Terrorist Activities in Pakistan
Bomb/IED Blasts
One Fazal Manan, the younger brother of Malik Taj Khan, a well-known pro-Government tribal elder, was killed in a roadside bomb blast in the Tarkhoo area of Mamond tehsil (revenue unit) in Bajaur Agency in the evening of September 25, reports Dawn. Officials quoted eyewitnesses as saying that Fazal Manan along with his driver was walking on the road, when an explosive device placed along the road went off. According to the officials, the bomb was detonated by remote control. Manan died on the spot while his companion, Alam Gul, received serious injuries in the blast.
A 12-year old boy, Ishaq, was killed when an explosive device went off in a house in Pishtakhara area of Peshawar, on September 26, reports The News. It was not known nature of the blast but, later bomb disposal experts declared it a hand-grenade which was hurled inside the house and the boy had taken it to his home after mistaking it for a toy.
Separately, at least nine people including four Policemen were injured in an improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast targeting a Police van in Sro area of Shabqadar tehsil (revenue unit) in Charsadda District on September 26, reports Dawn. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack in an email sent to journalists.
Two coordinated blasts targeting railway tracks hit near the Rawalpindi-bound Jaffar Express on October 7 in the Ab-e-Gum area of Bolan District in Balochistan, killing at least six people and leaving 18 others injured, reports Dawn. Initial reports suggest that a bomb was planted along the railway track in the Ab-e-Gum area. The second explosion took place in the same area 20 minutes later.
A boy, identified as Faeaz (13), was killed and 15 others, including women and children, were injured when a bomb was exploded outside Dar-e-Abbas Imambargah in Liaquatabad Town of Karachi on October 17, reports Dawn.
A tribesman, identified as Muhammad Janan, was killed while his friend was injured in a landmine blast in Jaar area of Kurram Agency on October 18, reports Daily Times.
Targetted Killings
Levies force official, identified as Muhammad Niaz, was shot dead while he was on his way to work in Gichak area of Panjgur District in Balochistan on September 26, reports The Express Tribune.
Separately, a man, identified as Ali Hussain, was shot dead by unidentified militants in Usta Muhammad city of Jaffarabad District on September 26, reports The Express Tribune.
Traffic Police Official, identified as Sub-Inspector Mohammed Arshad, was shot dead in a targeted attack while he was performing his duty near Five Star Chowrangi in North Nazimabad Town, Karachi on September 25, reports Dawn. “This was second targeted killing of a traffic official this year while last year, several traffic officials were gunned down,” said Deputy Inspector General (DIG-Traffic) Dr. Amir Ahmed Shaikh.
A councilor and his son were shot dead when unidentified arms assailants opened fire at them within the Yar Hussain Police Station jurisdiction in Swabi District on September 29, reports Daily Times.
Six bullet-riddled dead bodies were recovered from a house in Parom area of Panjgur District in Balochistan on September 30 reports Dawn.
At least one Police Official was killed and another injured when two unidentified armed assailants opened fire upon a Police vehicle in a bid to free prisoners in Baloch Colony area of Jamshed Town in Karachi, reports Dawn. According to details, the under-trial prisoners were being transported back in a private vehicle after attending court proceedings in an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). Assailants also snatched the official weapons of the police officials before fleeing the scene of the incident.
Unidentified armed assailants shot dead a woman while she was on her way home near Hub area of Lasbela District in Balochistan on October 3, reports Daily Times.
A trustee of an Imambargah (Shia place of worship) and a senior office-bearer of private schools association, Mansoor Zaidi, was shot dead while his son was critically injured in a suspected sectarian attack by unidentified assailants outside their home in Block-8 area of Gulistan-e-Jauhar area in Karachi on October 7, reports Dawn.
A tribal chief, identified as Sardar Wakeel Ahmed Buledi and his brother, Bahadur Ali Buledi were killed by unidentified gunmen in the Bhag area of Bolan District in Balochistan on October 8, Levies officials said, reports Dawn. They were on their way to the bazaar in Goth Gamb when their vehicle came under fire. They received multiple injuries and died on the spot. The attackers escaped, said sources.
Brother of Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leader was shot dead in the Orangi Town area of Karachi on October 10, reports Dawn. Police said that Kashif Sagheer (25) was sitting along with some other men in sector 12-C of Orangi Town when four suspects riding on two motorcycles opened fire on him and fled. Police also said that the victim’s elder brother, Asif, was a local leader of PSP in Orangi Town.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Shahzad Akhtar was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants while he was travelling in his vehicle in Korangi Town on October 13, reports Dawn.
Elsewhere, an unidentified bullet-riddled dead body of a man was found from a drain in the Gulbahar area of Liaquatabad Town on October 13, reports The News. According to source, the dead body was that of an ethnic Baloch.
A Policeman, identified as Munawwar, shot dead by unidentified assailants near Landi Kotal Chowrangi area in North Nazimabad area of Karachi on October 14, reports Dawn.
Unidentified motorcycle bourne assailants on October 20 shot dead a Police Constable Rahman Ali, a resident of Swabi District, while he was on duty in Parda Bagh area under the precincts of Faqirabad Police Station in Peshawar, reports Daily Times.
Two Pakistan Coast Guard personnel were killed while two civilians were injured when unidentified armed assailants in Jiwani Bazaar area of Gwadar District on October 23, reports Dawn. No outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan Sunni Tehreek (PST) cadre, identified as Maulana Shaukat Nawaz, was shot dead in Makhan Colony of Haripur District on October 23, reports Daily Times.
Miscellaneous
Sukkur Police along with other law enforcement agencies carried out two combing operations from April to September 2016 and arrested eight Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants, besides hundred others, said Sukkur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amjad Ahmed Shaikh on September 26, reports The Express Tribune. The Police recovered two kilograms of explosives, five grenades and as many packets of ball bearings and wires used in the preparation of suicide vests from their possession. During the period, a total of 7,689 suspects were apprehended, of which 198 were taken into custody after proper investigation, he said. SSP Amjad Ahmed Shaikh further said that religious seminaries throughout the District were also checked, adding, that about 237 of them were registered and 23 were unregistered. Besides this, search operations were also conducted in 53 religious seminaries throughout the district to avert any terrorist activity.
Frontier Corps (FC) seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition from Panjpai area of provincial capital Quetta, close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on September 27, reports Dawn. “The forces conducted a raid in Nullah and recovered 1800 kilograms of explosives, 150 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and other weapons,” said FC spokesperson Khan Wasy. Frontier Corps officials added that each IED weighed 20 kilograms.
Two Lyari gangsters were killed and eight others arrested on September 28 during Rangers search operation in Sangoleen area of Lyari town in Karachi, reports The News. According to the Rangers spokesperson, a raid was conducted by the paramilitary force in Sangoleen area in which an exchange of fire took place between Rangers and members of the Uzair Baloch gang. In the exchange of fire, two persons were killed who were identified as Naeem Lahoti and Zeeshan Ganth. Naeem Lahoti was wanted for the murder of sixty-five persons, demanding extortion money and kidnapping for ransom crimes.
The Security Forces (SF) personnel killed a wanted militant commander of a banned outfit, Zafar Bugti, near Notal area of Dera Bugti District in Balochistan on September 28, reports The News. Zafar Bugti was wanted to law enforcers in the murder of six members of a family and other various extremist activities.
An accused, Abdul Maalik Bengali, who had escaped Police custody and was arrested by the Rangers on October 2 was killed in an encounter in Korangi area of Karachi, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Korangi Noman Siddiqui said on October 3, reports The News. According to SSP Noman Siddiqui, accused Abdul Maalik Bengali was killed in an encounter when Police party was going to arrest his accomplice Muhammad Imtiaz Rind. Accused Imtiaz Rind and another gunman identified as Faisal Bengali opened fire on police party at the EBM Causeway, ensuing fierce gun battle during which Abdul Maalik was killed, he said. Both the attackers fled the scene, he added.
Three suspected militants were killed during an exchange of fire with Frontier Corps (FC) in Naag area of Turbat District on October 5, reports Dawn. Five suspects were arrested after the shootout. FC spokesperson Khan Wasey said, “Two camps of miscreants were also abolished by Security Forces and huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from the abolished camps.”
Separately, two unidentified armed assailants were killed in retaliatory firing in Eastern Bypass area of Quetta on October 5, reports Dawn.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on October 8 apprehended nine terrorists affiliated to various banned outfits in Karachi, reports The News. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) CTD Omer Shahid said in a media briefing that arrested terrorists were involved in attacking Police Stations, political activists and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Manzar Imam. Al Qaeda South Asia commander Faiz-ur Rehman alias Abdullah alias Danial and his accomplices were among those apprehended. CTD officials said Faiz-ur Rehman was second in command of al Qaeda South Asia in Karachi. Other militants were affiliated to banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Suicide jackets, bombs and other explosives were recovered from the arrested terrorists.
Police and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials raided two seminaries and detained five suspects during a joint raid by SITE Police and CTD officials on Madressah Mehmoodia, located near Qureshi Goth in Sukkur District of Sindh on October 9, reports Dawn. According to the sources, carried out a search of the rooms where printed literature and personal belongings of teachers and students were kept. It was not known whether the raiding team found any objectionable material but four clerics —Maulvi Hakim Ali Brohi, Hafiz Saddam Hussain Brohi, Hafiz Ishaq Ali and Ghulamullah — were taken into custody. In another raid, the joint team carried out a search of some rooms in Jamia Khulafa-i-Rashideen and arrested one person, Gulsher Junejo. He was also taken away to an undisclosed place for interrogation.
Seven suspected militants were killed in air strikes carried out by Pakistan Air Force jets in the Tirah valley area of Khyber Agency on October 10, reports Dawn. Security officials said three hideouts were also destroyed during the airstrikes. The details of the strikes could not be independently verified as access of media personnel is restricted in the region. These areas have also been considered home to religious extremist organizations including Al Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Eight terrorists, affiliated with al Qaeda and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were killed in a joint encounter by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Police and intelligence agencies in Tonmi Road area of Dera Ghazi Khan District on October 13, reports Dawn. The CTD spokesman said that terrorists were planning to carry out attacks in Shujaabad town near Multan on the eve of Ashura (10th day of Muharram). According to details, when a CTD team raided the suspects’ hideout they opened fire and hurled hand-grenades at the personnel.
Four suspected militants were killed in a shootout with Rangers during a raid in an isolated area near the Northern Bypass in Gadap Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sind on October 13, reports Dawn. He said Rangers recovered arms and explosives from their hideout.
Three Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were shot dead in Sabzal Road area of Quetta on October 14, reports Dawn. According to Police sources, suspected militants opened fire at the FC men. Two men died on the spot, whereas the third succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital. The attackers escaped unharmed. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
Frontier Corps (FC) shot dead two suspects in combing operation in Chathar area of Naseerabad District in Balochistan on October 17, reports Daily Times. The FC spokesman said that they were involved in kidnapping-for-ransom, attacking on security forces, damaging officials building and extortion.
Meanwhile, Frontier Constabulary (FC) recovered huge cache of ammunition, including five kilogrammes of explosive material, three kilogrammes of nut bullets, two detonators and several detonators cards, during a search operation in Sui area of Dera Bugti District on October 17, reports Daily Times.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on October 18 arrested two militants, identified as Muhammad Izhar and Abdul Kabir, for distributing Daesh pamphlets in Palosi area of Peshawar. The CTD recovered Daesh pamphlets from the possession of the suspects that contained messages in Urdu and Pashto.
Frontier Corps (FC) shot dead two suspected militant in combing operation in Chathar area of Nasirabad District in Balochistan on October 19, reports Daily Times. According to FC spokesman, acting on a tip, FC personnel launched combing operation in the area when they opened fire at them. Two suspects were killed in retaliation by FC personnel. The FC spokesman said that they were involved in kidnapping for ransom, attacking on Security Forces (SFs), damaging officials building and extortion.
PAKISTAN
PTI female councilor killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
A woman councilor of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), identified as Zainab Khattak (30), was shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in Khawarai area of Nowshera District on September 25, reports Dawn. The shooting occurred. Zainab was elected unopposed and also remained polio worker in the area.
Blocking of water by India will be act of war: Pakistan
Speaking in the Senate and National Assembly, Sartaj Aziz noted that the international law stated that India could not unilaterally separate itself from the treaty. After reluctance by the Indian Supreme Court to entertain an application in this regard, there was a possibility that India would not revoke the agreement fully. He said the Indus Commission and the ministry had been asked to brief on this issue and an inter-ministerial group had been formed to identify possible misuse or interference into the treaty by India.
The National Assembly on Sept 27 passed a unanimous resolution condemning the Indian claim in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and threats being issued by the Indian prime minister to unilaterally terminate the Indus Water Treaty. Responding to a calling attention notice in the NA, the adviser said there was no provision of suspension in the treaty. “As per sub provision 3 and 4 of provisions of Article 12 of the Treaty, it cannot be altered or revoked unilaterally,” he said.
He maintained that Pakistan would not accept Indian aggression in any form and any Indian step for disrupting water flow as upper riparian would carry considerable risk of war and hostilities. “If India tries to violate the treaty, there will be a befitting reaction from Pakistan,” he said.
Sartaj Aziz pointed out such an Indian act may also provide China with justification to consider suspension of water of Indian River Brahmaputra. “India has already damaged its credentials by even considering revocation of the treaty and disrupting water flow into Pakistan.”
He said the IWT was binding on both countries and there was no provision of unilateral exit. He said the treaty was not suspended even during wars between the two countries. Sartaj Aziz said the provocative statements and actions from the Indian leadership on the IWT are violation of international laws and breach of water treaty.
He said it was highly irresponsible on the part of India to even consider revoking of this treaty as unilateral revocation can pose a threat to Pakistan and its economy. He pointed out that the Indian act would be taken as a breach of international peace and hence giving Pakistan a good reason to approach the UNSC on this issue.
Four Hazara Shia women killed in targeted attack in Balochistan
At least four Hazara Shia women were killed and one injured when unidentified armed assailants opened fire on a bus on Kirani Road near Pud Gali Chowk area of Quetta on October 4, reports Dawn. “The bus was stopped and the women were shot because of their ethnicity,” said Provincial Government’s spokesman Anwar-ul Haq Kakar. “It was a public transport bus and had eight women on board, out of which five were hit during the attack,” said Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations of Quetta Police.
White House shuts down anti-Pakistan petition
The White House on October 4 shut down an ongoing petition that sought to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, saying that it is doing so on suspicion of fraud, reports Dawn. In a blurb captioned, ‘Closed Petition’, the White House announced that the “petition has been archived because it did not meet the signature requirements. It can no longer be signed.” The petition had, until October 21, 2016, to gather 100,000 signatures to merit a response from the White House under the rules of the programme that initiated such petitions.
At closure, the petition had 625,723 signatures, but the White House said the page might have included fraudulent signatures. The petition was hosted on a White House web page called “We the People”, which is open to all and, therefore, does not enjoy the security that protected government web pages do. The petitioners, mostly US citizens of Indian origin, claimed that the designation was “important to the people of United States of America, India and many other countries which are continuously affected by Pakistan sponsored terrorism”.
NATO weapons recovered from house in Karachi
A huge cache of NATO weapons and ammunition was recovered by Police during a raid on an empty house in the Azizabad area of Gulberg Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh on October 5, reports Dawn. The number of weapons included anti-aircraft guns, SMGs, LMGs, sniper rifles, hand grenades and rocket launchers hidden in the water tank of the empty house. Bulletproof jackets and helmets were also recovered during the raid by police.
The raid was conducted after the Police was tipped off by a political worker already in police custody. Karachi police chief Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar termed it the “biggest recovery of arms and ammunition in the history of Karachi”. “In light of disclosures made by a detained suspect, big-wigs of a political party provided help in procuring these arms and ammunition,” said the Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi, without naming the party and its leaders.
Geo tagging of religious seminaries completed in Punjab
The geo-tagging of religious seminaries in Punjab has been completed by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) while the process to separate hardcore elements from the fourth schedulers under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) is continuing, reports Dawn on October 7. Under the geo-tagging, the accurate location of a building, including its latitude, longitude, name and distance are documented. A senior police official said the geo-tagging of seminaries in Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal Districts had been completed with the assistance of the Punjab Information Technology Board.
“Hardly there will be any madrassa [religious seminaries] which has not been passed through the geo-tagging process in Punjab,” he said, adding it had become necessary because of the current security situation in the country and the use of young boys by Jihadi outfits for terrorism activities. The official said besides collecting accurate location of the seminaries, the CTD had been collecting the details of students and teachers in addition to the eligibility and qualifications of the teachers.
No more terrorists’ hideouts in Pakistan, says ISPR
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa on October 7 said there is not a single hideout of the terrorists in Pakistan, reports Daily Times. In an interview with Chinese news agency, he said Pakistan Army had cleared all areas in North Waziristan and Khyber Agency. “The security forces have killed nearly 3,500 militants and destroyed 992 hideouts,” said Bajwa. “I can confirm there is presently no physical hideout of terrorists in Pakistan and areas in North Waziristan including the mountainous Shawal Valley near the Afghan border and Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency have been cleared,” he added.
Alleged mastermind of Sri Lankan cricket team attack killed in Afghanistan
Qari Ajmal, the alleged mastermind of the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team at Liberty Chowk in Lahore on March 3, 2009, was reportedly killed during a joint operation by NATO and Afghan forces in Argon area of Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan on October 9, reports Dawn. According to sources, Ajmal was a commander of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ)-Punjab Chapter and in the past had been associated with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Afghan Taliban leader arrested from Quetta
Sources in the Afghan Taliban on October 11 claimed that Pakistani authorities have arrested senior members of the Taliban Supreme council and known Taliban cleric Mullah Ahmadullah Nanay in Satellite Town area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, reports Daily Times. The sources claimed that Mullah Ahmadullah Nanay was taken in to custody from the seminary of Mullah Abdul Hakim in Satellite Town area. However, the news could not be confirmed with the Pakistani authorities. Mullah Nanay is one of the senior-most members of the 23-member strong Taliban Rahbari Shura. He was also the head of the Dawat-e-Jalb wa Jazb / Auqaf commission of the Afghan Taliban. The commission is responsible for contacting and luring opponents to join the Taliban cause. Mullah Nanay was an ex-Taliban governor in Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif and had also served as the Minister for Public Works during the Taliban era between 1996 and 2001. He was also a close aide of the Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund. Mullah Baradar was also arrested by Pakistani agencies in Karachi in 2010. He was later released in 2013.
India using Afghan soil for terrorist activities in Pakistan
To eliminate the menace of terrorism, all the state institutions are on the same page and there was no discrimination in action against the terrorists, said Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria on October 14, reports The News. The spokesman, in his weekly media briefing, rejected the view about isolation of the country at diplomatic level, saying that geographically Pakistan is an economic hub for other countries. Zakaria said, “Pakistan is not being isolated internationally. All this is propaganda.” Pakistan enjoys brotherly relations with all countries, he added.
Further, he said India was using different tactics to divert attention from the issue of Kashmir. “Media campaign against Pakistan and escalating border tension are Indian tactics,” he said. “India constantly wants to keep the world under an impression based on lies that do not exist in reality,” Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in response to Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement quoting that there was no need to share proofs of surgical strike. He said India’s false claim of surgical strike and media campaign against Pakistan had now been clearly exposed. “India is using Afghan soil for terrorist activities in Pakistan,” he said and added that Indian leaders have on record accepted that India was spreading terrorism in Pakistan.
43 BRA militants surrender in Balochistan
At least 43 Balochistan Republican Army (BRA) militants surrendered themselves to authorities at a ceremony in Dera Bugti District on October 18, reports Dawn. According to official sources, the militants announced that they had parted ways with Nawabzada Brahamdagh Bugti and decided to join mainstream politics. A spokesperson for the Frontier Corps said that they had vowed to remain loyal to Pakistan and to work for the development of the country. “We have decided to abandon armed struggle and join mainstream politics after Brahamdagh Bugti sought asylum in India,” he quoted the men as saying.
GHQ 2009 attack planner killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Akbar Ali alias Badi, one of the planners of terrorist attack on the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Oct 10, 2009 was killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Gomal area of Tank District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on October 19, reports The Express Tribune. A Peshawar-based senior security official said that Security Forces (SFs) surrounded a compound where Akbar Ali was present along with other militants. They were asked to surrender, but instead of turning themselves in they opened fire on security forces,” the security official said. “In the ensuing gunfight, Akbar Ali was killed.” Akbar Ali was one of the top commanders of the Shura-e-Mujahideen Waziristan and had expertise in training suicide bombers. He was also involved in several attacks on SFs and installations.
Bio chemical weapons should not fall into wrong hand, Pakistan
Pakistan on October 19 underscored the need for measures to prevent non-state actors and terrorist groups from obtaining and using chemical and biological weapons, while sharing the international community’s concern over the danger of those arms falling into the wrong hands, reports Daily Times. Speaking in the General Assembly’s Disarmament and International Security Committee, Pakistan’s permanent representative to UN in Geneva Ambassador Tehmina Janjua said that the key tools for preventing non-state actors from acquiring, producing or using chemical and biological weapons included national physical protection efforts, international assistance and capacity building.
In that regard, she said, Pakistan had supported the Russian proposal for a bio-chemical terrorism convention. Participating in a debate on weapons of mass destruction, she said that Pakistan condemned the use of chemical weapons by anyone, anywhere, and welcomed milestones that had been achieved in the destruction of Syrian and Libyan chemical weapons. “We remain committed to the full and effective implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC),” she said. “We attach high priority to the convention’s provisions relating to international cooperation and assistance as well as peaceful uses of chemical technology,” she said.
Operation Zarb-e-Azb is a “war of peace”, says COAS Raheel Sharif
Operation Zarb-e-Azb is an example of “war for peace” which is bringing stability and prosperity to Pakistan and the region, said Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Raheel Sharif while addressing the closing ceremony of the first International Physical Agility and Combat Efficiency System (PACES) Competition held at Fortress Stadium in Lahore District on October 23, reports Daily Times. “Operation Zarb-e-Azb is an example of ‘War for Peace’ which is bringing stability and prosperity to Pakistan and the region. Today, our brave men can tell the world with pride that by eliminating terrorist networks from the far reaches of Pak-Afghan border, an environment of peace and prosperity is flourishing,” he said.
“This landmark event has brought together participants from 18 leading armies of the world. As a unique competition of its kind, the occasion is an opportunity to promote mutual cooperation and brotherhood. Today, Pakistan stands more integrated with rest of the world than ever before with such events as a fine example,” Sharif added.
20 police recruits martyred, three terrorists killed in Quetta attack
At least, 20 security personnel have been martyred after three terrorists stormed a police training college located on the Sariab Road in Quetta on Monday, Oct 24.
Talking to the media, Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti while confirming the death toll feared that it might climb up in the next few hours. He said that the affected compound had been cleared by security forces who fought valiantly against the terrorists.
About 106 people, including police recruits and several Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, have also been injured in the terrorist attack. According to sources, three terrorists were killed and 250 police recruits freed after the attack.
Unknown assailants stormed the hostel of the police training centre and opened fire on recruits. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), five to six terrorists had stormed the police training centre. Those injured in the attack have been brought to the Civil Hospital, Quetta, and CMH, hospital sources said.
Due to high security across the provincial capital, these terrorists opted for the police college in a suburban area, he added. A recruit who witnessed the entire situation said four militants barged into the training centre around 9:30pm and opened indiscriminate fire. Then they entered the barracks.
REGIONAL
Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
Nine militants killed during Police operation in Dhaka city buried as no one claimed their bodies
Nine militants killed during a Police operation in Dhaka city’s Kalyanpur area on July 26 were buried at Jurain Graveyard on September 28 as no one claimed their bodies, reports The Independent. Eight of the militants were identified as Abdullah, Abu Hakim Nayeem, Tajul Haque Rashik, Aqifuzzaman Khan, Shehjad Rauf, Md Mati-ur Rahman, and Md Zubair Hossain and Raihan Kabir. The identity of another could not be known.
BD ‘kneecapping’ Opposition activists
Human Rights Watch on Thursday, Sept 29 accused Bangladeshi security forces of “kneecapping” opposition members and supporters by deliberately shooting them in the leg and then falsely claiming to have acted in self-defence.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan rejected the report, saying police were only shooting at criminals as a “last resort”.
The 45-page report quoted victims recounting how they had been shot without provocation by police officers who then claimed that they had opened fire in self-defence.
“Security forces in Bangladesh have long killed detainees in fake ´crossfire killings´, pretending the victim was killed when the authorities took him back to the scene of the crime and were attacked by one of his accomplices,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of HRW. “Now they´re adopting tactics similar to those once used by the Irish Republican Army and engaging in ´kneecappings´ of people they have arrested, apparently because they belong to or support an opposition party.”
The New York-based group called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina´s government to invite the UN rights office and UN special rapporteurs on torture and extrajudicial executions to investigate the “kneecappings” and other alleged acts of torture. HRW said its report includes evidence and testimony from 25 individuals, mostly members and supporters of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami.
Several of the victims have been permanently disabled, including some who had their legs amputated after being shot, it said.
National police spokesman A.K.M Shahid-ur Rahman told AFP that they would comment through a press briefing only after getting a copy of the HRW report but Home Minister Khan said the allegations were baseless. He added that security forces had only shot at “criminals” when they “try to escape” or were in confrontation with police.
Five robbers arrested in Narsingdi District are JMB militants, says SP Amena Begum
Superintendent of Police (SP) Amena Begum at a press briefing at her conference room on September 30 said that four robbers arrested in Narsingdi District on September 8 are Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants, reports Observer. The arrestees are Alamgir alias Vejal Alamgir, Roni, Kabir Hossain and Jewel. During remand, the robbers confessed that they had been committing robberies in the District for fund raising to deal with the cases filed against the arrested JMB members.
Four Hizb -ut-Tawhid militants arrested in Netrakona District
Four Hizb-ut-Tawhid militants accused in cases filed under the Anti-terrorism Act were arrested from a rented house in Nagra area of Netrakona District on October 4, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Mohammad Moniruzzaman (33), Sumaiya Akhta (23), Parul Akhtar (30) and Sujon Hawlader (28).
Three JMB militants arrested in Sirajganj
Three Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants were arrested from Jamua area in Sirajganj District on October 4 when they were holding clandestine meeting there to commit crime, reports The Daily Star. The arrestees are Sanaullah (48), Liakot Ullah (38), and Barkat Ullah (30).
Weapons used in July 1 cafe attack in Bangladesh modified in India, according to report
A consignment of weapons used during the Dhaka cafe attack (July 1, 2016) was modified in India before it was transported to Bangladesh in mango baskets, India Today reports on October 4. “We have come to know that the modification of these arms was done in Munger city in Bihar state of India and then they came to Chapainwabganj border,” Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Chief Monirul Islam said. “A seal from a factory in Bihar was found on the three AK22 rifles recovered after the Gulshan terror attack,” Islam stated. A month before the terror attack in Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, the consignment of AK 22 rifles and some small arms reached the militants in the Bangladesh capital. Missing new JMB (Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) leader Nurul Islam Marjan, who was the field-level coordinator of the attack, received the consignment in Dhaka and delivered it to the militant den in Bashundhara Residential Area.
Formation of special anti-terrorism tribunals at divisional cities for expediting cases against extremists is under process, says Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul
Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Huq speaking in the Parliament on October 6 said that formation of special anti-terrorism tribunals at divisional cities for expediting cases against extremists is under process, reports New Age. Anisul told that the special anti-terrorism tribunals will play a special role to deal with the cases against extremists. Right now there are 169 cases were filed against extremists across the country. 59 of them are in Dhaka division, 36 in Chittagong, 27 in Rajshahi, 19 in Rangpur, 12 in Khulna, eight in Sylhet and seven in Barisal.
JMB militant arrested in Narayanganj district
Police arrested a militant of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in connection with the murder of Christian-convert freedom fighter from Narayanganj District’s Fatulla area on October 6, reports bdnews24.com. On March 22 unidentified armed men slit the throat of freedom fighter Hossain Ali who had converted to Christianity at Garialpara area of Kurigram District.
11 suspected JMB militants killed in separate operations in Bangladesh
At least eleven suspected Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militants were killed in gunfights with Security Forces (SFs) in three separate raids in Gazipur and Tangail Districts on October 8, reports Dhaka Tribune. Police’s Counter-Terrorism (CT) and Transnational Crime unit conducted one of the raids and elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) the other two.
Neo JMB financier dies trying to flee RAB raid in Dhaka District
Neo Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) financier died after he jumped off a five-storey building to flee during a raid by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Savar sub-District of Dhaka District on October 8, reports The Daily Star. RAB identified him as Nazmul Haque alias Abdur Rahman. Sensing RAB’s presence, Nazmul cut the window grills of his rented flat on the fourth floor and jumped off and badly injured. He was caught and admitted to Savar’s Enam Medical College Hospital under RAB’s custody. He died there later. RAB recovered a firearm, ammunition, sharp weapons, a mobile jammer and a huge number of Jihadi books from him.
Shaheed Hamja Brigade financier arrested in Dhaka
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a businessman from Uttara area of Dhaka city for allegedly extending financial support to Chittagong based militant outfit Saheed Hamja Brigade on October 11, reports The Daily Star. The arrestee Monjur Elahi has funded around BDT 5 lakh to the armed militant Group for carrying out militant attacks. Monjur Elahi is engaged in garment accessories business
Ansar Al Islam militant arrested in Dhaka
Police on October 16 arrested Rashidun Nabi Bhuiyan, a militant of Ansar Al Islam from Sayedabad bus stand area of Dhaka city, reports The Daily Star. Police said that Rashidun was the chief of a five-member militant team that hacked and shot dead online activist Nazim Uddin Samad in April 6. Nazim was targeted for his write-ups in the social media. Nazim used to criticise religious bigotry in his Facebook posts.
India – Internal Dynamics
PLFI group kills three person, injures four others in firing at a village level meeting in Jharkhand
Three persons were killed and four others were injured when a band of Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) group, People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), opened random fire at a gathering in a village in Khunti District late on September 26, reports Indian Express. Following the incident, the Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CPRF) have launched a massive manhunt in the Naxal-dominated region. The Police said that the PLFI targeted people on the suspicion that they were holding a ‘peace meeting’. Villagers in Naxal-hit Districts of Khunti, Ranchi and West Singhbhum (Chaibasa) have been holding peace meetings for over a year, in which they urge people to shun violence and return to the mainstream. Officials said that, although the meeting was not a peace meeting, the attack on hapless villagers was among the biggest incidents by the LWE groups against such initiatives. Police sources said that peace meetings are usually attended by people from more than a couple of villages. The incident came to light when villagers of Raitorang brought the dead and the injured to the Sadar Hospital in Khunti. PLFI is a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist.
IS India chief using 10 different names to recruit, states NIA
The suspected Islamic State (IS) ‘Indian operations chief’ Shafi Armar, who is operating from Syria, is using at least 10 different names while luring local recruiters from India, especially from Hyderabad, into activities of Islamic State, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials said, The Times of India reports on September 28. “The list of names, this most wanted terror suspect Armar christened himself are Chotta Mulla, Ahmed Ali, Anjan Bhai, Naukua, Yusuf-Al-Hindi, Gumnam, Shafi and many more,’’ both Telangana and NIA officials told.
The findings were made by NIA after probing various IS-related cases registered across India, including at its regional center in Hyderabad. Shafi Armar made a vain attempt to substantially spread IS activities in India, and had roped in two Hyderabadi youths, Arshad Ali of Mehadipatnam and Kadir of Golconda, to Syria in 2015. After the duo reached Syria, the two are acting as intermediaries for both Shafi Armar and the new local prospective recruiters, and scouting for new recruits. The trio, Armar and these two are using mobile applications like Trillian, Surespot and Nimbus and avoided using WhatsApp. Officials in the Intelligence department said the handlers in Syria ask sympathisers to use only these three Apps and sometimes Telegram, for communicating their plans.
“The only reason the terror suspects use these three mobile applications is in fear of WhatsApp, though it claims that conversations are encrypted from end to end, it might still be breached by the security agencies. Since these three Apps are not mass applications, the chances of them being hacked is remote,’’ a cyber security official from Telangana Police said.
Maoist killed in exchange of fire
A lower rung Communist Party of India-Maoist cadre was killed in an exchange of fire with Security Forces (SFs) in a dense forest of Sukma District on September 29, reports Indian Express. The skirmish took place when a joint team of SFs was out on a search operation in Konta Police Station area, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Sukma, Indira Kalyan Elesela said. Acting on specific input about the presence of armed Maoists in the forests near Neelamadgu and Velpochha villages, a composite team of personnel, comprising District Reserve Group (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and local Police, launched a combing operation in the region, located around 500 kilometres from Raipur, he said. The SF personnel were advancing into Neelamadgu village, when they came under heavy fire from a squad of the Maoists. The Police retaliated, killing a Maoist while the others fled using forest as cover following an hour-long gun battle, he added. During search, the body of a Maoist, a muzzle loading gun and several other items were recovered from the spot, Elsela said.
Assam Rifles major injured in ambush in Manipur
An Assam Rifles (AR) officer, identified as Major Mandip Singh was seriously injured when militants ambushed a convoy in Ukhrul District on September 30, reports The Sentinel. Major Mandip Singh, Commanding Officer of a company of 31 AR, was injured in the attack between Kamjong and Kongtong. He was flown to the military hospital at Leimakhong, about 20 km away from Imphal, informed sources said. The militants used explosives and automatic rifles in the attack. The troopers retaliated, leading to heavy exchange of fire for over 30 minutes. As additional security personnel rushed from a nearby AR camp, the insurgents escaped.
Maoists kill three villagers for being ‘Police informers’ in Chhattisgarh
Suspecting three villagers to be acting as ‘Police informers’, cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist abducted them from their home on October 1, took them to the forest and later slit their throats in Kanker District of Bastar division, reports The Times of India. A group of nearly 20-25 armed Maoists entered Hurrapinjori village in Amabeda region and knocked on the doors of three tribal villagers. The rebels dragged them out of the house, thrashed and kicked them and took them to neighbouring village while the families pleaded Maoists to show mercy. Later, in the morning, the bodies of three villagers were found with their throats slit on the road and locals informed the Police. Superintendent of Police (SP) of Kanker, ML Motwani said that the three innocent tribals were killed as they were suspected to be ‘Police informers’. They were identified as Jain Kumar (22), Anturam Hurra (24) and Manakram Hurra (24). According to the statement given by locals, the rebels who led the group of Maoists were ‘divisional committee member’ Ramesh and Charagaon LOS (local organisation squad) ‘commander’ Sonu.
Police officer shot dead in Bihar
Suspected Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres shot dead the Officer in-Charge (OIC) of a Police Station in Gaya District on October 3, reports New Indian Express. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Saurabh Kumar said three motorcycle-borne suspected Maoists fired four bullets at the Officer-in-Charge of Kotchi Police Station Quuam Ansari killing him on the spot. The OIC was on a morning walk when the assailants attacked him, the DIG said.
Rescue abducted traders and impose AFSPA
The Assam-Meghalaya Peace Forum on October 2 urged Garo Hills Police to ensure rescue of eight traders who were abducted by suspected Garo National Liberation Army (BNLA) militants from a village near Chokpot in South Garo Hills on September 29, reports The Telegraph. However, one of the nine abducted traders, identified as Saher Ali managed to escape on October 1. The Police launched a combing operation in the area and recovered a vehicle. The forum’s chief convener, Moniruz Zaman Moni, said, “We conveyed our demands to Meghalaya police in a meeting with the Tura superintendent of police to ensure that all attempts are being made to rescue the traders.” The militants have reportedly demanded INR 20 lakh for release of the traders, all of whom are from South Salmara-Mancachar District of Assam.
The forum is also seeking the imposition of the Armed Forces [Special Powers] Act (AFSPA) in the troubled region to contain rising crime and abduction. “People from both sides of the inter-state border are suffering because of crimes like abduction and murder. This needs to be stopped and the AFSPA must be imposed,” said Moni. The forum is also pressing the Meghalaya Government to provide compensation to the families of those who have been killed by militants. Explaining the reason behind traders still going into militancy-infested areas, Moni said, “They are compelled to visit sensitive places because of their poor economic condition.”
Bomb blast in Manipur village near Myanmar border
A powerful bomb was detonated along the Manipur-Myanmar boundary, near a Muslim village, officials said on October 3, reports The Sentinel. Official sources said the blast took place near boundary pillar No.79 at 8 p.m. on October 2, hardly 40 metres from a Muslim village. Soon after the blast, the Police and Assam Rifles (AR) troopers rushed to make investigation. No arrest was made. There has been no claim from any underground organisation either. The Police said the motive behind the blast is yet unclear.
Assam minister asks public to shun Chinese goods
Ahead of Durga Puja and Diwali celebrations in the State, a senior Minister in the Assam Government appealed to the masses to avoid buying Chinese products, reports Nagaland Post on October 4. Minister for Education, Health and Finance, Himanta Biswa Sarma’s statement comes days after the banned militant group Independent faction of United Liberation Front of Asom (JLFA-I) warned a Hindu group for seeking a boycott of Chinese goods. “This Durga Puja people should avoid buying products made in China. Instead they should buy lamps, decorative lights and household utensils made in India,” the minister said in Guwahati. Significantly, the minister’s appeal also follows Beijing’s declaration last Saturday that it has blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra, to construct a dam for a major hydro-electric project in Tibet. It is not known if blocking the tributary will affect the volume of the Brahmaputra which flows across the length of Assam.
Policeman killed in Chhattisgarh
A Police jawan was killed – hacked to death – by the Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in Bijapur District on October 11, reports Indian Express. According to preliminary information, a group of four-five unidentified ultras attacked assistant constable Lakhmu Telam (35), killing him on the spot, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mohit Garg said. The incident took place at Nemed village market under Jangla Police Station limits around 3.30 pm, he said. A native of Vijay Nagar in Bijapur district, Telam was posted with the District Reserve Group (DRG) of Police. He was on leave since October 7, the ASP said.
NNC-NA ‘president’ shot at in Nagaland
Non-accordist faction of Naga National Council (NNC-NA) ‘president’, Kiumukam Yimchunger was shot at by unidentified assailants at LRC Colony in Dimapur District on October 18, reports Nagaland Post. According to Dimapur Police, the bullet pierced Kiumukam’s nose and exited from the back of his neck. Public Relations Officer (PRO), Dimapur Police, said that right after the incident, Police team rushed to the spot and Kiumukam Yimchunger was admitted at Zion Hospital. Police is yet to establish the reason the behind the shooting and assailants involved.
Monthly Fatalities
The following deaths, related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during period Sept 26 to Oct 25, 2016:
| Civilian | Indian Security Personnel | Militant | Total | |
| Assam | 01 | 00 | 02 | 03 |
| Meghalaya | 02 | 00 | 01 | 03 |
| Nagaland | 02 | 00 | 01 | 03 |
| Left wing | 20 | 07 | 46 | 73 |
| Total | 25 | 07 | 50 | 82 |
Nepal – Internal Dynamics
Cache of ammunition found in Jajarkot district
As many as 580 rounds of bullets were found in a forest in Jajarkot District on September 26, reports The Himalayan Times. The huge cache of ammunition was found scattered close to the under-construction Khalanga-Dolpa road in Thaplechaur, near the Jajarkot District headquarters Khalanga. Locals, who were at the site to observe the road construction process, had informed Police after spotting the bullets. All the bullets were rusted though they appeared to be used in modern guns, according to acting chief of the District Police Office, Police Inspector Hikmat Bohora. He suspected that the bullets were left behind by the then Maoist combatants during the decade-long armed conflict.
Army should not be dragged into conflict-era cases, says Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal while inspecting the Army Headquarters in Kathmandu on October 2 said that the Army should not be dragged into conflict-era cases, reports The Himalayan Times. He said “Those who have participated in a war have a better understanding of the significance of peace. I have a high respect to the positive contribution the Nepal Army made to the Nepali peace process.” He further said that the Government and the Nepal Army share the same opinion about concluding the peace process.
Two MCCN cadres arrested in Kavrepalanchok District
Police on October 21 arrested two cadres of Maoist Communist Central of Nepal (MCCN) who allegedly masterminded multiple school bombing incidents in Kathmandu on September 20 from Kavrepalanchok District, reports The Himalayan Times. Min Bahadur Devkota and Keshav Dahal were arrested while they were planning some criminal activities.
Nine Mongol Mulbasi Rastriya Force cadres arrested with guns and explosives
Police arrested Sachindra Palungwa (43), a cadre of Mongol Mulbasi Rastriya Force of Panchami in Paanchthar District with possession of two pistols, explosives and other handmade arms along with party-related documents, reports Republica on October 24. Based on the information gathered after the arrest of Palungawa, additional eight cadres were arrested from different places.
Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics
Ex-LTTE cadre arrested in Vavuniya District
An ex-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre who had allegedly attacked residents of a war heroes housing scheme in Kokeliya area of Vavuniya District was arrested by the Police on October 2, reports Daily Mirror. The arrestee is identifies as Sinnawan. He threatened the residents demanding they vacate the premises and claimed the housing scheme was constructed on land belonging to Tamils. The residents said they heard the attackers shouting, ‘We will re-take our homeland’.
Counter-terrorism law will replace replace PTA, says Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe while meeting New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key at Government House in Auckland on October 1 said that the counter-terrorism law will replace Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), reports Daily Mirror. “I think by next week the first draft of the counter-terrorism law, which will be placed in the Prevention of Terrorism Act, will be available for discussion,” he said. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe hopes by next March all these things will be behind Sri Lanka. He said it’s a quite open society these days, where fear is no longer a factor.
A conspiracy is being hatched up to assassinate me and put blame on LTTE, says Northern Province CM C.V. Wigneshwaran
Northern Province Chief Minister (CM) C.V. Wigneshwaran said that a conspiracy is being hatched up to assassinate me and put the blame on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reports Daily Mirror on October 3. He said “I denounced the building of Buddhist temples arbitrarily in the Northern Province. A hate-campaign is going on in the South against me misquoting me as saying that Buddhist temples should not be built in the North and that Sinhalese should not live here and they should be evicted from North, are utter lies. The majority of people have a mindset that we should not express our grievances and we have to accept meekly whatever given to us. I hear that a plot has been designed in the South to kill me and put the blame on the LTTE.”
Proposed new law to replace PTA may be worse than current law with most of controversial provisions being retained, says TNA’s spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran
Tamil National Alliance (TNA)’s spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran on October 9 said that the proposed new law to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) may be worse than the current law with most of the controversial provisions being retained, reports Colombo Page. He said “It may even be worse than the PTA going by the influence of the Security Establishment on government’s thinking on these matters. The Law Commission in its report to the government on replacing the PTA had apparently given suggestions which would have put the new law in line with international best practices. But I hear that the government consulted the Security Establishment and rejected the commission’s suggestions.”
Sri Lanka’s top corruption prosecutor quits
Sri Lanka´s top anti-corruption prosecutor resigned on Monday, Oct 17 after President Maithripala Sirisena accused her of launching politically-motivated investigations into former military officials, including the brother of his predecessor. Sirisena, who came to power last year promising to end corruption and restore rule of law, took the unusual step of publicly condemning Dilrukshi Wickramasinghe last week over the prosecution of three retired admirals and the former defence secretary.
Wickramasinghe resigned as head of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), commission member Neville Guruge said. Sources close to her said the president´s public comments last week prompted her decision.
Wickramasinghe, a senior prosecutor from the state Attorney General´s department, has launched several high-profile investigations against members of the former regime and the family of former president Mahinda Rajapakse. There was no immediate comment from Sirisena, who said last week that military commanders who led the successful campaign to crush separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 should not be humiliated in such a manner.
The president accused Wickramasinghe´s CIABOC of working according to a “political agenda” and vowed to take unspecified “stern action” against it and two other anti-corruption bodies, the Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) and the Crime Investigations Division (CID).
UN urges SL to protect minorities
Sri Lanka´s government must “clearly demonstrate” its political will and commitment to better protect the Indian Ocean island´s minorities by taking urgent steps to resolve post-war issues, a United Nations rights expert said on Thursday, Oct 20.
Since the end of a 26-year war in May 2009, successive Sri Lankan governments have yet to take strong action to ensure minority rights. Several religious places were attacked during the tenure of former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, defeated in a January 2015 election by President Maithripala Sirisena. Sirisena´s Sri Lanka Freedom Party, once Rajapaksa´s power base, now governs in coalition with the United National Party (UNP), led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. A visit by Rita Izsak-Ndiaye, the UN special rapporteur on minority issues, comes amid complaints of rights violations by ethnic minority Tamils and Muslims.
They say the situation in former war zones in Sri Lanka´s north and east has hardly changed, despite the new government´s promises to take action immediately to remedy the problems.
Meanwhile, a UN rights expert on Thursday reiterated calls for Sri Lanka to step up reconciliation efforts and reduce the military´s presence in former war zones seven years after the end of fighting.
UN minority rights expert Rita Izsak-Ndiaye urged the government to press ahead with healing the wounds of the conflict, after coming to power last year promising reforms and reconciliation.
INTERNATIONAL
Mosque bombed in Dresden
Bomb attacks hit a mosque and an international convention centre in the eastern German city of Dresden, police said on Tuesday, Sept 27 adding that they suspected a xenophobic and nationalist motive. No one was injured in the blasts late on Monday in a city that has become a hotspot for far-right protests and hate crimes following Germany´s huge migrant influx.
“Although no one has claimed the attack, we assume a xenophobic motive,” said Dresden police chief Horst Kretzschmar. “We also suspect a connection with celebrations next weekend for the Day of German Unity” on Monday, October 3.
Dresden will host national celebrations on Monday to mark 26 years since the reunification of East and West Germany, to be attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck.
“We have now switched to crisis mode,” Kretzschmar said, with police deployed to guard the city´s two mosques and an Islamic cultural centre.
IS bombings kill 17 in Baghdad
Bombings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group hit shopping areas in different districts of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, Sept 27 killing at least 17 people, security and medial officials said. The group said IS suicide bombers with explosive vests carried out the attacks in the Baghdad Jadida neighbourhood in the east of the city and the Bayaa area in the south. Officials said at least eight people were killed and 29 wounded in Baghdad Jadida, although some said the area was hit by a roadside bomb as well as a suicide bomber. Another suicide bomber targeted the Bayaa, killing at least nine people and wounding 30, officials said.
Turkey sacks 87 spy agency staff
Turkey has dismissed 87 staff from its spy agency over alleged links to the failed July 15 coup, state media said on Tuesday, Sept 27 in the first purge of one of the country´s most powerful institutions.
The National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) has suspended 141 personnel in an internal probe over links to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara alleges was behind the coup. Of these, 87 have now been expelled, the Anadolu news agency said. Criminal complaints have been lodged against 52 of them, it added.
In a separate development, Turkish police detained 41 suspects from a charity organisation called Kimse Yok Mu? (Is There Anyone There?) for alleged links to Gulen, Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkey has fired tens of thousands of people from state institutions following the attempted putsch but this was the first announcement of dismissals from the powerful spy agency. Turkey´s secret service was widely criticised for not warning authorities about the coup bid and the government has acknowledged a vacuum in gathering intelligence.
The 87 staff from the Turkish intelligence will no longer be able to work in another state institution after their dismissal, Anadolu also reported.
There had been intense speculation over the future of spy chief Hakan Fidan after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly said intelligence lapses had helped the coup.
The Turkish strongman had admitted he himself found about the coup not from the intelligence service but from his brother-in-law, and that he had been unable to reach Fidan on the night of the putsch.
Fidan was named to head MIT by Erdogan in May 2010 after serving as his foreign policy adviser for three years.
Five arrested in Europe on suspicion of forming IS cell
Police have arrested five suspected members of an Islamic State cell in Spain, Belgium and Germany that spread propaganda for the group online, the Spanish interior ministry said on Wednesday, Sept 28.
The suspects, a Moroccan and four Spaniards, are accused of inciting attacks and acting as go-betweens for IS recruitment in Europe. Two suspects were arrested in Barcelona in northeastern Spain, one in Spain´s North African territory of Melilla, one in Brussels and another in Wuppertal, in Germany, the ministry said in a statement.
The interior ministry of Germany´s North Rhine-Westphalia region confirmed the detention of a 20-year-old Spaniard in Wuppertal, which it said was carried out early Wednesday morning “on the basis of an international arrest warrant.”
Air strikes kill 28 IS leaders
Air strikes by coalition aircraft have killed 18 Islamic State “leaders” in the last 30 days, 13 of them in Mosul, Iraq, a US military spokesman said on Thursday, Sept 29.
Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for US forces in Iraq and Syria, told a Pentagon briefing that many of those targeted were military commanders, foreign fighter facilitators and communication leaders for Islamic State.
S. Arabia warns of ‘disastrous consequences’ over US 9/11 law
Saudi Arabia has warned of “disastrous consequences” from a United States law allowing 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, in a major spike in tension between the longstanding allies.
The warning came after the US Congress voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday, Sept 28 to override President Barack Obama´s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). JASTA allows attack survivors and relatives of terrorism victims to pursue cases against foreign governments in US federal court and to demand compensation if such governments are proven to bear some responsibility for attacks on US soil.
A Saudi foreign ministry source late on Thursday called on the US Congress “to take the necessary measures to counter the disastrous and dangerous consequences” of the law. The unnamed spokesman, cited by the official Saudi Press Agency, said the law is “a source of great worry.”
This law “weakens the immunity of states”, and will have a negative impact on all countries “including the United States,” the spokesman said, expressing hope that “wisdom will prevail.” In opposing the law, Obama said it would harm US interests by undermining the principle of sovereign immunity, opening up the US to private lawsuits over its military missions abroad.
The erosion of sovereign immunity is also a concern among the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, of which Saudi Arabia is the most powerful member. Saudi Arabia´s Gulf allies have lined up beside Riyadh to criticise the legislation.
Late on Thursday, United Arab Emirates foreign minister Anwar Gargash described the move as “a dangerous precedent in international law that undermines the principle of sovereign immunity and the future of sovereign investments” in the US.
Boko Haram region could become world’s worst crisis
Without more donor support the emergency caused by Boko Haram will become the world´s worst humanitarian crisis, a top UN official said on Friday, Sept 30 as a massive appeal remained just a quarter funded.
United Nations assistant secretary general Toby Lanzer said the suffering in northeast Nigeria and surrounding areas was the worst he had ever witnessed. “I have worked in Darfur,” Lanzer told reporters, referring to the war-torn Sudanese region. “The scale and the depth of suffering that I have seen (in Nigeria) is unparalleled in my experience.”
Nigeria-born Islamist group Boko Haram has waged a brutal insurgency in the country´s northeast, with violence spreading more recently to western Cameroon as well as the south of Chad and Niger.
The UN has appealed for a $739 million to cover needs across the entire affected region — known as the Lake Chad Basin — but has received commitments for just $197 million (176 million euros).
“If we don´t engage in a much more comprehensive manner, including scaling up our emergency relief programmes, what awaits us down the line is the biggest crisis facing any of us, anywhere,” Lanzer said. More than nine million people are in “desperate” need of aid, Lanzer said.
The United Nations had not declared a famine in the Lake Chad Basin, but Lanzer warned that 65,000 people were living in “famine-like conditions”. The UN has also said that up to 80,000 children in the region could die if they do not get food aid within the next year.
Turkey extends emergency rule
Turkey will maintain the state of emergency imposed in the wake of July´s failed coup for another three months starting from October 19, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday.
“The state of emergency will be extended for another 90 days starting October 19,” Kurtulmus told a news conference after a weekly cabinet meeting.
The government has launched a vast crackdown to hunt down suspects in the failed putsch, blamed by authorities on US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied he was involved in the coup bid. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week said it may be necessary to keep the state of emergency for at least a year.
Erdogan defended Turkey´s actions by pointing to how France has extended its emergency declaration since the Islamic State-claimed attacks on Paris in November.
The main opposition Republican People´s Party (CHP) has accused the government of seeking to capitalise on the coup to stifle dissent, with the party leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu lashing out at a “counter coup” targeting democracy.
Some 32,000 suspects had been remanded in custody so far for alleged links to Gulen, according to the justice ministry.
IS mines kill 21 Turkey-backed rebels in Syria
At least 21 Syrian rebels fighting alongside Turkish troops in northern Syria against the Islamic State group were killed on Sunday, Oct 2 by landmines laid by the jihadist group, a monitor said on Monday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the toll was the highest loss of life for forces involved in the Turkish-led operation in northern Syria since it began in late August. The Britain-based monitor said 21 rebels were killed and dozens more wounded, many seriously, while attempting to secure the village of Turkman Barah, near the flashpoint IS-held town of Dabiq in Aleppo province. Turkish troops were not mentioned among the casualties.
IS withdrew from the village on Sunday but heavily mined the area before it left, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. The jihadist group has regularly laid mines and booby-trapped buildings with explosives as it withdraws under attack. Abdel Rahman said the toll prompted the rebel forces to redeploy outside Turkman Barah. Turkey began its unprecedented operation inside Syria, dubbed Operation Euphrates Shield, on August 24.
The Turkish operation´s biggest success so far has been the capture of the former IS-held border town of Jarabulus, also in Aleppo province. The Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have this month pushed towards Dabiq, which holds symbolic importance for IS because of a Sunni prophecy that states it will be the site of an end-of-times battle between Christian forces and Muslims.
Bomb kills 25 rebels in Syria
A bomb claimed by Islamic State at a Syria-Turkey border crossing killed at least 25 people, most of them foreign-backed Syrian rebels, and wounded dozens more on Thursday, Oct 6 witnesses said.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group put the death toll at least 21. The attack targeted rebels from factions which have been battling the Jihadist group with Turkish military support along another stretch of border further to the northeast, the witnesses and the Observatory said.
It took place on the Syrian side of the Atmeh crossing, west of Aleppo.
Islamic State claimed the attack in an online statement.
That operation, taking place along the border northeast of Aleppo, has also targeted Kurdish militants. The rebels use the Atmeh crossing to move between Idlib province, through Turkey, to the areas where anti-Islamic State operations are taking place, the Observatory said. Residents told Reuters they also use it to evacuate wounded fighters.
Among the dead from the Atmeh blast were the head of the top civil judicial body in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, Sheikh Khaled al-Sayyed, and a judge who worked with him, a witness and a rebel official said.
Ghana to remove Gandhi statue
Ghana will move a statue of Mahatma Gandhi from its main university because of his “alleged past racist comments”, the foreign ministry said, while paying tribute to Gandhi´s role as a civil rights leader.
A group of lecturers and students began campaigning for the Indian nationalist leader´s statue to be removed shortly after it was installed at the university in June as a symbol of friendship between Ghana and India.
They argue that Gandhi made comments that were racist about Africans and that statues on the Accra campus should be of African heroes.
In a statement late on Thursday, Oct 6 the ministry said it was concerned by the acrimony the campaign had generated.
30 dead, dozens hurt in fresh trouble in C. Africa
30 people were killed and 57 hurt when fighters from a mainly-Muslim militia group attacked civilians and clashed with UN peacekeepers in Central African Republic, the UN mission said on Thursday, Oct 13.
Twelve militia fighters were killed by UN troops in the clashes on Wednesday. The violence in the central market town of Kaga Bandoro began when a member of the mainly Muslim ex-Seleka militia was killed as he and three others tried to steal a generator from a local radio station.
“There was a disproportionate response from ex-Seleka people, who attacked civilians including displaced people hiding in church premises,” said a statement from the UN mission, MINUSCA.
Gunmen kill 11 in C. Africa camp
Central African Republic: Eleven people were shot dead on Saturday, Oct 15 in a camp for displaced people in Central African Republic, the UN´s MINUSCA mission said, days after 30 others were killed in fresh sectarian violence.
“Eleven people were killed and about 10 others taken to hospital” after an unknown number of gunmen began shooting in the camp for internally displaced people in Ngakobo, 300-km northeast of the capital Bangui, a statement said. “Those responsible for these dreadful acts” have not been identified, the communique, in French, said.
MINUSCA, which has around 12,000 peacekeepers and police on the ground, “immediately took measures to reinforce its position around the displaced camp and to step up its patrols”, it said.
The fighters then attacked a camp for displaced people as well as NGO offices. UN troops from Burundi and Pakistan hit back to protect civilians, killing 12 of the assailants.
UN military detects failed N. Korean missile launch
The US military said on Sunday, Oct 16 it had detected an unsuccessful launch by North Korea of a powerful medium-range missile capable of hitting US bases as far away as Guam.
The US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) said the launch, detected just after midday Saturday Korea time, was believed to be of a much-hyped Musudan missile which North Korea has now test-fired seven times — with one partial success. Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross condemned what he called a clear violation of UN resolutions and urged Pyongyang to refrain from any further actions that might raise already elevated tensions on the Korean peninsula.
First unveiled as an indigenous missile at a military parade in Pyongyang in October 2010, the Musudan has a theoretical range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres. The lower estimate covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.
After a string of five failed launches, North Korea test fired a Musudan in June that flew 400 kilometres into the Sea of Japan (East Sea). That test was hailed by leader Kim Jong-Un as proof of the North´s ability to strike US bases across “the Pacific operation theatre”.
US weapons analysts say successful Musudan testing could help the nuclear-armed North develop an operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the US mainland by 2020.
Suicide bomber kills three cops in Turkey
A suicide bomber killed three police officers and wounded at least nine people in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep on Sunday, Oct 16 during a police raid on a suspected Islamic State safehouse, a local official and security sources said. The bomber detonated explosives as police raided the house in the Besyuzevler neighbourhood of the city, some 40-km from the Syrian border, Abdullah Nejat Kocer, a local member of parliament from the ruling AK Party, told reporters.
A second suicide bomber detonated explosives during another police raid related to the same investigation at an apartment in the city´s Gazikent suburb, but no other people were killed, a police official at the scene said.
That blast blew the front wall out of the building, according to a Reuters witness. Kocer said three police officers were killed in the Besyuzevler blast. Six of the wounded were also police, two of them left in a critical condition in hospital. The three other people wounded were Syrian nationals, Kocer told reporters.
Security sources said police had pursued a vehicle believed to be carrying explosives to the house, where a group of Syrian nationals were thought to be sheltering, before raiding it.
60 killed as fighting surges in South Sudan
At least 56 rebels and four government troops were killed in heavy weekend clashes in northeastern South Sudan, in a worrying surge of violence in the world´s youngest nation. Sudan People´s Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang said Monday that rebels aligned with former vice president Riek Machar attacked government troops near the country´s second largest city of Malakal.
Violence between Machar´s supporters and troops loyal to his bitter political foe President Salva Kiir, has blighted the nation for much of its hard-won independence from Sudan, achieved in 2011.
Forces loyal to Kiir invited journalists to the region on Sunday to show they were in control of the area, and an AFP photographer reported seeing up to 40 bodies in the places he could access.
However Major Dickson Gatluak with the rebel SPLA In Opposition (SPLA-IO) insisted his forces were in control of the two towns as well as the northern part of Upper Nile state.
South Sudan, which gained independence in July 2011, descended into war just two and a half years later when Kiir in December 2013 accused Machar — who he had sacked as his deputy — of plotting a coup. Kiir is a member of the Dinka tribe, while Machar is a Nuer, and fighting has split the country along ethnic lines.
Yemen fighting kills dozens ahead of truce
Clashes killed dozens of fighters across Yemen before a UN-brokered ceasefire was to begin on Wednesday, Oct 19 as warring parties came under mounting pressure to end the two-year conflict. The truce is the sixth attempt to end the bloodshed since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 to support the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after rebels overran much of Yemen.
Civilians have paid the highest price in a country that was already the Arabian peninsula´s poorest. Almost 6,900 have been killed more than half of them civilians — while another three million are displaced and millions more need food aid.
A United Nations report said air strikes by the coalition were suspected of causing around half of all civilian deaths, while rebel-affiliated groups were responsible for about a quarter.
The UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on Sunday announced the truce from 23:59 (2059 GMT) for an initial three days, subject to renewal. But clashes killed dozens of fighters across the country on Wednesday, including near the Saudi border and around the capital Sanaa.
In another major development, the US Navy for the first time targeted Huthi rebels directly. On October 13 it hit radar sites which, the US said, were involved in missile launches against a US warship and other vessels.
Both the rebels and pro-government forces have come under increased international pressure to silence their guns.
UAE jails Sudanese for plot to kill expats
An Emirati court on Monday, Oct 24 jailed a Sudanese man for 10 years for planning a bomb attack aimed at killing foreigners in the Gulf country, local media reported. The Federal Supreme Court also convicted the defendant on charges of supporting the Islamic State jihadist group on social media, The National daily reported.
“Prosecutors said he was inspired by the terrorist group´s ideology,” the Abu Dhabi newspaper added on its website.
The official WAM news agency confirmed that an “Arab national was convicted of planning a terrorist act and creating online accounts to promote Daesh (IS)” and was jailed for 10 years.
Another daily, Gulf News, reported that the same court on Monday sentenced a Pakistani man to 10 years in prison for “financing the terrorist organisations Daesh and al-Qaeda”.
The United Arab Emirates is a member of the US-led coalition that has been bombing IS jihadists in Iraq and Syria since September 2014.
Authorities in the Gulf state have enacted anti-terror legislation, including the death penalty and harsher jail terms for crimes linked to religious hatred and extremist groups.
12 killed in Kenya
A bomb blast at a guesthouse in northeast Kenya killed at least 12 people on Tuesday, Oct 25 in an attack claimed by Shabaab militants who last hit the area earlier this month.
“We have found 12 bodies so far after we managed to access the building,” a senior police officer said. “We are still combing the area with the help of anti-terrorism police and sniffer dogs in the ongoing search and rescue.”
Eleven men and one woman were killed in the 3:30 am (0030 GMT) blast at the Bisharo lodge, a police source told AFP. The toll was confirmed in a government statement that said part of the building was collapsed by the blast.
Indonesian IS militant jailed
An Indonesian court on Tuesday, Oct 25 jailed an Islamic State group supporter for eight years for his role in a deadly gun and suicide bombing attack in Jakarta, the latest extremist sentenced over the assault.
Ali Makhmudin, 41, was found guilty of breaking anti-terror laws by helping prepare bombs used in the attack in the heart of the Indonesian capital in January, which killed four civilians and four attackers.
IS atrocities reported around Mosul, says UN
The UN said on Tuesday, Oct 25 it had received reports of dozens of execution-type killings by the Islamic State group (IS), including the slaying of 50 former police officers, as Iraqi troops close in on Mosul. The allegations — which remain “preliminary” — have come from a range of civilian and government sources, who cannot be named for security reasons, said United Nations rights office spokesman Rupert Colville.
The reported atrocities were perpetrated by the jihadists between Wednesday and Sunday, while Iraqi forces advanced towards Mosul, the last IS bastion in the country, Colville said.
In a village called Safina, about 45-km south of Mosul, IS was blamed for executing 15 civilians before throwing their bodies in a river, possibly to strike terror among other residents.
On October 19 also in Safina, extremist fighters “reportedly tied six civilians to a vehicle by their hands and dragged them around the village, apparently simply because they were related to a particular tribal leader fighting against ISIL,” Colville said, using another acronym for IS, also called Daesh or ISIS.
Iraqi security forces found another 70 bodies riddled with bullet wounds on October 20 in the nearby Tuloul Naser village. Colville said it was not immediately clear who was responsible for their deaths.
And on Saturday, IS gunmen allegedly shot dead three women and three girls during a forced march in Rufeila village south of Mosul. The group was killed because they were struggling to keep up, likely because one of the girls who was ultimately shot dead had a physical disability, the rights office said.
The 50 police officers who had been held hostage by IS were reportedly executed in a building outside Mosul on Sunday, Colville told reporters in Geneva.
The rights office also restated its fears that IS will use civilians in Mosul as human shields as Iraqi forces fight to retake the city in an operation backed by a US-led coalition. Human rights officials believe IS is moving residents into the city to use them as human shields as the noose tightens around Mosul, and the killings are designed to discourage locals from rising up against the group.
The executions were in line with past atrocities carried out by the group in its rampage across the Nineveh plains of northern Iraq. When it conquered the towns surrounding Mosul, the group evicted the vast majority of the area’s Christian population which had lived there for two centuries, and launched a campaign of genocide against the ancient Yazidi community, capturing thousands of women and girls who were sold into sexual slavery.
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 *
Indicates there is no threat to foreigners although there may be isolated incidents involving petty crime. No security precautions are required.
Threat Level 2 **
Indicates there is no specific threat to foreigners, however because of the overall general law & order situation, some security precautions are advised, especially if traveling.
Threat Level 3 ***
Indicates that law and order situation is cause for concern and travel should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Level dictates that 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.
