Terrorist Activities in Pakistan
Suicide bombings
At least 12 people, including three Policemen, were injured in suicide bombing near the City Police Station in Mardan District on May 30, reports Daily Times. According to Mardan Regional Police Officer (RPO) Tahir Khan, the bomber was about to target a Police vehicle standing outside the City Police Station at the District Courts Square when two Policemen signaled him to stop. The bomber opened fire on the Policemen, said the official. He said that Policemen returned the fire, which prompted the bomber to explode his suicide vest.
Bomb/IED Blasts
Two Security Force (SF) personnel were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Awaran District in Balochistan on May 28, reports Dawn. Official sources said that personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) were checking the Jhaho area in the district to clear it of landmines when an IED exploded near an FC vehicle. Following the blast, armed men opened fire, they added. A spokesman for the FC also confirmed firing after the blast. The sources said that the FC men were the target of the IED, which was exploded by a remote control.
At least three people, including a Chinese national, identified as Finche, were injured in a remote-controlled bomb blast near Steel Town in Gulshan-e-Hadeed area of Bin Qasim Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh on May 30, reports The Nation. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar said that a pamphlet written in Sindhi and bearing the name of a group called ‘Sindhudesh Revolutionary Party’ was recovered from the site of the blast, adds Dawn. The pamphlet read [Translation]: “We consider China, rising as a global power, to be an ally of Pakistan, and also consider it an accomplice of the Punjabi Establishment in making Sindh slave to loot its resources, and therefore we accept the responsibility of bomb attack on Chinese in Gulshan-e-Hadeed.”
Two soldiers embraced martyrdom and three others injured in two different incidents of bomb blasts triggered through remote-controlled devices in Mohmand Agency on May 31, reports Pakistan Today. The first incident occurred at Baizai area close to Pak-Afghan border, the IED planted close to a check post exploded, martyring two soldiers of Frontier Corps (FC). The forces cordoned off the entire area and started combing operation to nab the culprits. In another incident, three soldiers sustained minor wounds as the vehicle of FWO hit a planted IED on Peshawar-Ghalani road in Mohmand Agency.
Two security guards of pro-government tribal elder Malik Ayaz Khan, identified as Amjad Khan and Siraj Khan, were killed while another, identified as Ibrahim Khan, was injured in an Improvised Explosives Device (IED) attack in Ziarat area of Safi tehsil (revenue unit) in Mohmand Agency of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on June 7, reports Dawn. Khan escaped the attack unhurt.
A Policeman was killed and 19 others, mostly security personnel, were injured in twin blasts in the Mathra area of Peshawar on May 18, reports The Daily Times. The Lady Reading Hospital received the body of Policeman Iftikhar (35). Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abdul Majid Marwat said that an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted on the roadside targeted a Police mobile van, leaving a Policeman and a passer-by injured. He said that another IED exploded when the bomb disposal squad reached the scene, injuring more than 15 people. The injured include 11 members of the bomb disposal squad, officials of the Counter Terrorism Department, Policemen and six civilians.
Two children, identified as Ejaz and Ayesha, were killed in a landmine explosion in Goth Eid Muhammad Bugti area of Sohbatpur District on June 17, reports The Express Tribune.
A Police Sub-Inspector was killed and six other Policemen were injured, in a bomb blast inside a Police Station in Nothal area of Nasirabad District on July 23, reports Dawn.
At least three people were killed and 32 others were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack on the Airport Road in Quetta on June 24, reports Daily Times. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.
Targetted Killings
Two Shias, identified as Malik Asim and Ameer Haider, were killed and another, identified as Hassan, sustained injured when unidentified armed assailants opened fire at them in Jaffar Tayyar Society of Malir Town in Karachi on May 27, reports Geo News. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) East Dr. Kamran Faisal said, “The murder took place using a 9 mm pistol. It seems like a target killing.” Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) spokesperson claimed that Asim was their worker.
Separately, an unidentified man was shot dead in Mujahid Colony of Orangi Town on May 27, reports Geo News.
In another incident, a man, identified as Aqeel (22), was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in Landhi Town on May 27, reports Geo News.
Bullet-riddled bodies of two more government employees, who had been abducted along with their three colleagues two weeks back from the Dashat area of Kech District, were found in the mountainous Saijee area on May 28, reports Dawn. Official sources in Gwadar said that the SFs found the bodies and shifted them to a Turbat hospital. The victims were identified as Fida Ahmed and Muhammad Ibrahim. Hospital sources said that they were shot in the head and chest.
A Police Sub Inspector (SI), identified as Mukhtihar Mulgani, was shot dead on Sabzal Road in provincial capital Quetta on June 1, reports The Express Tribune. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.
A man was killed and six others were injured during a clash between two rival gangs in Landhi Town of Karachi on June 2, reports The Nation.
Unidentified armed assailants shot dead a retired non-commissioned officer of Pakistan Army, identified as Raj Wali, in the limits of Faqirabad Police Station in Peshawar on June 2, reports Dawn.
Three people, including manager of a wine shop, an employee and a security guard, were killed in a targeted attack on Abul Hassan Ispahani Road in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town of Karachi on June 5, reports The News. The dead were identified as Tara Chand (manager/40), and two Hera Lal (employee/35), and Shahid Khan (security guard/30). According to Police, Tara Chand had recently received an extortion letter demanding PKR 2.5 million.
Separately, an unidentified rickshaw driver was shot dead near the Enquiry Office situated in Nazimabad No. 2 in North Nazimabad Town on June 5, reports The News.
Elsewhere, a decomposed dead body of a man, identified as that of Muhammad Waris (35), was found in a water drain opposite the Urdu University in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town on June 5, reports The News. The body was at least three days old and had three bullet wounds while there were some torture marks on the body too.
Two workers were killed and other two were injured when unidentified armed assailants opened fire at them while they were working at Manjho Shori Police Station in Nasirabad District on June 7, reports Daily Times.
Separately, the principal of University Law College Quetta, identified as Barrister Amanullah Achakzai, was shot dead by unidentified militants on Spiny Road in Quetta on June 8, reports The Express Tribune.
A senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) worker, identified as Sohail Rasheed (30), was shot dead near his home in Naeemabad in Korangi Town of Karachi on June 19, reports Dawn. MQM spokesperson Amin-ul-Haq described it as a ‘targeted killing’ of the worker and said that the victim was a joint unit-in-charge in Union Council-29.
Separately, one person, identified as Zahid (21), was shot dead near Al-Noor Masjid in Yousuf Goth area of Saeedabad in Baldia Town on June 19, reports The News.
A homeopathic Ahmadi doctor, identified as Dr. Chaudhry Abdul Khaleeq (50), was shot dead in his clinic in the Abul Hassan Ispahani area of Sikander Goth in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town of Karachi on June 20, reports Dawn. Malir Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar confirmed the incident.
A Police constable, identified as Gulzar, was shot dead by unidentified assailants near Maqsoodabad within the jurisdiction of Khazana Police Station on the outskirts of Peshawar on June 19, reports The Express Tribune. Police suspected it was an act of targeted killing since Gulzar. Gulzar was an ex-serviceman hired by the Police in 2008 at Khazana Police Station on a contract basis following his retirement.
A Civil Secretariat officer, identified as Nawab Safi (34), was shot dead by unidentified militants in a target killing incident while he was coming out of the mosque after Maghrib (evening) prayers in Yakatoot area of Peshawar on June 22, reports The News. He was the officer of the Provincial Management Service and was presently serving as Section Officer in the Establishment Department.
Three dead bodies identified as that of Inayatullah, Abdul Waheed and Mohammad Aslam, were recovered from Dasht area of Balnigore in Kech District on June 24, reports Dawn.
Another unidentified dead body was recovered from Cheetkan area of Panjgur District on June 24, reports Dawn. they said. Some sources alleged that the bodies were of the men who had surrendered themselves to the authorities after denouncing militancy a few months ago. They said the militants had kidnapped them about two months ago and now their bodies had been found.
Miscellaneous
The bodies of two missing Government officials were found in Turbat District on May 26, reports Daily Times. Five officials of the Irrigation and Communication Department were abducted by unidentified militants in Dasht area of Turbat on May 21, 2016. Three dead bodies have been recovered during a search operation while two other officials are still missing.
Four suspected Afghan terrorists were killed in a clash with Security Forces (SFs) on May 27 in Khwezai tehsil (revenue unit) of Mohmand Agency in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), reports Dawn. “Terrorists attacked a security check post in Khwezai area, which borders Afghanistan,” said a security official. The security official added all four terrorists were killed in retaliatory action by SFs.
Three terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation by Rangers in Manghopir area of Gadap Town in Karachi on May 27, reports The News. According to details, the suspects were reportedly preparing for terrorist attacks in Karachi and had completed reconnaissance to target Rangers and police locations. The terrorists resorted to firing from their hideout. In retaliatory fire, three suspects were killed. One suicide jacket, a huge amount of ball bearings, explosive material and detonators were found at the hideout.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 27 arrested two alleged terrorists belonging to Afghanistan from Tehkal area of Peshawar who were projecting a terrorist organisation in the city and are suspected to have been planted by a foreign intelligence agency, reports The News. The source said the two terrorists had obtained Pakistani computerised national identity cards. The two were living in the area since long and used to distribute literature and videos of a banned militant organisation.
Four suspected militants were killed and two Police personnel sustained injuries in a gun battle between Security Forces (SFs) and the militants on Quetta-Mastung road in New Sariab area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, in the evening of June 3, reports Daily Times. The Police sources said that Police personnel signalled to a motorcycle to stop on Quetta-Mastung road near Sheikh Zaid Hospital in New Sariab area of the provincial capital who opened fire at the police van, leaving two personnel injured. The police and other law enforcement agencies chased the armed men and found them in an orchard, where a gun battle took place between the armed men and the law enforcement personnel, the police officials said. The exchange of fire resulted in killing of four militants while two of their accomplices managed to flee the scene.
Unidentified gunmen killed a 65-year-old Ahmadi man in Darul Islam of Attock District in Punjab Province on June 4, reports Daily Times. The deceased Abdul Hameed Khan, a retired accountant was standing outside his house when two unidentified motorcyclists shot him in his face. Police said that Hameed belonged to the Ahmadi community and was running a pharmacy in the area after his retirement.
A local commander of Islamic State (IS, also known as Daesh) was killed in an alleged Police encounter near Nowshehra town in the evening of June 6, reports The News. According to Police, during the encounter a terrorist affiliated to Daesh was killed while three others managed to flee. A suicide vest and two kilogrammes explosives were seized from the possession of the militant.
The local administration along with Haleemzai tribal elders demolished over 12 houses of suspected militants during a search operation in Haleemzai tehsil (revenue unit) of Mohmand Agency on June 8, reports Pakistan Observer. According to details, the houses of wanted militants Aman, Aziz, Yasir, Ziarat Shah, Adil Bacha, Adnan, Munsif, Yaseen, Ameen Taj and Pir Zada and Mian Shakir were demolished. The demolition operation was conducted Mian Gan, Shanikhel, Sami khel, Khwa-jawas and Durbakhel areas of the Agency. An official of the political administration said that they conducted the operation with the help of tribal elders of Haleemzai. They demolished houses of suspected militants with explosive materials.
Two Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, identified as or Wali alias Talha and Noor Khan, were arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Police in a raid in Orangi Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh on June 10, reports The News. The accused were shifted to their headquarters for investigation during which it was revealed that the arrested men were affiliated with the TTP’s Khan Saeed Sajna and Baitullah Mehsud groups.
According to CTD, Noor Khan was the mastermind of money exchange robbery that took place in 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Airport Police Station. The militants had looted about PKR 10.5 million that was later used to fund terrorist activities. Whereas Noor Wali belonged to the Khan Saeed Sajna Group of the TTP and was operating a network of militants in Miranshah town of North Waziristan Agency in federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
One suspected militant was killed when he blew himself up during an exchange of fire with Security Forces (SFs) in Kakhao area of Zhob District on June 11, reports Dawn. SFs also arrested two militants during the operation. The spokesperson for Frontier Corps (FC), Khan Wasey said that a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the possession of militants, adding that they were planning a major terror activity in the area.
Unidentified militants abducted two coalminers, identified as Muhammad Imran and Bakht Nabi, in Killi Juma Khan near Mach area of Bolan District on June 13, reports Daily Times.
Separately, six facilitators of a militant outfit surrendered themselves to the Frontier Corps (FC) at a ceremony in Nushki District on June 13, reports Dawn. They used to help militants carry out subversive and anti-peace activities in different parts of the province, a spokesman for the FC said.
District West Police seized a huge cache of weapons and explosive material during a raid on a hideout of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in the Manghopir area of Gadap Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh on June 13, reports The News. Senior Superintendent of Police Pir Mohammed Shah said the raid followed a tip-off that TTP militants were present in their hideouts on the outskirts of District West. A Police team led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Syed Ali Asif swooped on the hideout of Ahsanullah Mehsud, ‘commander’ of the TTP in Mir Mohammed Goth. However, the suspects managed to escape from the place, leaving behind a haul of weapons.
Five militants were killed in an operation in Mashkay area of Awaran District on June 19, reports Dawn. Security Forces claim to have recovered a sizeable amount of arms and ammunition from their possession. Forces also recovered anti-state literature and laptops from their safe haven.
Three Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants were shot dead during a raid in Malir Town of Karachi on June 24, reports The News. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar of District Malir said that on seeing the Police approaching, the terrorists opened fire. The Police retaliated and after a brief encounter arrested three suspects in an injured condition. Later, three of the suspects succumbed to their injuries. A Kalashnikov and two pistols were recovered from their possession. SSP Anwar said one terrorist was identified as Iqbal Swati. They were wanted in a number of cases of target killings and kidnappings-for-ransom.
PAKISTAN
Terror attack on shrine foiled in Punjab
Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Police on May 26 claimed to have foiled a terror attack on a shrine in Bahawalnagar District and arrested three alleged Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) terrorists, reports Dawn. A CTD spokesman said that the suspects were identified as Muhammad Asif of Khushab District, Muhammad Jamil of Lahore and Muhammad Sadiq of Toba Tek Singh District. He said the police team also recovered three IEDs, arms and ammunition and the shrine was saved from destruction with the help of bomb disposal squad.
In another raid, an alleged terrorist of banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) was arrested from Faisalabad District on May 26, reports Dawn. The CTD spokesman said that after receiving information, a CTD team raided PSO pump near Roshanwali Jhal at Sumundari Road and arrested suspect Shakeel Ahmad Khan. He said police team also recovered 575 grams explosives, 9 feet 6 inches prima cord and 8 electric circuit, detonators from him.
Banned outfits still recruiting Jihadis, reveals NAP official report
The National Action Plan (NAP) informed the security intuitions that banned outfits are still recruiting jihadis who have become a serious internal security threat to Pakistan, reports The News on May 28. “Major banned outfits are still recruiting the students of madrassas to wage Jihad in the Indian-Held Kashmir and Afghanistan. Such non-state actors have become very dangerous for Pakistan,” senior security officials dealing with counter-terrorism warned the Government in a confidential document titled “Proscribed/Jihadi Organizations”. In the secret document, consisting of 111 pages, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Punjab, revealed that 32 proscribed organizations with nine splinters groups have now become “a nursery of terrorism in Pakistan.”
Banned organizations like Islamic State (Daesh) and Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) are also gaining ground by establishing a special wing in the country where their ‘commanders’ are recruiting militants, reveals the document. Adjacent areas of Bahawalpur, Muridke, Sialkot and some southern Districts of Punjab have now become a breeding ground for these banned outfits, it further revealed.
Three al Qaeda terrorists killed in Karachi
Police killed three al Qaeda terrorists in an exchange of fire after raiding their hideout in Gulshan-e-Buner area of Landhi Town in Karachi on May 29, reports The Express Tribune. According to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Malir Rao Anwar, the suspects were involved in attack on Police officials and Security Forces. One of the militants was identified as Riaz Raju, who was wanted over the killing of policemen and murders of Shia Muslims in Karachi, Anwar said. “A huge cache of explosives, suicide jackets, arms and ammunition were recovered from possession of the terrorists,” he added.
Separately, Sukkur Police on May 29 claimed to have arrested two trained facilitators of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, identified as Abdul Jabbar Soomro and Ajmal Awan, and seized hand grenades, suicide jackets and other material from their possession during an operation in the Kutcha area of Bagarji in Sukkur District, reports Dawn. Sukkur SSP Amjad Shaikh said that four hand grenades and material for preparing suicide jackets were seized from their possession.
Violence will surge under Haibatullah Akhundzada, warns JUI chief Samiul Haq
The chief of Jama’at Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) Maulana Samiul Haq said after a Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC) meeting in Islamabad on May 30, “Those who think that Haibatullah [Akhundzada, the new Afghan Taliban leader] is a mere cleric and a seminary preacher will soon bear witness to his skill as a militant commander,” reports Dawn. He further said that the United States (US) was to blame for this. “It was America that resorted to violence again the assassination of Mullah Mansour is nothing short of murder,” he added. “The martyrdom of Mullah Mansour will eventually help unite all the Taliban, since everybody will realize that talking peace with the US is futile,” Haq added.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 31 conducted an operation in the Chaubara area of Layyah District in Punjab and killed six alleged terrorists, reports The News. As per details, CTD Multan raided the Chaubara area and were involved in an alleged battle with terrorists. In the exchange of fire, six suspected terrorists were killed by the CTD officials. Two pistols, two rifles and two hand grenades were confiscated from the slain terrorists.
Slain Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s chief’s facilitator arrested in Balochistan
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on June 2 arrested a retired Deputy Superintendent of District Collector’s (DC) office Killa Abdullah, identified as Sher Ali, who allegedly certified the local certificate for slain Afghan Taliban leader Mulla Akhtar Mansour under the fake identity of Wali Muhammad, reports The Express Tribune. Ali was arrested from his home in Khanozai area of the Pishin District. “We have initiated an investigation into the issuance of the certificate,” an FIA official said. Around four government officials have been arrested for issuing the Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), passport and local certificate to Mullah Mansoor. The former Deputy Commissioner of the Pishin District, Hafeez Tahir, is also under investigation by FIA authorities
Number of terrorist attacks fell in 2015, Pakistan in top Five, says U.S. State Department
The U.S. State Department said on June 2 that the number of terrorist attacks around the world declined last year for the first time since 2012, and that such attacks were becoming more decentralised and diffuse, reports The News. Terrorist attacks fell by 13 percent compared with 2014, while fatalities caused by terrorist activity declined by 14 percent, the agency said in its report on global terrorism, which tracks trends in political violence. The State Department’s acting coordinator for counterterrorism, Justin Siberell, said the drop was due to fewer attacks in Iraq, Pakistan and Nigeria.
More than 55 percent of attacks attributed to terrorists last year occurred in five countries: Iraq, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and Nigeria, he said. Terrorist attacks and deaths increased in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, Syria and Turkey, according to Siberell. “The global terrorist threat continued to evolve rapidly in 2015, becoming increasingly decentralized and diffuse,” the report said. “Although terrorist attacks took place in 92 countries in 2015, they were heavily concentrated geographically, as they have been for the past several years.” Data compiled by the University of Maryland for the State Department showed there were 11,774 terrorist attacks worldwide during the year, in which more than 28,300 people died and roughly 35,300 others were wounded.
Drone attack damaged Pakistan-US mutual trust
A high-level meeting between the civil and military leadership at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on June 7 expressed concern over the May 21 US drone strike, saying it was a clear violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty affecting mutual trust, and undermined the spirit of the Afghan peace process under the mutually-agreed quadrilateral framework, reports The News. The meeting resolved to protect the core national interests and effectively counter any negative outside influence.
US is a ‘selfish friend’, says National Advisor to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz
National Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz while addressing a press conference at the Foreign Office in Islamabad on June 9 said that the United States (US) was a “selfish friend” that always curried favor with Pakistan when self-interest pressed it and left it in the lurch after having its interests served, reports The News. He said that the growing US-India proximity was a cause of worry for Pakistan. He said if the US could not bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan, why it was expecting Pakistan to do this difficult job within the shortest-possible time.
He termed the May 21, 2016 drone strike in Balochistan unfortunate, saying that the incident had damaged Pakistan’s relationship with the US. “The drone strike killing the Afghan Taliban leader Mulla Mansour has not only violated our sovereignty but also damaged the level of trust with the United States,” the Adviser said.
About the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US and his efforts for India’s inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Sartaj said the US tilt towards India would disturb the strategic balance in the region. “We have been constantly reminding the United States to be mindful of maintaining a security balance for peace in the region,” he added.
490 soldiers killed in line of duty, work still left to do in Zarb-i-Azb, says ISPR
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa said on June 15 that 490 soldiers of the Pakistan Army have died in the line of duty during Operation Zarb-i-Azb and work is still left to do – including improving the border management mechanism with Afghanistan as well as clearing restive pockets in areas of Swat, reports Dawn. The ISPR DG Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa was addressing a press conference on the two-year anniversary of Operation Zarb-i-Azb and presented major achievements of the operation so far – listing progress made on various fronts. Bajwa said some 3,600 square kilometres were cleared initially in the operation, which has gone up 4,304 sq. km in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and North Waziristan, adding that 992 hideouts have been destroyed thus far, with 253 tons of explosives seized. “There was recruitment going on in North Waziristan, suicide jackets were spreading throughout the country. That has been controlled. There are just the last few pockets remaining in the Shawal valley,” said Bajwa.
Further, ISPR DG Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa made it clear that Pakistan would not stop construction of a check-post at the Torkham border crossing, as it was 37 metres inside the Pakistani territory, reports Daily Times. Bajwa said that AFGHAN government’s objections to the check-post were totally unjustified. He said that ISAF and the Afghan Government were informed before the operation that terrorists might flee to Afghanistan, but they did not man the border to help the Pakistan Army catch or kill the fleeing terrorists. He said that Afghanistan could not take a stand on Torkham because it was in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan would never give up construction of the check-post at Torkham because it was its right.
DG ISPR says gang belonging to India busted
Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt. General Asim Saleem Bajwa has said that a gang had been busted a couple of days ago that belonged to India. While talking to a private news channel on Tuesday, June 21 he said that the gang was busted when its members were exchanging information. The captured gang was involved in carrying out terrorist activities and distributing cash in the country.
Bajwa said that the stance of Pakistan on the ongoing tension with Afghanistan was clear. He said our biggest issue is the 2,600-km-long insecure border with Afghanistan and whatever talks were being held were in the ambit of border management.
The DG ISPR said that two points had surfaced during talks at political leadership, Foreign Office and military level. The first point was to adopt regular mechanism at the crossing point and the second was checking of Afghan refugees and their respectable return. He said that intelligence agencies had been carrying out different actions for quite some time from the Afghan soil.
Sufi singer Amjad Sabri shot dead in Karachi
Amjad Sabri, one of Pakistan’s most well-known Sufi musicians, was gunned down Wednesday in Karachi. Sabri, 45, was the victim of what police are calling a targeted killing. Two assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on his car, firing 5 or 6 shots, according to Muqqadas Haider, a senior police official.
Sabri died of his injuries en route to the hospital, Haider told CNN. The singer was known for not having any political affiliations.
Amjad Sabri belonged to the renowned Sabri family, members of the Chishti Sufi order and the most famous Qawwali group in the country. They had performed internationally and were known for their renditions of mystical Islamic poetry. Qawwali is a form of passionate, devotional Sufi music, specifically from South Asia.
A faction of the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, citing the type of music Sabri performs as “blasphemous.”
The killing of Amjad Sabri, the family’s second-generation scion, prompted an outpouring of grief across the country. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif released a statement calling the killing a “terrorist attack” and lauding Sabri for his efforts in the “promotion of Qawwali in the country.”
REGIONAL
Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
Three suspected JMB cadres arrested in Assam
Three suspected Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) cadres, identified as Md Mohiruddin Sheikh, Md Mafidul Sheikh and Md Rojob Ali Patowary from Chirang District in lower Assam on May 26, reports The Telegraph. They were reportedly fresh recruits of a ‘jihadi’ module which has been trying to widen its operation in lower Assam, report said. A senior Police officer at Kajalgaon in Chirang said the three were part of a module that set up training camps in lower Assam. “The three persons were arrested during multiple raids at Aamguri and Daukhanagar last evening,” the official said. Mahiruddin participated in a physical training camp at Amguri while Mafidul and Rajab participated in a training camp in Daukhanagar. The three were on the run, he added.
The police have so far arrested 32 people from different parts of lower Assam in connection with the busting of the training camp at Daukhanagar in September 2015. The Police have a list of 36 people involved with this module.
Singapore Court charges six Bangladeshis with terror financing
A Singapore Court on May 27 charged six Bangladeshis with terror financing, over a month after they were arrested on the allegation of planning attacks back home to topple the Government, reports The Daily Star. The six men are Rahman Mizanur (31), Mamun Leakot Ali (29), Miah Rubel (26), Zaman Daulat (34), Mohamad Jabath Kysar Haje Norul Islam Sowdagar (30) and Sohel Hawlader Ismail Hawlader (29). Singapore authority said that they were members of a group called Islamic State in Bangladesh (ISB). Their goal was to set up an Islamic State back home and bring it under the self-declared caliphate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), authorities said.
Two JMB militants arrested in Rajshahi District
Two Jama’t-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (KMB) militants were arrested on May 30 in Rajshahi District, reports The Daily Star. Third year students of Crop Science and Technology, Abdul Gaffar and Mahbubur Rahman of Rajshahi University were arrested from their rooms in Shahid Habibur Rahman Hall. They confessed their involvement to the Police.
Terror incidents went up significantly in Bangladesh in 2015, says US Country Report on Terrorism
United States (US) Country Report on Terrorism released on June 2 said that terror incidents went up significantly in Bangladesh in 2015, reports The Daily Star. The report said “In 2015, Bangladesh experienced an increase in terrorist attacks against religious minorities and government installations and for the first time, transnational groups have claimed responsibility for these attacks. The government articulated a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy towards terrorism and remained committed to counterterrorism cooperation, but the country experienced a significant increase in violent extremist activity in 2015 compared to 2014.”
Counter-terrorism Police official’s wife killed in Chittagong District
Three suspected militants riding a motorbike stabbed and shot dead Mahmuda Khanam Mitu (30), the wife of an acclaimed counter-terrorism Police official, Babul Akhter in the Chittagong city of Chittagong District on June 5, reports New Age. Babul arrested several militants of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) including its Chittagong unit Commander Muhamad Javed in October 2015. No one so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
Christian grocer hacked to death in Natore District
Unidentified armed men on June 5 hacked to death Sunil Gomez (60), a Christian grocer in Baraigram sub-District of Natore District, reports The Daily Star. Police said that Sunil was alone in his shop. The assailants hacked him there, leaving him dead. There were hacking marks in his neck. Hours after the incident, Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the killing.
Three JMB militants killed in separate incidents of gunfights
Three militants of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh were killed in separate incidents of gunfights on June 7, reports Dhaka Tribune. In Dhaka city, Tarek Hossain Milu alias Osman and Sultan Mahmud alias Rana alias Kamal were killed in Mirpur’s Kalshi area during a gunfight with Police. Two Policemen were also injured. A pistol, bullets and hand grenades were recovered from their possessions. In Rajshahi District, Jamal Uddin was killed in a gunfight with the Police in Foradpur area of Godagari sub-District. Police recovered a 7.65mm pistol, a magazine and two bullets from the scene.
Hindu priest hacked to death in Jhenidah District
Ananda Gopal Ganguly (70), a Hindu priest was hacked to death while going to a temple in Jhenidah District, reports The Daily Star. Police said that three attackers on a motorbike intercepted Ananda, who was on a bicycle, in Sonakhali area near Mahishakundu smashan (cremation ground) and stabbed in the neck and his throat was slit. He died on the spot. Hours after the killing, Islamic State (IS) claimed “IS fighters in Bangladesh killed a Hindu priest in Jhenidah, in the west of the country.”
JMB militant killed in gunfight with Police in Gaibandha District
A militant of Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was killed in a gunfight with Police at Maloncha village in Gaibandha District on June 9, reports Dhaka Tribune. The identity of the deceased could not be known. Police recovered some local made weapons and bombs from the spot.
Hindu monastery volunteer hacked to death in Pabna District
Nityaranjan Pandey (60), a volunteer of a Hindu monastery was hacked to death in Pabna District on June 10, reports The Daily Star. Police said “Criminals hacked the victim in the neck, leaving him dead on the spot.” Pandey was a Sevak (Servant of God) at Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra Satsang Ashram.
According to a report of US-based SITE Intelligence Group, Islamic State (IS) on June 11 claimed responsibility for the killing, reports The Daily Star. “Amaq News Agency of the Islamic State reported that IS fighters in Bangladesh killed a Hindu man in the north-eastern district of Pabna,” SITE Intelligence said on its website.
PBCP ‘regional commander’ killed in gunfight with Police in Satkhira District
Mozaffar Sana (40), a ‘regional commander’ of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in a gunfight with Police in Tala sub-District of Satkhira District on June 10, reports The Daily Star. Police recovered a firearm and three bullets from the spot.
8000 people held countrywide
Bangladesh police said on Monday, June 13 they arrested more than 8,000 people in a nationwide crackdown launched after a wave of murders targeting minorities and secular activists. Authorities have come under mounting international pressure to end the attacks in which nearly 50 people have been killed over the last three years, many hacked to death with machetes.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed at the weekend to catch “each and every killer” and police spokesman Kamrul Ahsan said 3,245 suspects had been arrested, raising the total to 8,192 since Friday. Opposition parties have accused the government of using the crackdown to suppress political dissent.
Deputy inspector general of national police AKM Shahidur Rahman said most of those arrested were criminal suspects with existing warrants against them, rather than suspected militants. “Only a fraction of the people who have been arrested are members of Islamist militant groups,” he said.
The crackdown comes after five suspected Islamist militants were shot dead in gun battles with police in recent days. It is thought to have been triggered by the murder this month of Mahmuda Begum, wife of a top anti-terror police officer. The officer had led several high-profile operations against the banned group Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), members of which were among those arrested in the latest sweep.
JMB is one of two local groups blamed by the government for most of the recent killings. Authorities reject claims of responsibility by the Islamic State (IS) group and a South Asian branch of Al-Qaeda and say they have no presence in the country.
HuJI-B ‘operation commander’ arrested in Narayanganj District
Police arrested an ‘operation commander’ of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) at Noyadda area of Narayanganj District on June 13, reports Dhaka Tribune. The arrestee Ibrahim alias Khairul Bashar alias Bashar Hujur (40) played an important role in forming a new militant group called ‘Bangladesh Jihadi Group’ combining banned outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Hizb-ut-Tawhid, Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Allah’r dal, among other militant groups.
Hindu College teacher injured as militants attacked with machete in Madaripur District
Ripon Chakrabarty (45), a Hindu College teacher was critically injured as three suspected militants attacked him with machete at his house in Madaripur District on June 15, reports Dhaka Tribune. Ripon is a lecturer of Mathematics Department in Government Nazimuddin College. He was hacked on his head and neck. Locals caught one of the attackers named Ghulam Faizullah (25) while fleeing the scene and handed him over to Police.
Hemayet Bahini ‘ringleader’ killed in Jessore District
The ‘ringleader’ Hemayet Bahini, identified as Hemayet Hossain (38), was killed by unidentified armed assailants at Jessore Central Jail gate in Jessore District on June 20 soon after his release on bail, reports New Age. He was the alleged kingpin of Hemayet Bahini, a terror group named after his name. Police said Hemayet was released from jail on bail in a case filed under the Explosive Substances Act. As soon as he stepped out of the jail gate, three assailants shot Hemayet thrice. The attackers managed to flee the scene after the incident.
India – Internal Dynamics
12 injured in low intensity blast in Haryana
An explosion on a public bus on May 26 in Kurukshetra of Haryana, injuring 12 people was a terror attack, sources in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) said, reports NDTV. Around 40 people were on the bus when the low-intensity bomb exploded. “We are still verifying the nature of the bomb,” said senior Police officer Simardeep Singh. Experts from the National Investigating Agency (NIA), have visited the location where the bomb exploded. Sources said it is too early to shortlist terror groups who could be responsible for the attack. A 12-volt battery was recovered from the bag in which the bomb was hidden along with some clothes.
Three Bangladeshi officials arrested in Tripura
Tripura Police on May 23 arrested three Bangladeshi officials for allegedly entering India through an illegal route, Police said in Agartala on May 25, reports The Sentinel. “We have arrested three Bangladeshi officials aged between 28 and 38 years on Monday (May 23) for entering India through the unofficial route in Sonamura (in western Tripura). They hold diplomatic passports,” Sipahijala District Police chief Pradip De said. Later, an Indian youth was also arrested for helping the Bangladeshi officials enter India through the illegal route. The arrested persons were lodged in Sonamura jail and senior Police officials are interrogating them. Pradip De said the Bangladeshi officials told the Police that they intended to go to Turkey via New Delhi. Police are also verifying their passports. In March (2016), Police had arrested 58 Bangladeshi nationals, including women and children, in two phases after they entered Tripura illegally. Tripura shares an 856-km border with Bangladesh. However, most parts of the frontier are fenced, mountainous and riverine.
IS influence on Indians living abroad rising, says report
The Islamic State (IS) has successfully managed to radicalise and attract to its ranks several Indian-origin youth from the huge diaspora in West Asian countries, Indian security agencies have found, Asian Age reports on May 29. A top intelligence official told: “How many of Indian-origin youth have left from West Asia to join the ISIS we don’t know. We have some leads, but it is difficult to say anything conclusively now.” Already the number of Indians who have joined the IS has been revised from around 25 to about 40 now.
“What is worrying is that Indians living in West Asia are a soft target for the ISIS and easy to radicalise. These Indians have their extended families and friends here and may try to influence them… We are closely monitoring this aspect,” a senior NIA official said. The development comes even as one of the Indians in a 22-minute video released by the ISIS on May 19, purportedly from the Iraq-Syria region, has been identified as a 25-year-old Indian studying computer engineering in a college in Dallas, US. Originally from Andhra Pradesh, his family had migrated to Kuwait. After joining the IS, the engineering student assumed the name Abu Salman al-Hindi.
Digital Jihad on rise and cross border terror infiltration two biggest challenges for Government, says report
Digital jihad and cross-border infiltration of terrorists have been the two biggest challenges for the government in the last two years even though there has been no major strike in the hinterland, India Today reports on May 31. In the last two years, the Islamic State (IS) threat is making security officials anxious even though the government has downplayed it. But the security establishment is alarmed at the high rate of online indoctrination. In fact the government is trying to keep pace with the rapidly changing dynamics of IS that is making efforts to lure Indian youth. A recent video featuring Indians who joined the group and focusing on India has worried anti-terror officials. With no concrete mechanism to tackle this threat of youth getting swayed by terror handlers, who are radicalising them on the cyber space, is giving jitters to the security establishment. The government has put in place a countrywide counter-radicalisation strategy to ensure those brainwashed by IS ideology can be brought back to the mainstream. This approach has been successful and allowed intelligence agencies to approach the Muslim clergy and leaders to reach out to the community. “Knee-jerk arrests have been discouraged those crossing a certain threshold moving from being radicalised to actually planning terror acts are being taken in custody,” said an official.
Police constable shot dead by Maoists in Jharkhand
A Police constable of the special branch was allegedly abducted and shot dead by the Communist Party of India-Maoist in Gumla District on May 31, reports PTI. The Police constable, Badrinath Tiwari, was last night (May 31) taken away from his house in Malam village by the Maoists who later shot him dead, Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of Chainpur Police Station, Shyam Bihari Manjhi said. The incident occurred around 8 PM yesterday and the Maoists left a leaflet claiming responsibility, he said. The constable’s relatives said they were sitting near the house when the Maoists came and hit Tiwari on the head with the butt of the gun. The Maoists assaulted Tiwari’s relatives and locked them inside the house before abducting the constable. Tiwari hailed from Palamu’s Nenua village and was posted in Gumla as constable with Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP)-7.
JMB has moved from bombs to propaganda in West Bengal, states the NIA
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has been probing the October 2, 2014 Bardhaman blast says that the smaller modules of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) are now heavily engaging in propaganda instead of preparing bombs like they did earlier, oneindia.com reports on May 31. While the bomb making industries of the JMB have come to a halt due to an extensive crack down, investigators fear that smaller modules now may be engaging in a propaganda battle.
Enamul Mollah, a JMB operative, who was recently charge sheeted in the Bardhaman case according to the NIA is a highly radicalised youth. He is alleged to have set up small modules which would indulge in propaganda war. It has been happening on a smaller scale, but if these modules succeed, then there is a good chance that the situation could flare up as there could be many takers in West Bengal. Enamul Mollah a resident of South 24 Parganas according to investigations is a highly motivated cadre of JMB. He has also been involved in harbouring of absconders of JMB. He had been in constant communication with absconding accused persons Moulana Yousuf and Abul Kalam Ibrahim and arranged shelter for them after the Bardhaman Blast. He assisted in recruiting new members for JMB and also spread their agenda by circulating Jihadi material. He arranged for a radicalisation program where the accused Kausar delivered jihadi speeches, the NIA also states.
Abducted Police constable’s body found in Meghalaya
One Meghalaya Police constable identified as Mrinal Kanti Modok, who was abducted by a group of assailants on May 26 from Chipit village in East Garo Hills District, was killed even after receiving a ransom amount of INR 5 lakh from the victim’s family, a report said on June 3, reports The Shillong Times. Police on June 3 recovered the body of the victim from Dawagittimgre area in East Garo Hills. According to East Garo Hills District Police chief Davis Marak, initially the abductors had demanded INR 70 lakh from the wife of the victim. Later, they were paid INR 5 lakh, Marak said adding that after taking the money the abductors killed the constable.
Maoists kill political leader in Chhattisgarh
The Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres killed a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Bijapur Zila Panchayat (district level local self government institution) member, Ramsai Majji, after dragging him out of his house in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh on June 10, reports The Times of India. Police said the incident took place when a group of Maoists made a forced entry into his house, which falls under Madded Police Station area, dragged him out and attacked him with sharp-edged weapons. Later, the Maoists fled into the nearby forests. Majji, who was a headmaster at a high school in Madded, joined politics after his superannuation and was elected as a member of the Zila Panchayat.
CRPF trooper killed in encounter with Maoists in Jharkhand
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper was on June 17 killed in an encounter with Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in Patharchhapra jungles of Giridih District, reports The Indian Express. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sanjay Anand Lathkar said the trooper’s body was being brought to Pirtand in Giridih.
Former PREPAK-VC ‘chairman’ and his driver killed in Manipur
Former ‘chairman’ of Vice-Chairman faction of People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK-VC), identified as Ningombam Nabachandra, and his driver, identified as Leisangthem Sanjit Singh were killed by unidentified assailants inside a security complex located at Khabeisoi in Imphal East District on June 21 night, reports The Assam Tribune. Nabachandra had been staying at a quarter inside 7th Manipur Rifles complex since he surrendered to the Manipur Government in 2014. Sources said that the assailants shot and killed the duo and fled around 8.30 pm. According to sources, people in the Manipur Rifles complex were celebrating Lai Haraoba festival when the killing took place. Sources believed that the attackers took advantage of the festive occasion while carrying out the fatal attack. The Police said that they have started investigation into the incident. The slain former PREPAK-VC chief, hailing from Thangmeiband Hijam Dewan Leikai, joined the outfit about three decades back.
Monthly Fatalities
The following deaths related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period May 26 to June 25, 2016:
| Civilian | Indian Security Personnel | Militant | Total | |
| Assam | 02 | 00 | 02 | 04 |
| Maharashtra | 02 | 00 | 01 | 03 |
| Left wing | 14 | 03 | 08 | 25 |
| Total | 18 | 03 | 11 | 32 |
Nepal – Internal Dynamics
Complaint filed at TRC against then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and then senior Royal Nepal Army official Rookmangud Katawal
Family members of 17 laborers who were killed in a military action in 2002 filed a complaint on May 26 at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) against the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and the then senior Royal Nepal Army official Rookmangud Katawal, reports The Himalayan Times. Deuba was then the Defence Minister and Katawal was stationed at the Nepal Army Mid-Western Regional Headquarters while the laborers were killed in Kotwada of Kalikot District on February 23, 2002 over suspicious of being Maoist combatants. 35 workers were killed in the widely known Mission Kotwada.
Two persons injured in petrol bomb explosion in Rautahat District
Truck driver Bal Ram Bhandari (35) and his assistant Basanta Magar (20) were injured as Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) cadres hurled a petrol bomb at a loaded truck in Rautahat District on June 9, reports The Himalayan Times. According to Police, the truck (Na 6 Kha 4615) was heading towards Kathmandu from Mirchiya of Siraha District when the incident occurred at a jungle between Chandrapur and Paurahi of Rautahat District along the East-West Highway. Chand-led Maoists had called a nationwide bandh on June 9 demanding release of its arrested cadres.
Meanwhile, the bandh organizers torched a taxi here in Kathmandu on June 9, reports Republica. According to Police, the assailants torched the taxi, Ba 1 Jha 8206, stopping it on mid-way minutes after they got in. Police arrested 20 people in connection with coercing people to shut down their business from different places of the Kathmandu.
Separately, Police arrested two people with petrol bombs in Bhaktapur District while they were coercing people to shut down their businesses on June 9, reports Republica. Likewise, 12 people have been arrested from Lalitpur District.
CPN-Maoist warns to launch an armed insurgency
The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) led by Netra Bikram Chand issuing a press release on May 30 warned that it would launch an armed insurgency, reports Republica. The party has made its protest plans public in the course of holding the united Tarai-Madhes people’s awareness campaign. “The party strongly stands against the parliamentary system, and it will start armed insurgency at any time. When we stand against the parliamentary system, the government will obviously suppress us, prompting us to take up arms against the state.”
CPN-Maoist cadres attacked World Vision International Nepal’s Office in Nuwakot District
Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) cadres on June 11 attacked the World Vision International Nepal’s Office in Nuwakot District, reports The Himalayan Times. According to Tul Bahadur Pyakurel, a security guard of the office, three unidentified persons entered the office from the front gate and threatened him with life before setting a parked vehicle on fire in the premises of World Vision Office at Battar area. While leaving the scene, the three said they were cadres of Chand-led CPN Maoist, he added.
Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics
HRCSL issues directives on arrests and detention under PTA
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) issued directives to be followed by designated officials arresting persons under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), reports Colombo Page on May 28. These Directives are being issued to ensure the fundamental rights of persons arrested or detained are respected and protected, and such persons are treated humanely, the HRCSL said. According to the mandate of the Human Rights Commission officials of the HRCSL or any person authorized by it should be permitted access to the person arrested or detained under the PTA and should be permitted to enter at any time any place of detention, police station or any other place at which such person is detained in custody or confined as per the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Act no 2l of 1996.
Two LTTE suspects arrested over seizure of several caps bearing LTTE logo in Vavuniya District
Two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suspects were arrested over the seizure of several caps bearing the LTTE logo near the Vavuniya District post office on June 1, reports Daily News. The arrestees are Mahadevan and Devadasan. Police seized the caps bearing the LTTE logo at Narahenpita when they were to be sent abroad through a courier service. The parcel was detected when the “from” address was found to be suspicious.
SL to recognise war missing as dead
Sri Lanka on Tuesday, June 7 announced a landmark law to recognise as dead an estimated 65,000 people still missing seven years after the end of a bitter civil war, allowing relatives to claim inheritances.
Ministers approved a draft bill to issue “certificates of absence” to the families of those who went missing during a 37-year war with Tamil separatists and a Marxist uprising.
“This measure will help tens of thousands of Sri Lankans whose family members and loved ones are missing and who are unable to address practical issues relating to their disappearance,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Under the current law, families cannot access the property, bank accounts or inheritances left by missing relatives unless they can conclusively prove they are dead — an often impossible task.
Huge numbers of minority Tamils went missing during almost four decades of war after being arrested by security services, while thousands more died in military bombardments. Several mass graves containing skeletal remains have been found in the past two decades, but only a handful have ever been identified. Thousands of people also went missing during a crackdown by security forces and pro-government vigilante groups on Marxist rebels between 1987 and 1990.
Sri Lanka has become more peaceful and ranked higher as country saw strong
gains in both internal and external peace, says 2016 Global Peace Index
2016 Global Peace Index released on June 8 said that Sri Lanka has become more peaceful and ranked higher as the country saw strong gains in both internal and external peace, reports Colombo Page. Sri Lanka was up by 18 places to rank 97th with a score of 2.133 in the 2016 Global Peace Index which ranked 163 nations according to their ‘level of peacefulness’. In 2015, Sri Lanka ranked 114th out of 162 countries.
President reiterates there will be no foreign judges in domestic mechanism to
probe war crimes and human right violations during three-decade long conflict with LTTE
President Maithripala Sirisena in an exclusive interview in Colombo on June 12 reiterated his stance that there will be no foreign judges in the domestic mechanism which is to be established to probe the alleged war crimes and human right violations during the three-decade long conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reports Colombo Page. The President said “We don’t need foreign judges. We can resolve any problem within the country without foreign intervention. If necessary, we can obtain foreign technical support, but without commitments or conditions attached.” A similar declaration to have no foreign judges was also made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe when he addressed senior Army officers at Temple Trees on May 27.
Air Force personnel uncover buried stock of LTTE weapons in Mannar District
Air Force personnel uncovered a buried stock of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam weapons from the Palamppidi area of Madu in Mannar District, reports Colombo Page on June 17. Among the weapons stock recovered by the Air Force were 74 mines, 6 mortar rounds, 3 hand grenades, a small bomb several other military equipment. An Air Force official said the weapons were buried in a bunker LTTE maintained during the war and the area is now overgrown with forest.
INTERNATIONAL
50,000 Iraqis fleeing Mosul to Syria: UNHCR
More e than 4,200 Iraqis from Mosul fled to Syria in May, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday, May 27 adding it is gearing up for up to 50,000 people to leave the Islamic State-held city and cross the border.
Driving the exodus appear to be reports that IS militants have stepped up executions of men and boys in Falluja since Iraqi government forces launched an offensive to re-take the city, where people are also dying of starvation, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.
The Iraqi army launched an offensive on Monday to dislodge the ultra-hardline Sunni militants from Falluja, 50-km west of Baghdad.
Falluja was the first Iraqi city to fall under Islamic State control, in January 2014, and has been under a tight siege for about six months. Iraqi forces, with help from a US-led coalition, are expected to push later this year to retake Mosul, Islamic State’s de facto capital in Iraq.
The 4,266 Iraqi refugees from Mosul, who walked for several days through extremist-held territory into Kurdish-held Hasaka province, “are living now in relative safety, if you can say that for Syria”, in al-Hol camp about 14 kms from the Iraqi border, Fleming said.
The UNHCR has begun a five-day air lift to bring aid supplies from Jordan to Qamishly, where it will be loaded on trucks for distribution to Iraqi refugees and internally displaced Syrians.
Minister quits Netanyahu’s ‘extremist government’
Israel’s centrist environment minister announced he was resigning on Friday, May 27 in protest at the inclusion of ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman in the coalition government, the second such cabinet walkout in a week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed up Lieberman as Israel’s new defence minister on Wednesday in a pact beefing up his coalition to six parties with control over 66 of parliament’s 120 seats, up from a razor-thin majority of 61.
“The recent political maneuvering and defence minister’s replacement are, in my view, grave actions that ignore what is important for the country’s security and will bring about more extremism and rifts among the people,” Environment Minister Avi Gabbay said in a resignation statement.
Gabbay is with Koolanu, the lone centrist party in the coalition, with 10 lawmakers in parliament. His announcement comes days after the former defence minister, Moshe Yaalon of Netanyahu’s conservative Likud party, stepped down in protest at his portfolio being offered to Lieberman.
Gabbay had sparred with Netanyahu over government plans to develop Israeli natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean sea under a consortium that critics say will limit competition and keep prices high.
The United States has said that the new coalition raises “legitimate questions” about the Netanyahu government’s commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, in a rare comment on Israeli internal politics, said that Washington had “seen reports from Israel describing it as the most right-wing coalition in Israel’s history. And we also know that many of its ministers have said they oppose a two-state solution,” he said.
US ‘two-faced’ for not viewing YPG as terrorists: Turkey
The United States is “two-faced” for refusing to call the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia terrorists, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Friday, May 27 reflecting Ankara’s growing irritation at Washington’s backing of the group. Mevlut Cavusoglu also said it was “unacceptable” for US soldiers to wear YPG emblems, after photos emerged purportedly showing US special forces wearing YPG emblems on their shoulders.
Nato member Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a three-decade insurgency for autonomy in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast.
Washington considers the PKK terrorists but backs the Syrian Kurdish militia in the fight against Islamic State. The YPG is the most powerful element of the US-backed Syrian militia alliance involved in an offensive near the Islamic State’s de facto Syrian capital of Raqqa.
Aided by US-led air strikes, the YPG has driven Islamic State from wide areas of northern Syria over the last year.
“If they say ‘We don’t see the YPG and these terrorist groups as the same’, my answer is, that is a double standard and two-faced,” Cavusoglu said at a UN summit in Turkey’s Antalya resort. “It is unacceptable for US soldiers to use the insignia of the YPG, a terrorist group,” he said. Ankara had raised the issue with the State Department.
5 UN soldiers killed in Mali
Five United Nations peacekeepers were killed and one other seriously injured in an ambush in central Mali on Sunday, May 29 the United Nations said. A convoy of soldiers in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was attacked 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Sevaré, the UN said.
The nationalities of the soldiers were not released and so far no group had taken responsibility for the attack.
It comes 10 days after five MINUSMA peacekeepers from Chad were killed in an ambush in the northern region of Kidal. Two days ago five Malian soldiers were killed near the town of Gao.
MINUSMA and French forces have been stationed in northern Mali for three years since separatists joined Jihadists to seize the region from the government in Bamako.
The militants have staged a series of high profile attacks in the past year, mainly in the north of the country, but also in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
A peace accord signed last year was meant to bring stability to the region, but attacks against the UN mission, Malian military and civilians are still frequent.
Former Chad president Habre found guilty of crimes against humanity
Former Chad president Hissene Habre was found guilty on Monday, May 30 of crimes against humanity for ordering the killing and torture of thousands of political opponents during his eight-year, cold war-era rule. Habre was sentenced to life in prison by the Special African Chamber, a tribunal created in 2013 by Senegal and the African Union. He was also convicted of rape.
The verdict caps a 16-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring the former strongman to justice in Senegal, where he fled after being toppled in a 1990 coup in the central African nation.
“Habre’s conviction for these horrific crimes after 25 years is a huge victory for his Chadian victims,” said Reed Brody, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, who helped investigate Habre’s crimes.
Habre has two weeks to launch an appeal.
The case centered on whether Habre, feted at the White House in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan after expelling Libyan forces from Chad, ordered the large-scale assassination and torture of political opponents and ethnic rivals.
A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habre’s government of up to 40,000 political murders as well as systematic torture, mostly by his feared intelligence police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).
An investigation by Human Rights Watch in 2001 unearthed thousands of documents in the abandoned DDS headquarters updating Habre on the status of detainees.
During the trial, a court handwriting expert confirmed margin notes on one document to be Habre’s.
US warns of possible Europe attacks
The United States warned its citizens on Tuesday, May 31 of possible summer terrorist attacks in Europe, saying targets could include the European soccer championship in France, although a US official said there was no specific threat information.
Concern about security in Europe has increased since the Nov 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead as well as the March 22 attacks in which two suicide bombers struck Brussels airport and a third the city’s metro, killing 32.
“We are alerting US citizens to the risk of potential terrorist attacks throughout Europe, targeting major events, tourist sites, restaurants, commercial centers and transportation,” the US State Department said in a travel alert expiring Aug 31. The department routinely issues such warnings for individual countries and, at times, for an entire continent or the world as a whole even when it does not have specific threat information about particular targets. The last warning for Europe was issued on March 22 following the Brussels attacks.
A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the department did not have any specific threat information that gave rise to the latest travel alert for Europe.
The travel alert said France will host the June 10-July 10 UEFA Euro 2106 soccer championship and noted France had extended its state of emergency, imposed after the Nov 13 Paris attacks, through July 26 to cover the July 2-24 Tour de France race. “Euro Cup stadiums, fan zones, and unaffiliated entertainment venues broadcasting the tournaments in France and across Europe represent potential targets for terrorists, as do other large-scale sporting events and public gathering places throughout Europe,” the department said.
It also said the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day event is expected to draw up to 2.5 million visitors to Krakow, Poland, between July 26 and July 31, saying local infrastructure may be strained by the large number of visitors to Poland.
Russian air strikes in Idlib kill 60 Syrians
Turkey said on Tuesday, May 31 that heavy air strikes reported to have been carried out by Russian jets on a hospital and a mosque in Syria’s rebel-held city of Idlib had killed more than 60 civilians and injured around 200 people. In an e-mailed statement, the Turkish foreign ministry called on the international community to act swiftly against what it called the “indefensible” crimes of the Russian and Syrian administration.
Unidentified jets bombed a major camp of the powerful Islamist Ahrar al Sham insurgent group in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, leaving a large number of dead and wounded, a monitor reported on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said top trainers from among Ahrar al Sham’s leaders were normally at the camp located in the Sheikh Bahar area of rural Idlib.
The insurgent group could not be reached comment. Syrian warplanes over the past 24 hours have intensified raids in the province, which is mainly in the hands of Ahrar al Sham and the Nusra Front, an al- Qaeda offshoot.
The Russian air force deployed to Syria last year to support President Bashar al-Assad in the war with rebels seeking to end his rule.
Rescue workers searched for casualties through the night, finding some survivors including a child under the rubble of buildings, the Civil Defence said on its Facebook page.
Idlib city and the province by the same name is a stronghold of rebel groups including the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
46 million trapped in global slavery
Almost 46 million people are living as slaves globally with the greatest number in India but the highest prevalence in North Korea, according to the third Global Slavery Index launched on Tuesday, May 31 with Australian actor Russell Crowe. The index, by Australia-based human rights group Walk Free Foundation, increased its estimate of people born into servitude, trafficked for sex work, or trapped in debt bondage or forced labour to 45.8 million from 35.8 million in 2014.
Andrew Forrest, founder of Walk Free, said the rise of nearly 30 percent was due to better data collection, although he feared the situation was getting worse with global displacement and migration increasing vulnerability to all forms of slavery.
Forrest, an Australian mining billionaire and philanthropist, urged businesses to check their supply chains for worker exploitation, saying he found thousands of people trapped in slavery making goods for his company Fortescue Metals Group.
Incidences of slavery were found in all 167 countries in the index, with India home to the largest total number with an estimated 18.4 million slaves among its 1.3 billion population. North Korea ranked as worst in terms of concentration with one in every 20 people – or 4.4 percent of its 25 million population – in slavery and its government doing the least to end this with reports of state-sanctioned forced labour.
Forrest acknowledged the latest data was likely to attract criticism with some researchers accusing the index of flawed methodology by extrapolating on-the-ground surveys in some countries to estimate numbers for other nations. The 2016 index was based on interviews with about 42,000 people by pollster Gallup in 53 languages in 25 countries.
Turkey slams Germany’s genocide vote, recalls envoy
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says Turkey is recalling its ambassador to Germany for consultations after what he calls a “historic error” by the German parliament to recognise the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide. The motion, which was put forward by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition of right and left and the opposition Greens, passed with support from all the parties in Parliament. In a show of hands, there was one abstention and one vote against. The vote heightened tensions between Germany and Turkey at a time when Ankara is playing a key role in stemming the flow of migrants to Europe.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that “this decision will seriously impact Turkish-German relations.” Speaking during a visit to Kenya, Erdogan said recalling the ambassador for consultations was a “first step” and that the Turkish government would consider further steps to be taken in response to the vote.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the German decision a “historic error.” Yildirim said that Turkish people take pride in their past and that “there is no event in our past that would cause us to bow down our heads in embarrassment.”
Armenia’s foreign minister welcomed the vote.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event viewed by many scholars as the 20th century’s first genocide. Turkey denies that the killings that started in 1915 were genocide and contends the dead were victims of civil war and unrest. Ankara also insists the death toll has been inflated.
A spokesman for the ruling AK Party responded swiftly to the vote, saying it had “seriously damaged” relations.
In a rare show of unity, three of Turkey’s political parties, including the ruling AK, issued a statement condemning the vote. “This decision which is against history and the future will no doubt have an impact on German-Turkish relations and will damage bridges of friendship between the two countries,” they wrote in the statement, putting their usual divisions aside.
China angered by US criticism of anti-terror fight
China on Friday, June 3 asked the United States to respect the fight against what Beijing says are militants in the far western region of Xinjiang, after Washington expressed concern about the lack of transparency in China’s anti-terror campaign.
Hundreds have died in recent years in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, in unrest blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants and separatists, though rights groups say the violence is more a reaction to repressive Chinese policies. China says the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is behind the unrest, though many experts have questioned whether ETIM exists as a cohesive militant group.
The US State Department, in its annual report on terrorism around the world, said there was a lack of transparency or information from China about incidents Beijing called terrorism, and said counter-terrorism cooperation was limited.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China was “dissatisfied” with what she said were inaccurate remarks about China, and expressed regret at the “unobjective evaluation” of counter-terrorism cooperation.
Western countries have long been reluctant to share intelligence with China or otherwise cooperate, saying China has provided little evidence to prove ETIM’s existence and citing worries about possible human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
The State Department also criticised Chinese restrictions on religious expression in Xinjiang, like banning veils for women. China strongly denies abusing anybody’s rights in Xinjiang. This week, the government said there was no religious discrimination in Xinjiang and there would be no interference in the Muslim fasting month of Ramazan.
Boko Haram attack in south-eastern Niger kills 32 soldiers
Thirty soldiers from Niger and two from Nigeria were killed in a Boko Haram attack by “hundreds of assailants” on Friday, June 3 on the southeastern town of Bosso close to the border with Nigeria, the Niger defence ministry said on Saturday. It was the deadliest attack carried out in Niger by the Islamist group since April 2015, when at least 74 people, including 28 civilians, were killed at the Lake Chad island of Karamga.
“The counter-offensive conducted early this morning helped to retake control of all the positions in the city of Bosso. The situation is under control,” the defence ministry said in a statement. “A sweep is ongoing in the area with the mobilisation of all land and air means”.
Seven others from Niger and eight from Nigeria were injured in the attack that targeted a military post, according to the ministry, which reported “several deaths” among the assailants.
The town of Bosso is part of the Diffa region, where many refugees and internally displaced people have sought shelter from Boko Haram violence elsewhere. The region has been targeted numerous times in attacks blamed on the militants.
Iraqi civilians drown fleeing Falluja as city nearly encircled
Fighters battling to retake Falluja from Islamic State said on Sunday, June 5 they had the Iraqi city almost completely encircled, as civilians risked their lives trying to flee. At least four people drowned and nine were missing after trying to cross the Euphrates river to escape the Islamic State stronghold city just west of Baghdad, medics and officials said.
The drowned bodies of two children, a women and an older man were taken to a hospital in Ameriyat Falluja, a town downstream under government control, a local official said. Police said they were looking for nine other people believed to have been on the same boat.
About 50,000 civilians live in Falluja, 50 km from Baghdad, with limited access to water, food and healthcare, according to a UN estimate.
Iraqi forces, with backing from militias and air support from the US-led coalition, launched an offensive on May 23 to retake the city, the first to fall to Islamic State in Iraq, in January 2014. A leader of the Iran-backed coalition taking part in the offensive said the only side of Falluja that remained to be secured by pro-Baghdad forces was part of the western bank of the Euphrates.
“We are now at the gates of Falluja,” Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy leader of the Popular Mobilization Force, told a news conference broadcast on state TV.
People fleeing Falluja have been using anything that floats to help them get across the river, which is about 250 to 300 metres wide at the crossing point in farmland just south of the city, provincial council head Shakir al-Essawi said.
Seven cops among 11 killed in Istanbul blast
Turkish police detained four people in a hunt for the perpetrators of a car bombing in central Istanbul on Tuesday, June 7 that killed seven police and four civilians, state media said.
The third deadly attack in Turkey’s biggest city in six months targeted a bus transporting anti-riot police in Beyazit district, close to many of the city’s top tourist sites, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin said on Turkish television. Thirty-six people were wounded, three of them seriously, he added.
The four suspects were taken to police headquarters in Istanbul for interrogation, state-run Anatolia agency said, without providing further information.
There was no early claim of responsibility, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested the outlawed Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK) was behind the attack. For the PKK to target major cities such as Istanbul “is nothing new,” he said after visiting the injured at an Istanbul hospital. In a statement from his office later, Erdogan also vowed the culprits would “pay the price for the blood they shed.” Kurdish militants have repeatedly targeted Turkey’s security forces, but Islamic State (IS) militants have also staged attacks around the country, including in Istanbul, in the past year. Reports said the explosion took place close to Vezneciler metro station, within walking distance of some of the city’s main tourist sites including the Grand Bazaar and Suleymaniye Mosque.
The blast reduced the police vehicle to mangled wreckage and windows in nearby shops were shattered. Reports said that shots were heard afterwards. The attack occurred outside the upscale Celal Aga Konagi Hotel, a converted Ottoman mansion that is favoured by foreign tourists.
The 16th-century Sehzade Mosque — considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan — was also damaged by the force of the explosion. Television footage showed its windows blown out and debris littering the floor.
Baghdad area suicide attacks kill at least 18
Two suicide bomb attacks near the entrance of a military base north of Baghdad and by a market in the Iraqi capital killed at least 18 people Thursday, June 9 police said.
Both explosions, claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, occurred at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT).
The attack by the entrance of one of Iraq’s largest military bases in Taji, just north of Baghdad, killed at least seven people and wounded 18, a police colonel said.
An interior ministry spokesman said soldiers were among the casualties. A suicide bomb explosion in the capital’s mostly Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad Jadida killed at least 11 people and wounded 27, the same source said.
Thousands protest against drones at US Air Force base
Several thousand demonstrators formed a human chain along the perimeter of a US Air Force Base in southwest Germany on Saturday, June 11 in protest against drone operations by the United States. The demonstration was organised by the alliance “Stop Ramstein – No Drone War”, which says the Ramstein base transmits information between operators in the United States and unmanned drone aircraft in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria.
Police estimated 3-4,000 people had formed the chain close to the base, which serves as the headquarters for the US Air Forces in Europe. Organisers spoke of 5-7,000 people.
No comment was available on Saturday from officials at Ramstein.
The use of drones is highly controversial in Germany, where an aversion to military conflict has prevailed since World War Two. Organisers say allowing data for drone deployments to be routed through Ramstein goes against the German constitution and want the base’s satellite relay station to be closed.
Nearly 15 years after a drone first fired missiles in combat, the US military programme has expanded to become an everyday part of the war machine for carrying out surveillance and launching strikes.
President Barack Obama last month approved a drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan that killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour. US officials said he had been overseeing plans for new attacks on US targets in Kabul.
Critics say drones often miss their intended targets, can only partly relay what is happening on the ground and encourage warfare with impunity, waged by people at computer screens far from danger.
Suicide bombers kill 20 outside Syria shrine
Suicide bombers struck outside a shrine near Syria’s capital on Saturday, June 11 leaving at least 20 people dead, a monitor said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. The official Sana news agency said two suicide bombers, one in a car, attacked the entrance to the Sayyida Zeinab shrine.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said at least 20 people were killed, including 13 civilians, and more than 30 wounded in the blasts. Sana gave a toll of at least 12 dead and 55 wounded. IS claimed the attack via its Amaq news agency, saying it was carried out by three suicide bombers.
The shrine, around 10 kilometres south of the centre of Damascus, is heavily guarded by pro-government forces but has still been the target of several Jihadist attacks, including those claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
A string of Islamic State bombings near the shrine in February left 134 people dead, most of them civilians, according to the Observatory. And in January, another attack claimed by IS killed 70 people.
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah cited the threat to Sayyida Zeinab shrine as a principal reason for its intervention in Syria’s civil war on the side of President Bashar al-Assad.
Islamic State said two of its suicide bombers had blown themselves up and operatives had detonated an explosives-laden car, according to the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency.
Iranian forces kill five Kurds
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards killed five members of a Kurdish separatist group involved in assaults last month in the northwest of the country, state media said on Monday, June 13. The five were responsible for the killings of two members of the Revolutionary Guards in Sardasht last month and an engineer working there, the Guards said in the statement. It did not say when the five were killed.
Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK, is an outlawed group that seeks self-governance for Iran’s Kurds and has links to Turkey’s militant Kurdish Workers´ Party.
A ceasefire between the government and PJAK was signed in 2011, when Iran said it would suspend executions of Kurdish political prisoners if PJAK stopped its attacks.
Both sides regularly violated the deal, but in recent months the number of clashes has climbed. Iran’s seven million Kurds make up around 10 percent of the population. Most live in Kurdistan, a region in the northwest on the border with Iraq.
IS steps up suicide bombings in Libya
Pinned down in the centre of the coastal city of Sirte, Islamic State group on Thursday, June 16 stepped up suicide bomb attacks on forces of Libya’s unity government who suffered 10 dead. The focus of IS counter-attacks has been aimed at retaking Sirte’s port and western sectors of the city, the hometown of late Moamer Qadhafi, military sources said.
IS groups took root in Libya in late 2014, taking advantage of the chaos and power struggles that followed the Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed Qadhafi in 2011.
Forces allied to the GNA captured the town of Abu Grein on May 17 as they advanced on Sirte, the jihadists’ stronghold in Libya, 130-km to the east. Thirty-two people were killed and 50 wounded in a car-bomb attack in Abu Grein the next day targeting the forces allied with the GNA.
Ten members of the pro-GNA forces were killed and seven wounded in the June 16 blast at Abu Grein, said sources at the central hospital in Misrata, from where they launched an offensive against the IS.
The military command of the anti-IS operation said two other car-bombings inside Sirte itself were foiled on Thursday.
The IS have mounted eight suicide car bombings against pro-GNA forces since Sunday, as they intensify efforts to regain lost ground in the Mediterranean city.
China refuses point blank to back India
Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar made an unannounced visit to Beijing on June 16-17 in order to discuss India’s NSG bid with China; however, Beijing refused to support the Indian bid for NSG membership in plain words. Jaishankar’s visit came a week ahead of the plenary meeting of the 48-nation nuclear trading bloc scheduled to be held in Seoul on June 24 where India’s membership is likely to be discussed.
China has been strongly opposing India’s membership at the premier club arguing that it was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Earlier, in the week, China’s official media said India’s NSG membership would “jeopardise” China’s national interests besides touching a ‘raw nerve’ in Pakistan. The Chinese foreign ministry had said a week back that members of the NSG ‘remained divided’ on the issue of non-NPT countries joining it and called for full discussions.
India has been reaching out to NSG member countries seeking support for its membership of the bloc whose members are allowed to trade in and export nuclear technology. The US has backed India and asked various NSG members to support New Delhi’s bid.
It is understood that a number of countries, including Turkey, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand, were not in favour of India’s entry into the NSG.
India had managed to secure support of NSG members — Switzerland and Mexico — during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to these two countries as part of a five-nation tour. Mexico and Switzerland were known to have strong nuclear proliferation concerns and were not in favour of allowing the NSG membership to countries which were not signatory to the NPT.
The NSG works under the principle of unanimity and even one country’s vote against India will scuttle its bid.
Algerian troops kill nine Islamists
Algerian soldiers killed nine armed Islamist militants in an operation south of the capital on Sunday, June 19 the defence ministry said giving a new toll. It said the nine “terrorists” were killed in an ambush in a mountainous area of the Medea region, about 80 kilometres south of Algiers.
Weapons, ammunition and an explosives vest were seized, it said.
The ambush was part of an ongoing operation against militants that began on June 9 and had so far led to the killings of 13 “terrorists” and the arrests of four others.
The authorities in the North African country use the term “terrorists” to refer to Islamist militants.
A brutal civil war in the 1990s between the government and Islamists claimed about 200,000 lives.
Despite adopting a peace and reconciliation charter in 2005 aimed at turning the page on the conflict, armed groups remain active in some areas. At least 96 armed Islamists have been killed by security forces this year, according to an AFP count compiled from official bulletins.
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.
