of a credible investigation into the alleged human rights violations and war crimes committed by the LTTE and the Sri Lankan security forces, reports Daily Mirror. He said “Well, the Human Rights Council can evaluate for itself how it’s going, but we want to make sure there is a credible investigation into this. And we have made clear what our guidelines are and what a credible investigation will entail. So we will continue to be in dialogue to make sure it happens.”
INTERNATIONAL
Philippine Army kills 42 Islamist militants
Philippine security forces killed as many as 42 Muslim rebels claiming links with Islamic State and captured their stronghold during five days of fighting in the mountains of a southern island, an army spokesman said on Feb 26.
Three soldiers were killed and 11 wounded when the forces seized the bastion of an affiliate of Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian network of Islamist militants, in the province of Lanao del Sur.
“Our troops were able to seize a stronghold of the terrorists on Thursday night,” the spokesman, Major Filemon Tan, told reporters by telephone from the southern island of Mindanao, estimating that about 42 militants had been killed. We are still pursuing the rebels, using armoured assets.”
Tan said the army was shelling rebel positions with 105-mm howitzers on Friday, while air force planes dropped bombs and helicopters fired rockets near the town of Butig, a base of the country’s largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). But the MILF stayed away from the skirmishes and helped about 8,000 people displaced from their homes when the fighting began on Feb 20, the military said.
The Philippines signed a peace deal with the MILF in March 2014, ending 45 years of conflict that killed more than 120,000 people, displaced 2 million and stunted growth in the poor but resource-rich south.
Army and police officials believe some Muslim rebel factions, including the small but violent Abu Sayyaf group, have pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, but say they have found no evidence to support this.
40 dead in Coalition strikes on Yemen
Air strikes by an Arab coalition fighting Iranian-allied Houthi forces in Yemen hit a market northeast of the capital Sanaa on Saturday, Feb 27 killing 40 people, residents said. The strikes at Nehm district in Sanaa province also wounded 30, they said, adding that most of the casualties were civilians.
The Saudi-led alliance is fighting the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in a bid to restore the internationally recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The United Nations says nearly 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which began after the Houthis advanced on the southern port city of Aden, where Hadi had been based. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
The strike comes a day after aid and rights groups urged Western countries to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia, which is striking the Iran-backed rebels, known as Houthis, to support forces loyal to the internationally recognized government. The Houthis overran the capital, Sanaa, and other Yemeni cities in 2014.The UN says the fighting in Yemen has killed more than 6,000 people since March 2015 and wounded more than 35,000. The Control Arms Coalition said in a report Friday that 11 countries — including France, Britain, the U.S. and Germany —sold arms such as drones, missiles and bombs worth $25 billion to the Saudis in 2015.
IS is losing, says US envoy
Islamic State is losing a battle against forces arraigned against if from many sides in Iraq and Syria and the focus would turn to stabilising cities seized back from them, the US envoy to a coalition fighting the group said on Saturday, Mar 6. Addressing a press conference in Baghdad, US official Brett McGurk declined to put a timeline on when the group would be defeated or when Mosul and Raqqa, the main cities under its control in Iraq and Syria respectively, would be retaken.
McGurk met in Baghdad Iraqi officials including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who said in December that 2016 would be a year of “final victory” over the group in Iraq.
“Daesh is feeling pressure now from all simultaneous directions and that’s going to continue… that’s going to accelerate,” McGurk said at the press conference, using an acronym for Islamic State.
“Daesh is losing; as they lose we focus increasingly on stabilisation,” he added, referring to plans being made to rehabilitate and police cities recaptured from militants.
Islamic State has come under pressure from air raids and ground forces actions by various parties in both countries, but they still hold large tracts of land.
IS truck bomb attack on Iraq police checkpoint kills 60
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack with an explosive-laden fuel tanker on an Iraqi police checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 70, medical and security officials said on Mar 06. Responsibility was claimed in a posting on the website of the Amaq news agency, which supports the ultra-hardline Sunni group.
“A martyr’s operation with a truck bomb hit the Babylon Ruins checkpoint at the entrance of the city of Hilla, killing and wounding dozens,” the statement on the Amaq website said. Hilla is the capital of Babylon province. “It’s the largest bombing in the province to date,” Falah al-Radhi, the head of the provincial security committee, said. “The checkpoint, the nearby police station were destroyed as well as some houses and dozens of cars. “A provincial hospital official confirmed the number of casualties. Many had suffered burn injuries.
Tunisian troops kill 10 militants
Tunisian troops have killed 10 Islamist militants around Ben Guerdan on the Libyan border after an Islamic State attack on Monday (Mar 7) that killed at least 55 people.
In military raids late on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning around the town, one soldier was also killed.
Two of the militants were killed after being tracked to a construction site, the defence and interior ministries said.
UN accuses Sudan forces of campaign of rape, killing
South Sudan’s government operated a “scorched earth policy” of deliberate rape, pillage and killing of civilians during the civil war in 2015, a report published on Friday by the UN human rights office said on Mar 10.
“The report contains harrowing accounts of civilians suspected of supporting the opposition, including children and the disabled, killed by being burned alive, suffocated in containers, shot, hanged from trees or cut to pieces,” the UN human rights office said in a statement.
The prevalence of rape “suggests its use in the conflict has become an acceptable practice by government SPLA soldiers and affiliated armed militias,” the report said.
Groups allied to the government were allowed to rape women in lieu of wages, it said. Between April and September 2015, the UN investigation recorded more than 1,300 reports of rapes in South Sudan’s Unity State alone. In one incident soldiers argued over whether or not to rape a 6-year-old girl and ended up shooting her.
Even women inside UN protected camps were at risk when they went out to collect food or firewood.
UN human rights chief Zeid Ra`ad Al Hussein said the number of rapes described in the report must only be a “snapshot of the real total”, but the massive use as an instrument of war and terror had largely been off the international radar.
“The scale and types of sexual violence – primarily by Government SPLA forces and affiliated militia – are described in searing, devastating detail, as is the almost casual, yet calculated, attitude of those slaughtering civilians and destroying property and livelihoods,” he said in a statement.
Four on death row in Saudi Arabia for terrorism
Death sentences against four Saudi men convicted of terrorism have been confirmed by 13 judges, a Saudi newspaper reported, raising the possibility of a new round of executions two months after 47 people including a prominent Shia cleric were put to death.
International rights groups said the families of three young Shia men feared their sons, arrested for involvement in anti-government protests while under the age of 18, were among those facing the death penalty. One is a nephew of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the cleric whose execution in January led to a rupture of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Officials from the Saudi justice ministry and the interior ministry were not immediately available to comment.
Saudi newspaper Okaz said: “The four terrorists awaiting the implementation of the death sentences complement the first group of 47.” It said a total of 13 judges had considered the cases in three levels of hearings, but did not identify the four men.
Rights group Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty, said: “While details of the four in line for execution remain unclear, the reports will raise fears for three juveniles who are awaiting execution after their sentences …were upheld in the SCC (Specialised Criminal Court) last year. The three are Dawoud al-Marhoon, arrested in 2012; Abdullah Hassan al-Zaher, who was 15 when he was arrested in 2011; and Ali al-Nimr, aged 17 when he was detained in 2012. France has called on Saudi Arabia not to execute Nimr, arguing he was a minor at the time.
Amnesty International said: “If these executions go ahead, Saudi Arabia will demonstrate its utter disdain for international law, which prohibits executions of people for crimes committed under the age of 18.”
Turkish airstrikes in Iraq kill 67 PKK militants
Turkey’s army said on March 12 it killed 67 Kurdish militants in air strikes on camps and ammunition storage sites in neighbouring northern Iraq. Jets targeted sites at Qandil, Metina, Avasin, Haftanin and Basyan used by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, the armed forces said. Separately, a bomb blast blamed on PKK militants hit an armoured police vehicle near Turkey’s border with Iraq on Friday, Turkish officials said.
Two special force police officers were injured in the explosion on a road in Hakkari province’s Yuksekova district, they added.
A ceasefire between the PKK and the state collapsed in July and attacks on Turkey’s security forces have increased amid a surge in violence in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, killing hundreds of people.
The Turkish Air Force has been conducting strikes on PKK sites in northern Iraq since July when peace efforts between the government and the rebels collapsed. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.
The group says it is fighting for greater autonomy and rights for the country’s largest ethnic minority.
34 killed in Ankara blast
A deadly car bomb blast killed 34 people in the heart of the Turkish capital Ankara on March 13 and wounded 125 more, the governor’s office said, less than a month after a similar attack killed 29 people just blocks away.
Video footage showed burning debris showering down on what appeared to be the entrance to an underpass. The blast could be heard 2.5km away and a large cloud of smoke could be seen rising over the city centre.
A senior security official said that the blast appeared to have been caused by a suicide car bomb. A second security official said gunfire was heard after the blast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The area, close to a courthouse and the Justice and Interior ministries, was crowded when the explosion happened at 6:43 pm, state broadcaster TRT said. TRT said a vehicle had exploded at a major transport hub, hitting a bus carrying some 20 people near the central Guven Park and Kizilay Square.
The government has said the previous car bombing in Ankara on February 17 was carried out by Kurdish militants. That attack struck near Turkey’s military headquarters, parliament and other key government institutions. Meanwhile, initial findings suggest the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or an affiliated group was responsible for a car bombing in Ankara on Sunday, a security official said.
Putin orders withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 14 he was instructing his armed forces to start pulling out of Syria, over five months after he ordered the launch of a military operation that shored up his ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Putin, at a meeting in the Kremlin with his defence and foreign ministers, said Russian military forces in Syria had largely fulfilled their objectives and ordered an intensification of Russia’s diplomatic efforts to broker a peace deal in the country.
But the Russian leader signalled Moscow would keep a military presence: he did not give a deadline for the completion of the withdrawal and said Russian forces would stay on at the port of Tartous and at the Hmeymim airbase in Syria’s Latakia province.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had telephoned Assad to inform him of the Russian decision.
The move was announced on the day the United Nations-brokered talks between the warring sides in Syria resumed in Geneva. “The effective work of our military created the conditions for the start of the peace process,” Putin said. “I am therefore ordering the defence minister, from tomorrow, to start the withdrawal of the main part of our military contingent from the Syrian Arab Republic”.
Thai PM boosts security in Muslim South after attacks
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told the army on March 14 to increase security in the country’s Muslim-majority southern provinces following attacks at the weekend.
Seven soldiers were injured following multiple gun and bomb attacks in Narathiwat, one of three provinces near the Thailand-Malaysia border, including a gunfight in a hospital.
The three southernmost provinces of Buddhist-majority Thailand have been gripped by a bloody insurgency that has killed more than 6,500 people since 2004. The region was once part of a Malay sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand a century ago.
Local history and a failure by successive governments to quell the violence have fanned distrust of the Thai state in the south. The order by Prayuth, who came to power after a couple in May 2014, follows what government and non-governmental agencies said was a sharp drop in the number of attacks in the south.
Deep South Watch, which monitors the violence, said there was a 16 percent drop in violent incidents in 2015 compared to 2014. The latest attack began on Sunday, when gunmen opened fire on police at a train station in Cho-airong district in Narathiwat.
Shortly after, a group of around 30 insurgents fired grenades into a nearby military base before fleeing to a hospital, said Colonel Yutthanam Petchmuang, a spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command. There they briefly took a 29-year-old pregnant nurse hostage and exchanged gunfire with security forces.
Police kill gunman in Brusels siege linked to Paris attacks
Belgian police killed a gunman on Mar 15 in a raid on a Brussels apartment linked to militants involved in November’s Paris attacks, and two others were on the run, state broadcaster RTBF reported. Belgium’s federal prosecutor said earlier one or more suspects had barricaded themselves into an apartment after police had come under heavy weapon fire through a door when carrying out the raid. Belgian media said four police officers were wounded.
Belgian daily DH said one suspect was shot dead after being spotted from a police helicopter in a nearby garden. Phone calls made by Reuters seeking comment from police and prosecutors were not answered.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said French police took part in the raid in the Belgian capital. Streets around the house in a southern section of the city were sealed off by police.
Reuter’s journalists heard gunshots as police commandos crowded into the street where the raid unfolded. Investigators believe much of the planning and preparation for the Nov 13 bombing and shooting rampage in Paris that killed 130 people were carried out by young French and Belgian nationals, some of whom fought in Syria for Islamic State. The area around the raid, near a car factory and a major north-south railway linking Paris and Amsterdam, was sealed off, and a police helicopter buzzed overhead.
Police told residents to stay indoors and schools and kindergartens close to the scene of the shootings were in lockdown, residents said. Belgian security forces have been actively hunting suspects and associates of the militants involved in the attacks in Paris.
Some of the attackers came from Brussels. One of the prime suspects, 26-year-old Brussels-based Frenchman Salah Abdeslam, is still on the run. He left Paris shortly after his brother blew himself up in the attacks. Belgian authorities are holding 10 people who have been arrested in the months since the attacks, mostly for helping Abdeslam.
Somali militants seize small port in Puntland Region
Somali al Shabaab fighters seized a small port in the semi-autonomous Puntland region on Mar 15, the latest sign of a resurgence in activity by the Islamist militants in the Horn of Africa nation. A series of offensives last year by the African Union force AMISOM and the Somali National Army had driven al Shabaab out of major strongholds in the southern region of Somalia.
At the time, officials said some al Shabaab fighters had moved north to the Puntland region, beyond AMISOM’s area of operation.
In recent weeks, al Shabaab has also retaken smaller towns and launched deadly attacks in the southern region.
The head of the local authority in the port town of Garad, Abdinur Abdullahi, told Reuters by telephone that al Shabaab with foreign fighters had met local elders, saying they would “capture many places and fight non-Muslims.”
“Most of the residents have fled,” he said, adding al Shabaab had been building up forces in the Galgala Hills, echoing comments previously made by officials in Puntland.
There was not immediate comment from al Shabaab.
Garad is a former haven for pirates, who had used the natural port to mount raids on commercial ships passing along nearby shipping lanes leading to and from the Red Sea.
Suicide bombing kills five in Istanbul
A suicide bomber killed himself and four others in a central Istanbul shopping and tourism district on Saturday, Mar 19 wounding at least 36 people in the fourth such attack in Turkey this year. The blast sent panicked shoppers scurrying into side alleys off Istiklal Street, a long pedestrian avenue lined with international stores and foreign consulates, a few hundred metres from where police buses are often stationed.
The attack will raise further questions about Nato member Turkey’s ability to protect itself against a spillover of violence from the war in neighbouring Syria. Turkey faces threats from Kurdish militants, whose insurgency has spread from the largely Kurdish southeast and who Ankara sees as closely linked to a Kurdish militia in Syria, and from Islamic State fighters, who have also recently targeted it.
Germany shut down its diplomatic missions and schools on Thursday, citing a specific threat. Meanwhile, US and other European embassies had warned their citizens to be vigilant ahead of Nawroz celebrations this weekend, a spring festival largely marked by Kurds which has turned violent in the past.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which two senior officials said could have been carried out by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fighting for Kurdish autonomy in the southeast, or by an Islamic State militant. Both groups have targeted Turkey in recent months.
A PKK offshoot claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in the capital Ankara over the past month, which killed a total of 66 people. And Islamic State was blamed for a suicide bombing in Istanbul in January which killed at least 12 German tourists.
Saturday’s blast came as Turkey is still in shock from a suicide car bombing on Sunday at a crowded transport hub in the capital Ankara which killed 37 people. A similar bombing in Ankara last month killed 29. An offshoot of the PKK claimed responsibility for both bombings.
Defiant N. Korea fires ballistic missile into sea
North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile which flew about 800-km before hitting the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s military said on Friday, Mar 18 as the isolated state stepped up its defiance of tough new UN and US sanctions.
A US official told Reuters in Washington it appeared to be a medium-range missile fired from a road-mobile launcher. That would mark North Korea’s first test of a medium-range missile, capable of reaching Japan, since 2014. The missile, launched from north of the capital, Pyongyang, flew across the peninsula and into the sea off the east coast early Friday morning, South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
It appeared the North may have fired a second missile soon after from the same region, with a projectile disappearing from radar at an altitude of about 17 km, the statement said.
South Korea did not confirm the type of the missiles. But 800 km was likely beyond the range of most short-range missiles in North Korea’s arsenal. The North’s Rodong missile has an estimated maximum range of 1,300 km, according to the South’s defence ministry.
Friday’s launch quickly provoked a barrage of criticism and appeals. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang urged North Korea to abide by UN resolutions and not do anything to exacerbate tensions.
The US State Department in a statement urged North Korea to focus on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.
North Korea often fires missiles during periods of tension on the Korean peninsula or when it comes under pressure to curb its defiance and abandon its weapons programmes.
Turkish military strikes PKK in northern Iraq, kills 24 militants
Turkish warplanes struck Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq and killed 24 PKK fighters in southeast Turkey on Thursday, Mar 22, the army said, as the militants launched a car bomb attack on a military installation in the region.
The bombing killed three security force members and wounded 24 at a security outpost near the southeast’s largest city of Diyarbakir, the military said in a separate statement on Friday, confirming a report from security sources.
A Reuters witness said the installation suffered severe damage in the blast on the highway between Diyarbakir and the town of Lice. Security forces imposed tight security in the area and erected screens to conceal the site.
The army says more than a thousand insurgents have been killed in the largely Kurdish southeast since a 2-1/2-year-old PKK ceasefire collapsed in July, triggering the heaviest clashes in the region since the 1990s.
In the latest in a series of air strikes in northern Iraq, Turkish F-16 and F-4 jets destroyed PKK ammunition depots and shelters in the Avasin and Basyan areas on Thursday afternoon, the military said.
Security forces also killed 24 PKK fighters on Thursday in the towns of Nusaybin, Sirnak and Yuksekova in southeast Turkey, near the borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, it said.
35 killed as terror bombings rock Brussels
A series of explosions ripped through Brussels airport and a metro train on Tuesday, Mar 22 killing around 35 people and injuring more than 200 in the latest attacks to rock Europe. Security was tightened across the jittery continent and also in America and transport links paralysed after the bombings that Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel branded as violent and cowardly.
The bloodshed came just four days after the dramatic arrest in Brussels of Salah Abdeslam, the prime suspect in the Paris terror attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, after four months on the run.
Belgian authorities had been on alert after Abdeslam, Europe’s most wanted man, told investigators he had been planning an attack on Brussels. Two blasts shattered the main hall of Zaventem Airport at around 8:00am (07:00 GMT) with prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw saying there was probably at least one suicide bomber. A third hit a train at Maalbeek metro station in the heart of the city’s EU quarter just as commuters were making their way to work in rush hour.
The bombings triggered a transport shutdown with flights halted and metro tram and bus services all suspended. Airports across Europe swiftly announced they were boosting security including in London, Paris and Frankfurt. Across the Atlantic, New York and Washington ordered extra counter terror officers to crowded areas and train stations.
Interior Minister Jan Jambon announced that Belgium’s terror threat had been raised from three to a maximum of four and the country’s national security council was due to meet. And after rumours of arrests and searches, authorities told media to halt all reporting on the investigation into the bombings so as not to harm the inquiry.
Strikes kill 50 at al-Qaeda camp in Yemen
At least 50 militants were killed in a US air strike on an al-Qaeda training camp in the mountains of southern Yemen, medics and a local official said on Wednesday, Mar 23. The attack took place as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) recruits queued for dinner at the camp, west of the port city of Mukalla on Yemen’s south coast.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday that a US air strike on an AQAP training camp had killed dozens of fighters but it gave no further details.
The Yemeni sources said that at least 50 people were killed and 30 wounded. The air strikes set off huge fires inside the camp, residents said. Yemeni residents had earlier said the attack on the base was carried out by war planes from a Saudi-led coalition which over the past year had been trying to stop the Iran-allied Houthi group from completing its takeover of the country.
IS financier, senior leaders likely killed in US raid in Syria
Islamic State’s top finance officer and other senior leaders were likely killed this week in a major offensive targeting the militant group’s financial operation, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday, Mar 23. He said the United States believes it killed Haji Iman, a senior Islamic State leader in charge of the group’s finances as well as some plots and external affairs.
Earlier media reports said Haji Iman, who also went by Abd ar-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli and other aliases, had been killed in a US air strike in Syria, but Pentagon officials gave few details of the operation.
The operations came as US officials said they were helping Iraqis prepare for a major operation in Mosul to take back territory from the militant group, which aims to establish a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
US Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon expects increased capabilities will be provided to Iraqis in preparation for Mosul operations in the coming months.
At the same briefing, the Pentagon leadership appeared to contradict previous comments about a new US marine base in Iraq and indicated that it anticipated a wave of US escalation of the war this spring.
The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Marine General Joseph Dunford, said that marines at Fire Base Bell near Makhmour in northern Iraq had provided artillery fires for the forward advance of Iraqi forces as they prepare for a pivotal fight to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second city, from ISIS.
Suicide bomber detained in Cameroon says she’s one of the Chibok girls
A suspected suicide bomber intercepted in northern Cameroon on Friday, Mar 25 before she could blow herself up claimed to be one of 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in the Nigerian town of Chibok in 2014, military and local government sources said.
Two girls carrying explosives were stopped by local self-defence forces in the village of Limani, in an area of northern Cameroon that has been the target of frequent suicide bombings in recent months.
They were then handed over to Cameroonian soldiers belonging to a multi-national force set up to take on Boko Haram.
In a high-profile attack that sparked a global outcry, Boko Haram militants raided the school in April 2014 while the girls were taking exams. They loaded 270 of them onto trucks, though around 50 escaped shortly afterwards.
“She is around 15. We are now verifying, because on the Nigerian side they have the names and photos of these girls,” said local government administrator Raymond Roksdo. Two military sources, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the press, also confirmed that the girl had claimed to have been one of the Chibok abductees.
Current Threat Levels
City/Region Threat Level
Islamabad Level 2 **
Karachi Level 2 **
Lahore Level 2 **
Punjab Level 2 **
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Level 3 **
Peshawar Level 2 **
Quetta Level 2 ***
Upper Balochistan Level 3 ***
Lower Balochistan Level 2 **
Upper / Rural Sindh Level 2 **
Gilgit and Northern areas Level 3 **
Tribal areas, close
to Afghan border Level 3 ***
Index to Threat Level References
Threat Level 1 *
No threat to foreigners although there may be isolated incidents involving petty crime. No security precautions are required.
Threat Level 2 **
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.
