Suicide Bombings
Police on May 30 shot dead an alleged suicide bomber when he attempted to gain entry into Nasirul Aza Imambargah (Shia place of worship) in the Mecongi road area of Quetta, reports Dawn. According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema, a Policeman was also injured when the bomber, reportedly dressed in a woman’s attire, hurled a hand-towards the held bomb Imambargah. The bomber was carrying almost 12 to 15 kilogrammes of explosives, an official of the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) said under the condition of anonymity.
Bomb/ IED attacks
Two Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion while on Eid patrol duty in Khost tehsil (revenue unit) of Harnai District in Balochistan on June 6, reports Dawn. A statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said “terrorists targeted FC troops during their patrolling on Eid security duties.” The dead soldiers were identified as Sepoy Yar Muhammad (23) of Kech District (Balochistan) and Sepoy Mehtab Khan (19) from Lakki Marwat District (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
Two Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were injured after a bomb attached to a motorcycle parked in a junk market of Panjgur town (Panjgur District) exploded on June 19, reports Dawn. Several shops and vehicles were damaged in the incident.
Three Army officers and a soldier were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in Kharqamar area of North Waziristan District on June 7, reports Dawn. An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said four other soldiers also sustained injuries when militants targeted a military vehicle through an IED planted on the roadside. The dead personnel were identified as Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Karim Baig, Major Moeez Maqsood Baig, Captain Arif Ullah, and Lance Havaldar Zaheer.
Two persons belonging to the Shia Hazara community were killed in an explosion in Kawas area of Ziarat District in Balochistan on June 7, reports Dawn- At least seven other Hazaras were also injured when the blast targeting their vehicle took place in Kawas area. The deceased belonged to Hazara community of Quetta were part of a group that was visiting Ziarat for sightseeing.
Targetted Killings
The bullet-riddled body of a prayer leader was found in the Barg area of Mastung District in Balochistan on May 26, reports Dawn. The Levies personnel shifted the body to the district hospital. The doctors, who conducted a post-mortem examination of the body, said the man appeared to have been shot dead three days ago. The victim was identified as Maulvi Ghulam Mustafa, a resident of Killi Sher Ali of Panjpai tehsil (revenue unit). He was prayer leader at a mosque in Dasht town. The Levies officials quoting local people said that Ghulam Mustafa went missing four days ago.
A serving major of the Pakistan Army was gunned down in a firing incident on June 7 in Karachi near Dilpasand Sweets on the main MA Jinnah Road within the limits of Aram Bagh police station late at night. The deceased was shot once in the head and died at the spot. His body was taken to the Civil Hospital, Karachi, for autopsy where he was identified as 35-year- old Saqib Iqbal, son of Muhammad Iqbal. According to Aram Bagh SHO Sagheer Mugheri, the deceased was a serving major of Pakistan Army and used to live in the Malir Cantonment area. The officer said that the police have also found an empty shell of a pistol from the crime scene and sent it to the forensic division for ballistics cross-matching.
Two policemen were shot in the Orangi Town area of Karachi on June 17, reports Daily Times. According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP, West) Shaukat Khatiyan, two officials of the Sindh Police were on routine duty when assailants opened fire on them. The SSP said that it seemed like an incident of targeted killing.
A young blogger, identified as Bilal, was reportedly killed while his uncle was injured by an unidentified stabber in Islamabad in the night of June 17, reports Daily Times. Superintendent of Police (SP) Malik Naeem said that Bilal, who was with his uncle Ehtesham, was attacked in the G-9/4 area of the federal capital. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Karachi Company Police Station on the complaint of the victim’s father, Abdullah, under murder and terrorism charges.
Miscellaneous
One Army soldier was killed in a militant’s attack on a security check post at the Makki Garh area of North Waziristan District on May 26, reports The Express Tribune. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the militants raided the check post in the Shawal Valley of North Waziristan. “Troops effectively repulsed [the] attempt,” added ISPR. “In exchange of fire, a soldier of the Pakistan army embraced Shahadat.”
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 25 arrested two alleged target killers in Karachi, reports The Express Tribune. According to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Abdullah Sheikh, during an operation in Baldia Town a CTD team apprehended the alleged target killer Faisal Patni alias burger, who is affiliated with Muttahida Qaumi Movement London (MQM-L).
Separately, Police detained an alleged terrorist, Mushtaq Ahmed, during a targeted raid in Karachi on May 25, reports The Express Tribune. The detainee was said to be affiliated with Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM).
Meanwhile. the Sindh Government has set up intelligence committees at District and Division levels to “measure threat perception, share information with higher authorities and assist the Provincial Government in implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP), Dawn quoting officials sources reported on May 27. The committees would consist of officers of the civil administration. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The 29-point terms of reference (TORs) for the committees, mentioned all major functions of intelligence gathering in divisions and districts of the province including pre-emptive action against activities of proscribed outfits, monitoring of non-mandated activities of the non-governmental organisations and continuous monitoring of implementation of sanctions against listed entities and individuals. The committees will also keep an eye on pro-scribed outfits and ‘non-mandated’ acts of NGOs.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on May 27 arrested two Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) militants from a graveyard of Imam Sahib area in Sialkot city of Punjab and recovered explosives and Cash from them, reports Dawn. The CTD said the militants were planning to hit Shia community on Youm-i-Ali. The militants were identified as Muhammad Abu Bakar and Muhammad Yousaf.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested a militant, identified as Muhammad Shahid, and recovered arms and explosive from his possession during a raid in Thall Hangu Road near Kotki Graveyard in Kohat town on May 28. reports The News. The arrested militant belongs to Wakho pul area in Kohat Road of Peshawar, The CTD offcial said recovery items include an improvised explosive device (IED), explosives of 1500 gram. one electrical detonator, prima cord and one safety fuse.
A suspected militant arrested along with arms and ammunition from the New Barq Goods Transport Adda (depot) in the limits of Shergarh Police Station in Mardan District on May 30. reports The News. District Police Officer (DPO) Mohammad Sajjad Khan said acting on a tip-off, the Police raided a New Barq Goods Transport Adda located near the excise check post The OPO added that the Police recovered 25 kilogrammes explosive materials, 12 dynamites, 50 detonators and 100 meters safety fuse. He said the Police also arrested a suspected militant Umar Gul. a resident of Babuzai in Swat District and currently living at Shergarh.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on June 9 arrested three militants belonging to an unspecified banned outfit from Khera Chowk area of Multan city, reports Daly Times. “During the operation. three members of a banned outfit Basit. Nasir and Ghulam Hussain were apprehended with explosives. Donation receipts and other material used in terrorist activities.” CTD officials Said. They were planning to target Sensitive installations, but timely action foiled the bid. officials added.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on June 10 arrested two alleged militants from Canal road of Toba Tek Singh town (Toba Tek Singh District), reports The Nation. The arrested militants were identified as Mohammad Abdullah Khan and Khalid Khan. More than three kilograms of explosive items. two hand grenades and other weapons were recovered from their possession, According to CTD officials, the militants were plotting an attack against law enforcement agencies.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on June 19 arrested two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi militants during an intelligence-based operation in the area under Abbas Nagar Police Station in Bahawalpur District of Punjab, reports The News. The CTO teams also recovered explosive material, non-electronic detonators, safety fuses and a huge quantity of hate material from their possession. According to a CTD spokesman. the arrested terrorists were planning to attack sensitive installations and SFs.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on June 20 arrested three Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants from Khanewal, reports The News. The arrested militants were identified as Saqib Ullah, Masab and Asif Nadeem. Six hand grenades and hate literature were recovered from the possession of the arrested militants. They were also collecting funds for their outfit.
Three militants were killed in an exchange of fire with Security Forces (SFs) in Khuda Baksh Goth near Super Highway at Northam Bypass under Gadap Town of Karachi on June 23. reports The News. Police and intelligence agencies, on a tip-off. conducted an operation in Khuda Baksh Goth where exchange of fire took place with the militants. In retaliation, three terrorists were killed, while taking advantage of the darkness, two of their accomplices managed to escape.
Security Forces (SFs) killed a militant and arrested another after they threw hand-grenades at the Cantonment Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan town (Dera Ismail khan District) on June 23, reports Daily Times. The dead militant was identified as Zia.
PAKISTAN
three civilians killed and five SFs injured as PTM mob attacks Army check post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
A mob led by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leaders and National Assembly Members (MNA) Mohsin Javed (Dawar) and Ali Wazir assaulted Kharqamar check post in Boya area of North Waziristan District on the morning of May 26, resulting the clash in which three civilians were killed and five Army soldiers sustained injuries, reports Daily Times. A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said “Troops at the check- post exercised maximum restraint in the face of provocation and direct firing on the post. Due to firing of the group, five army soldiers got injured. In exchange of fire, three individuals who attacked the post lost their lives and 10 got injured. All injured were evacuated to army hospital for treatment,” the ISPR stated, adding that Ali Wazir along with eight individuals has been arrested, while Mohsin Dawar is at large after inciting the crowd.
According to the ISPR, the aim of the attack at the check post was to exert pressure for the release of suspected facilitator of terrorists arrested the other day. On May 6, a first information report (FIR) had been registered against members of the PTM central committee including MNA Ali Wazir in North Waziristan for inciting people to revolt against the state. According to sources, a clearance operation was conducted on May 24 in Doga area of North Waziristan as part of the sanitisation campaign. Troops deployed on one of the blocking positions received fire from Doga village and a soldier received a bullet injury in his belly. Following the incident, two suspects were taken into Custody on May 25 A day after the arrests, MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir on May 26 incited the people to launch an assault m the Army check post.
Pakistan calls for UN action against lslamophobia, hate speech
Pakistan threw its full weight behind the new UN Strategy and Plan of Action to combat hate speech, saying that language was being used to secure narrow political and electoral gains in many parts of the world, including the South Asian region.
“An inevitable consequence is to fan the flames of bigotry, intolerance, anti-Muslim hatred and xenophobia,” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said after UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres unveiled the strategy at a special meeting held in the packed ECOSOC chamber on Tuesday, June 18says a press release. “My Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently again called for urgent action to counter Islamophobia, which is today the most prevalent expression of racism and hatred against ‘the other’,” the Pakistani envoy told ambassadors, senior diplomats and high-ranking UN officials.
The UN Strategy and Plan of Action provides a system wide programme with the overriding objective of identifying, preventing and confronting hate speech. The secretary-general said, “It targets the root causes of hate speech, pointing out that these include tackling violence, marginalisation, discrimination, and poverty, as well as bolstering weak state institutions.
While many of these are being addressed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the new strategy goes further by recommending a coordinated response, such as identifying users of hate speech.
Secondly, the strategy aims to enable the UN to respond to “the impact of hate speech on societies”, Guterres explained, including by bringing individuals and groups together who have opposing views; working with traditional and social media platforms; and developing communications guidance.
In her comments, Ambassador Lodhi said, “We are fully committed to support the UN’s strategy on hate speech. This is a moment for all of us to come together to reverse the tide of hate and bigotry that threatens to undermine social solidarity and peaceful co-existence.”
The Pakistani envoy expressed the hope that the strategy and action plan would address the complex question of how to respond to intolerant, inflammatory and prejudiced narratives that were stoking racial and religious fears, and con-sequent hostility, saying that follow up will be critical.
In this regard, Ambassador Lodhi called for government interventions to fight hate speech, including national legislation, emphasised that social media plat-forms should not become conduits for incitement to violence and evolving ways to ensure that information technology companies were held accountable for the content incited violence and that weaponised individuals.
In addition, she called for framing a more focused strategy to deal with the various expressions of Islamophobia. A ‘whole of government’ and a ‘whole of society’ approach was needed. In this regard, the Pakistani envoy urged the secretary-general to engage with a wide range of actors, including governments, civil society and social media companies to take action and stop social media users being funneled into online sources of radicalisation.
Adama Dieng, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, said that hate speech was a challenge from which no country was immune”. He elaborated that in line with the UN’s longstanding commitment to the protection, promotion and implementation of all international human rights standards, “the strategy and the plan of action never calls for restrictions of freedom of expression and opinion while addressing hate speech.”
Pakistan, EU to sign new strategic plan: Qureshi
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday, June 23 lauded the sacrifices of Pakistan in the war against terrorism. “Pakistan and the European Union will sign a new strategic engagement plan for strengthening bilateral ties,” said FM Qureshi while talking to the media just before leaving for Brussels.
The foreign minister said that during the visit, he will meet NATO general secretary at its headquarters in Brussels. “We believe that our relationship with NATO in defence and security matters should continue,” added Qureshi.
Pakistan and the European Union will sign various projects in the fields of trade, investment and energy on June 25 in Brussels. FM Qureshi would lead Pakistan’s team while EU Representative for Foreign Relations and Security Policy Federica Mogherini will lead her delegation. During his visit, FM Qureshi would also address the Pakistani community in Brussels.
Earlier on March 25, Pakistan and the European Union (EU) had agreed to a strategic partnership in the fields of trade, investment and energy. The understanding came at the strategic dialogue between the two sides at foreign Office in the federal capital.
Qureshi had said Pakistan would continue to fulfill its responsibilities vis-à-vis peace in Afghanistan and the region, the foreign minister had also apprised the EU delegation about gross human rights violations in the Indian Held Kashmir.
ADB restores Pakistan’s status as family station
In a major development, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has abolished status of non-family station for its staff working in Pakistan after witnessing an improved security environment. The ADB has reclassified its assessment and declared Pakistan as family station for its duty staff working in the country. Now the ADB staff will be allowed to bring wife/spouse into Pakistan during their stay in the country. Pakistani authorities will have to showcase more steps for further improving its reclassification in months ahead.
The ADB’s mission visited Islamabad early June and after taking stock of the whole situation took decision for restoring Pakistan’s status as family station for its staff members. Now the formal decision to this effect is expected to be announced early next month.
“Pakistan is no longer a non-family station for the ADB staff as this decision will help attract quality staff of the Manila-based multilateral lending institution to work here in the country,” top official sources told The News here Sunday. Earlier, the United Nations had also restored family station status for its staff working in Pakistan.
Sources in the ADB and other multilateral donor agencies told this correspondent that after withdrawal of non-family status, the foreign staff stationed in Islamabad would be deprived of some of allowances such as risk allowance, but this decision would definitely improve image of the country.
Sources said the approval of bailout package from the IMF’s Executive Board in early July 2019 will give positive signals about Pakistan and it would be followed by other multilateral donor institutions for increasing their funding for the programme loans as well for project funding.
After surfacing of an unwarranted Situation where Pakistani ministers announced the ADB funding of $3.4 billion before its Board approval. Pakistani authorities were very cautious in releasing any details even about positive development so top officials working in economic ministries made efforts to stop publishing of this information.
However, sources said improved security situation was paying dividend as the number of foreign visitors stood at 0.6 million in 2013 which had now increased to over 3 million in 2018. With reclassification of the UN and ADB, now the image of the country would be improved and there is need to attract foreign tourists to showcase Pakistan’s beautiful places having potential to earn billions of dollars provided the security remained improved and infrastructure built to cater their requirements.
Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
Three persons injured in bomb attack on Police van in Dhaka city
An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and two rickshaw-pullers were injured in a bomb attack at a Police vehicle at Malibagh intersection in Dhaka city of Dhaka Division on May 26, reports Dhaka Tribune. Confirming the incident, Police said “A police patrol car was going to Ganabhaban to pick up female police officers, when an explosive was thrown at the back of the car. The Type of explosive could not be determined.
Most militants on bail gone into hiding, says RAB DG Benazir Ahmed
Around 300 out of 512 militants arrested by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) since the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in 2016 were released on bail, and most of them have gone into hiding, RAB Director General (DG) Benazir Ahmed said on June 2, reports Daily Star, “The militants who went into hiding are trying to regroup. But we want to assure all that they will not be able to continue their attempts for long. We have taken measures coordinating our intelligence with that of other agencies. We are ready to face any challenge,” the RAB DG said while exchanging views with reporters on security measures for Eid at RAB’s media Centre. The RAB DG said those who are working to help secure bail for militants might become victims of militant attacks themselves. “It will be suicidal to give legal assistance to militants,” he said.
53 improvised bombs recovered in Chapainawabganj District
Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) recovered 53 improvised bombs from Jahurpur village in Chapainawabganj District of Rajshahi Division, reports Dhaka Tribune on June 9. Based on a tip-off, BGB conducted a drive and recovered the improvised bombs from the house of a Jahirul Islam. At the time of the recovery of the homemade bombs, no one was present at the house.
Bangladesh ranked among least peaceful countries in Global Peace Index 2019
Bangladesh ranked among the least peaceful countries in the world in the Global Peace 2019. slipping down eight notches from 2018, reports The Daily Star on June 13, the country was Placed 101 out of 163 countries and a global score of 2.128 in the index ‘t had ranked 93 with a score of 208-4 last year A total of 222974 million was the cost of violence Bangladesh, which was three percent of the GDP, the report said. GPI covers 99.7 per Cent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources.
Five suspects linked to the Easter Bombing extradited from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia extradited five suspects including National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ) member Ahamed Milhan Hayathu Mohamed (29). linked to the April 21 Easter bombings to Sri Lanka on June 14. reports Colombo Page on June 16. The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) said that Red Notice has helped the arrest of Sri Lanka bombing suspect Milhan and four others in Jeddah.
56 six percent of those involved in militant activities have general education’ background, finds survey
56 six percent of those involved in militant activities have general education’ background, according to survey by the Police Headquarters. reports The Daily Star on June 23. “We conducted the survey on 250 people. Arrested between 2015 and 2017 for their involvement in militancy, and found that most of them have come from general schools,” said Mohamad Moniruzzaman, Additional Deputy Inspector General (Intelligence) of police’s Anti-Terrorism unit (ATU). The initiative revealed that 22 percent of those surveyed had madrasa background. The remaining 22 per-cent are either uneducated or were students of English-medium schools. 80 percent of those with religious extremism and terrorism links were radicalised online through various social media platforms, while the rest 20 percent were influenced by their accomplices.
India – Internal Dynamics
Maoists raise retaliation threat against Jaleel’s murder in Kerala
The Communist party Of India- Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres have come up with a threat to the Police in connection with the encounter death of their leader C. P. Jaleel, reports Mathrubhumi on May 27. Maoist posters challenging the Police appeared at Thiruvambady in Kozhikode District of Kerala on May 26. The Maoists claimed that the police fired at C.P. Jaleel without any provocation and the Police officers who committed the murder will be dealt with at the right time. They had raised threat of retaliation against the Police prior to this incident also. They (Maoists) have declared support to the Thovarimala land strike held in Bathery of Wayanad. Communist party Of India (Marxist-Leninist) Red Flag (CPIML, Red Flag) workers are spear-heading the land strike. They had encroached the Thovarimala estate owned by Harrisons Malayalam Limited on April 20. The Police evicted the encroachers through legal action. Though there is no apparent protest, it is learnt the Red Flag workers are continuing with the land strike. The Maoists managed to stick posters in Thiruvambady despite the strict surveillance of the police. Maoist presence has been dentified in Wayanad, Malappuram and Palakkad Districts. It was the Wayanad based Maoist wing Kabani Dalam (armed squad) cadres who reached Thiruvambady in Wayanad. It is leamt that more new faces have joined the Maoist groups.
JMB and all its manifestations banned in India, notifies MHA
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) allegedly involved in the 2016 terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka was declared as an unlawful association by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on May 23, reports Times of India. A notification issued by MHA said that the outfit was planning to set up permanent bases within ten kilometers along Bangladesh border in several Districts of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. MHA said the outfit has committed and promoted acts of terrorism and has been engaged in radicalization and recruitment of youths for terrorist activities in India. “Therefore, the Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen Bangladesh or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Hindustan and all its manifestations have been inserted in the First Schedule to the Unlawful Activities (prevention) Act, 1967,” the notification said.
11 SF personnel injured in IED blast triggered by Maoists in Jharkhand
Eleven personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the State Police were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist in Seraikela Kharsawan District of Jharkhand in the early hours of May 28, reports The Hindu. The blast took place around 5 a.m. when a joint team of the CRPF’s special jungle warfare unit, Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA). and the State Police was carrying out an operation in the forests of Kuchai area in the District. The injured troops, eight of the CoBRA and rest belonging to the State Police, have been airlifted to State capital, Ranchi, police said. No further details of the attack were available at the time of reporting.
Myanmar based UWSA involved in supplying weapons to Indian insurgent groups, states report
No,’theast Now reports on May 28 that the surrender of United Liberation Front of Asom- Independent (ULFA-I) militants on March 18 has highlighted Myanmar’s United Wa State Army (UWSA) role in supplying weapons to Indian insurgents. The weapons surrendered by the ULFA-I militants had specific manufacturing marks indicating the weapons were manufactured by UWSA. The surrendered militants had laid down three AK-81(MQ) assault rifles, 1 AK 56 assault rifle, 2 Heckler & Koch assault rifles, 6 AK 81 magazines, 5 AK 56 magazines, 6 HK magazines, 1 Chinese hand grenade; 326 numbers of 7.62 mm ammunition; 232 numbers of 5.56 mm ammunition and 59 numbers of 9 mm ammunition.
Deprived Of caste credentials tribals threaten to join Maoists in Odisha
The deprived of caste credentials tribals from Doraguda village under Sindrimal Panchayat (village level local self-Government institution) in the Sadar Block (administrative unit) in Malkangiri District of Odisha, have threatened to join the Communist party Of India-Maoist before the media on May 29, reports Orissapost. The tribals said that bleak future stares their children in the absence of caste certificates. Many students are unable to join high schools due to lack of these certificates, although they approached higher-ups on the issue. their pleas were ignored. Due to lack of land title deeds, they are not given caste certificates, and this is affecting the future of their children, the tribals said. The tribals warned of adopting violent means and join the Maoists if this continues. Expressing anger, the tribals held the officials concerned responsible for the educational backwardness of their children.
Two SSB troopers killed in encounter with Maoists in Jharkhand
Two trooper was killed and four others were injured in an encounter between the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Communist party of India-Maoist cadres in forests of Taldangal in Dumka District of Jharkhand on June 2, reports First Post. Superintendent of Police YS Ramesh said, a search operation was going on when Maoists opened fire on troopers around 3.30 am, and in the retaliatory action, at least five Maoists received bullets as they reheated into the rorest. SSB trooper Niraj Chetri was killed while Rajesh Kumar Rai, Sonu Kumar, Satish Gujar and karan kumar were injured.
Huge haul of detonators seized in Odisha
The troopers Of the Border Security Force (BSF) while doing road opening party (ROP) duties. seized over 600 detonators, suspected of belonging to the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CA-Maoist), Kahmela town under Balimela Notified Area Council (NAC) in Malkangiri District of Odisha on June 1, reports Odisha TV. The detonators were dumped near a pond and recovered during a search operation as there is a strong presence of Maoists in the area, security has been beefed up
Secret Police informer killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh
A Police informer was hacked to death by Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres in Bastar District of Chhattisgarh late on June 1, reports Business Standard. The incident occurred when the deceased, identified as Chhannu Sodhi (30), was on a visit to Bastanar weekly market under Kodenar Police Station area of the District, a local Police official said. Sodhi was attacked by a small action team’ of Maoists (typically comprising four-five cadres) with axes, leaving him dead on the spot, he said. Sodhi was working as ‘gopaniya sainik’ (secret Police informer), who are appointed by Superintendent of Police (SP) at local level for anti-Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] operations, especially for gathering intelligence. Mostly surrendered cadres work as Police informers, but Sodhi had not been associated with the outlawed Maoists, the official added.
Employment to tribal youth must for tackling Naxal menace, says Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel
Asserting that providing employment to local youth IS a must for tackling Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] menace, Chief Minister (CM), Bhupesh Baghel on June 11, instructed that road construction work in Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)-affected areas, including Bastar, should be assigned to them, reports The Pioneer. In a review meeting of the Public Works Department (PWD), held at Mahanadi Bhawan in Naya Raipur on June 11, CM, Baghel instructed for dividing road construction works in Bastar region in small parts so as to provide the contract to local youth. Group of youths could also be assigned the job if the works are big, he said. The patch work and maintenance work should also be assigned to them. he added. By doing so the youth will become self-employed and will join the mainstream, the CM said. To implement this, the CM instructed the concerned officials to make necessary amendments in the present rules and regulations for construction works. CM also exhorted that no compromise should be made in maintaining quality of construction works and it should also be ensured that the work is completed within stipulated time frame.
Five SF personnel shot dead by Maoists in Jharkhand
Communist party of India-Maoist cadres shot dead five Police personnel at Kukru Bazaar under Tiruldih Police Station limits in Seraikela-Kharsawan District of Jharkhand on June 14, reports Hindustan Times. The Maoists also took away the weapons of the slain Police personnel and fled after killing them. “Maoists killed four of our Jawans in Kukru this evening. The attackers rode on two motorcycles and shot the police personnel when they were patrolling. We reached the spot and immediately brought in additional forces. The looting of weapons of the slain policemen indicates that it is the handiwork of Maoists. We are trying to ascertain the Maoist squad involved in the killings,” said Superintendent of Police (SP), Chandan Sinha. Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Avinash Kumar said two of the slain Police personnel were Assistant sub-Inspectors (ASIs), while two others were constables. The identity of another person killed in the incident could not be ascertained yet. the driver of the patrolling vehicle was also missing initially after the incident, but has now returned to the Tiruldih Police Station.
NSCN-K regrouping again, states report
Yung Aung faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang is regrouping again, reports Eastern Mirror on June 13. According to the report, leadership of NSCN-K has given orders for reopening of the base area and council headquarters at Taga in Sagaing region. NSCN-K has also given orders to retaliate if the Myanmar army initiates any new action.
Policeman killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh
A Policeman was killed by Communist Party of India-Maoist cadres at a weekly market in Mirtur village in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh on June 23, reports The Hindu. The incident took place around 2 pm when assistant constable Chaitu Kadti had gone to the market in Mirtur village with his family, Police said. A small action team’ of Naxals (typically comprising four to five cadres) suddenly stabbed Kadti with knives, killing him on the spot. And fled. The rebels did not harm the family members of Kadti. who was posted at Mirtur Police Station, the Police added
Nepal – Internal Dynamics
Four persons killed and seven others were injured in a string of blasts in Kathmandu of Kathmandu District in Province No. 3 on May 26, reports The Himalayan Times. Though no one claimed responsibility for the blasts, Nepal Police suspects the hand of Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Chand).
A pressure cooker bomb went off in a barber’s shop at Sukedhara, Kathmandu killing three persons and injuring four others. Their identities had not been established. However, Police suspect two of the deceased were CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres, those injured in Sukedhara blast are Hari Khadka, Surendra Maharjan, Jeet Kumar Thakur and Chhotu Thakur. Maharjan is the chairperson of CPN-Maoist-Chand aligned Newa Mukti Morcha in Kathmandu. Police claimed that the group led by Maharjan was using a room rented by the barber to make bombs.
Meanwhile, a cadre of CPN-Maoist-Chand was killed on the spot and another was injured after a powerful bomb went off on the ground floor of a rented house in Ghattekulo, Kathmandu. The deceased has been identified as Prajjwal Shahi. He was reportedly making a bomb when it accidentally went off. Rabin KC of Rukum. who was a room-mate of Shahi, sustained severe head injuries? A Police source told that Shahi and KC were making improvised explosive devices to be planted at a public place.
In yet another incident, two persons were injured when a bomb they were carrying on a motorcycle exploded in Nagdhunga, Kathmandu. They have been identified as CPN-Maoist-Chand cadres Akash Lama and Buddha Lama.
Meanwhile, Police areested seven persons in possession of four pressure cooker bombs, pamphlets of CPN-Maoist-Chand and other explosive materials from koteshwor, Kathmandu.
Monthly Fatalities
The following casualties, related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period May 26, 2019 to June 25, 2019:
| Civilian | Indian Security Personnel | Militant | Total | |
| Arunachal P | 00 | 02 | 00 | 02 |
| Left Wing | 07 | 06 | 04 | 17 |
| Total | 07 | 08 | 04 | 19 |
Two Vehicle torched in Makawanpur District
Two vehicles Were torched in Makawanpur District of Province No. 3 on May 27 after Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Chand) called for a nationwide bandh, reports The Himalayan Times. A minitruck was burnt down at Chaukitole in Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City-I along the Tribhuvan Highway. The vehicle has been completely destroyed in the incident, Likewise, a bus was burnt in Khani Gaun. Thaha Municipality-1 in northern Makawanpur.
Meanwhile, the nationwide bandh called by CPN-Maoist-Chandon May 27 has a slight impact on Kathmandu Valley, reports The Himalayan Times. However, impact of the bandh is relatively more outside the Valley. According to Police, lesser public vehicles are plying than usual and educational institutions have remained closed in Kathmandu due to the shutdown. Effects of the bandh have been felt around the country after multiple blasts in assorted locations of the capital city claimed four lives on May 26 on the eve of the shutdown.
Reinforcements sent to Solukhumbu District after CPN-Maoist-Chand party’s ‘suspicious activities’
Reinforcements were sent to Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 on June 3 after Netra Bikram Chandled Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist-Chand) party’s suspicious activities’. reports Kathmandu post. On June 3 afternoon, reports surfaced that the CPN-Maoist-Chand had planned an attack on a Police post at Chheskam village in Mahakulung Of Solukhumbu District prompting concerns among high-level security officials in Kathmandu. The Solukhumbu local administration denied that there was an attack or any plan of attack on the Police post by the Chand outfit. The office, how- ever, admitted that activities of the CPN-Maoist-Chand were on the rise in the District in recent days.
Former Maoist child soldier files petition at UN Human Rights Office demanding justice
Lenin Bista, a former Maoist child soldier, on June 6 petitioned the united Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva demanding justice for the thousands of former child soldiers who have been largely left Out Of the transitional justice process, reports Kathmandu Post. The petition seeks UN support to asking the Nepal Government to prioritise justice for former child soldiers, recalling that a serious crime was committed against the thousands of minors forced to fight on behalf Of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist during the 10-year armed insurgency. Thousands of Maoist fighters like Bista had been disqualified for being minors during the verification process conducted by United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) in 2007. Among the 4,008 disqualified combatants, 2,973 were minors while the remaining 1,035 had joined the Maoist people’s Liberation Army after the first cease-fire of May 26, 2006 six months before the peace deal was signed. The Government had provided between Rs.500,000 and Rs.800,000 for the combatants who voluntary retirement. Chose However, those who were disqualified didn’t receive any substantial support, except for a few thousand rupees from the United Nations.
IED recovered in Udayapur District
An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was recovered in the premises of Triyuga Municipality office in Udayapur District of Province No. 1 on June 21, reports The Himalayan Times. Locals informed the Udayapur District Police after a pressure cooker was discovered wrapped inside a pink-coloured bag in the process of cleaning the Municipality premises. A bomb disposal unit from the Nepal Army found pieces of cloth, wires and tape inside the pressure cooker.
CPN-Maoist-Chand ‘central leader’ arrested in Kathmandu city
Police arrested Nar Bahadur Karki, a ‘central leader’ of Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist- Chand) from Baluwatar Kathmandu city Of Province NO. 3 on June 24, reports Republica. Police said “Karki has been arrested in connection with his involvement in the activities of the Chand-led outfit.”
Sri Lanka – Internal Dynamics
PM vows to prevent IS from raising its head in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan Prime Minister (PM) Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed to take security measures to prevent Islamic State (IS) from raising its head in Sri Lanka, reports The Hindu On May 26. The PM after meeting with a group of representatives of civil societies and trade union collective claimed that Security Forces and police have been able to apprehend everyone involved in the Easter Sunday attacks. He also added that but this doesn’t mean that this is the end of this type of terrorism. We now have to take certain measures of counter-terrorism to ensure that the country will not face terrorism again’.
Another suspect arrested for placing bombs near a school in Baduraliya
Police arrested another suspect in connection with placing a parcel of explosives near the Grade one class of Palindanuwara Dikhena Junior School in Baduraliya Of Kalutara District, reports Colombo Page on May 27. The 31 year old suspect is the brother of a suspect arrested earlier for placing the parcel containing two locally built bombs and 13 foreign made bombs near the school.
One soldier killed, two injured in an explosion in Northern Province
At least one soldier was killed and two other soldiers were injured when an old bomb exploded in Vasawilan area in Palaly of Jaffna District on June 1. reports Colombo Page. The injured soldiers have been admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
All Muslim Ministers decide to resign citing Government’s failure to ensure safety of Muslims following Easter Sunday attacks
All Muslim Ministers including Cabinet, State and Deputy Ministers in the Government on June 3 decided to resign from their Ministerial portfolios citing the Government’s failure to ensure the safety of Muslims following Easter Sunday attacks, reports Colombo Page. Minister of Highways & Road and Petroleum Development Resources Development Kabir Hashim announced the decision after a news conference at Temple Trees. Accordingly. Cabinet Ministers Rishad Bathiudeen, Rauff Hakeem. Kabir Hashim, AHM Haleem and five Deputy Ministers including Deputy Ministers Ali Shahir Moulana and AHM Fowzie have decided to resign from their posts. Minister Kabir Hashim stated that the Ministers decided to resign from their posts so as not to impede the ongoing investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. He also urged the authorities to investigate the allegations against his team. After resigning from the portfolios, the Ministers have decided to stay in the Government as back-benchers in the Parliament.
Meanwhile, Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara speaking at the security media briefing on June 3 said 2289 persons were arrested after the Easter Sunday suicide attacks on April 21, reports Colombo Page. The Spokesman said 2289 suspects were arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks during subsequent searches conducted across the island and regarding communal violence in Northwestern Province. Among the total arrested 423 persons have been remanded and another 211 are being detained at police stations and questioned while 1 ,655 persons have been released on bail.
Sri Lanka situation ‘extremely worrying’, say OIC envoys
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) envoys based in Sri Lanka have cautioned, the Government that Communal violence targeting Muslims in the country has regional and global security implications and further urged the Government to take “every measure necessary” to prevent such incidents, reports The Hindu on June 4. “The developing situation over the past few days has been extremely worrying with regards to the safety and protection of the Sri Lankan Muslim community. including some foreign Muslim refugees. The lives and livelihoods of Muslims, including their local stores and large business establishments, are threatened by the prevailing conditions with unforeseen. dangerous consequences,” they said in a joint statement on June 4.
Three arrested with a cache of high-tech communication equipment in Western Province
Three suspects have been arrested with a haul of state-of-the-art telecommunication equipment including high-tech mobile phones Three arrested with a cache of high-tech communication equipment in Western Province Three suspects have been arrested with a haul of state-of-the-art telecommunication equipment including high-tech mobile phones during a raid of a house at Eththukala in Negombo in Western province on June 7, reports Colombo Page. Police Spokesman Superintendent Police (SP) Ruwan Gunasekara said that 402 iPhones, 17,400 SIM cards. 60 routers and three laptops were among the items that were seized. One of the three suspects arrested is a Chinese national while the other two are res- idents of Negombo and Kalpitiya.
Government hiding truth over Easter attacks, says cardinal Malcolm Ranjith
Malcolm Ranjith, the head Of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka, on June 20 said that there is a “total lack of interest” in determining why intelligence reports on the aster attacks, that killed more than 250 people, were ignored, reports Colombo Page. “There was a serious lack of responsibility on the part of the government,” Malcolm Ranjith told reporters. “Now they have appointed all kinds of committees and commissions and there is bickering going on between the sides, you know, (about) who is responsible.”
Emergency Regulations extended by another month
An Extraordinary Gazette notification was issued extending the Emergency Regulations by another month, reports Daily Mirror on June 22 This was the second occasion where the emergency regulations were extended after the Easter Sunday attacks. Emergency Regulations provides provisions to the armed forces to take measures to ensure peace in the country.
Meanwhile, the Parliament on June 21 approved the regulations under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act to ban three Muslim organisations National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ). Jamathei Millathu Ibraheem (JMI) and Wilayat As Seylani (WAS), reports Daily Mirror. The gazette notification signed by the President under Section 27 of the Prevention of the Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act was presented by House Leader Lakshman Kiriella. It bans the obtaining of membership in these organisations, providing using uniforms, leadership, emblems and flags belonging to these organisations and the aiding and abetting with members of those organisations. Anyone found guilty of the regulations of the gazette notification would be liable to a 20-year jail term with their assets being confiscated.
Separately, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe On June 21 said all living suspects responsible for the Easter Sunday bomb attacks have been apprehended by the security forces so far as two months have elapsed since the carnage, reports Daily Mirror. The Prime Minister further said “Better be careful if you have had even a cup of tea with members of Zahran group as the security forces will question you. The security forces will ask me as to why I divulged all these but I will tell them that I revealed these to do justice to them. Many have questioned us as to what the government had done about the Easter Sunday attacks. Therefore, those who question should know what the security forces have done.”
In the meantime, the Attorney General has directed the acting IGP to initiate criminal investigations against nine high ranking Police officers for allegedly failing to prevent or minimise Easter Sunday attacks, reports Daily News on June 21. coordinating Officer to Attorney General Dappula de Livera, State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne told that the Attorney General has decided to issue these directions after taking into consideration the final report dated June 7, 2019 titled Special Board of Inquiry Appointed to Inquire into the series Of Incidents Related to the Explosions that occurred at Several Places in the Island on April 21, 2019.
INTERNATIONAL
Idlib attacks triggering mass displacement: NGO
Syrian NGOs decried on Friday, May 31 the inaction of the international community to mounting violence in the last Jihadist stronghold of Idlib, saying it had triggered the biggest wave of displaced people since the war began. As well as killing dozens of civilians, the recent bombardments by Syrian and Russian forces in northwest Syria have pushed 300,000 people towards Turkey’s border, the NGOs said at a press conference in Istanbul.
“This is the single largest mass displacement in Syria since the beginning of the crisis” in 2011. They said in a statement. More than two-thirds of those displaced are living without shelter, with border camps already running at double capacity, they added.
A September deal was supposed to avert a full-out regime offensive on the province and adjacent areas held by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. But the Jihadists have refused to leave the area, and the deal is on the verge of collapse as Syrian and Russian forces ramp up air strikes and rocket fire.
“The entire world is watching the massacre that is taking place and letting it pass in silence. The United Nations hasn’t lifted even its little finger,” Mohammad Zahed A1-Masri of the Alliance of Syrian NGOs said.
The civil rights groups called for immediate action by the UN Security Council to end the escalation and put pressure for talks. “The UN is not playing a constructive role in Syria by refusing to name the responsible party in this escalation,” said Saleh.
1,300 civilians killed in air war on IS
The US-led coalition said on Friday. May 31 it had unintentionally killed more than 1,300 civilians in air strikes during its fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria since 2014. The figure is far lower than the death tolls given by groups which have monitored the conflicts in the two countries. “The coalition conducted 34,502 strikes between August 2014 and the end of April 2019,” it said in a statement.
During this period, it “assesses at least 1,302 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes”. The coalition said it was still assessing 111 additional claims of civilian’s deaths, and was ready to receive new allegations or fresh evidence to review.
The coalition has repeatedly said it does all it can to avoid civilian deaths. Amnesty International welcomed the latest acknowledgement of responsibility, but said the real civilian death toll was likely much higher.
“The coalition remains deeply in denial about the devastating scale of the civilian casualties caused by their operations in both Iraq and Syria,” said Donatella Rovera from the London-based group. And while the coalition has admitted responsibility after Cases were investigated by rights groups, it has failed to “provide reasons for the civilian casualties”, she said. “Without a clear examination of what went wrong in each case, lessons can never be learned,” Rovera said.
In a report released last month, Amnesty and airstrike monitor Airwars found that coalition air strikes killed 1,600 civilians just in the four-months blitz to oust IS from the Syrian city of Raqa.
Airwars, an NGO which monitors civilian casualties from air strikes worldwide, estimates more than 7,900 civilians have been killed in coalition raids well in excess of the total acknowledged by the coalition.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, says coalition strikes have taken the lives of 3,800 civilians in Syria alone. But several offensives with coalition backing chipped away at the “caliphate-until it was declared eliminated on March 23.
N Korea ‘executed’ officials after failed Trump summit
North Korea executed its special envoy to the United States following the collapse of the second summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump. a South Korean newspaper reported on Friday, May 31.
The Chosun llbo said Kim Hyok Chol, who laid the groundwork for the Hanoi meeting and accompanied Kim on his private train, was executed by firing squad for “betraying the supreme leader” after he was “won over to the US” during pre-summit negotiations. “Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport along with four senior foreign ministry officials following an investigation,” the newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying. The other officials were not named.
Asked about the account, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was trying to verify it. “We’ve seen the reporting to which you’re referring. We’re doing our best to check it out,” he told reporters on a visit to Berlin.
“l don’t have anything else to add to that today.” Kim Hyok Chol was the North’s counterpart of US special representative Stephen Biegun in the run-up to the Hanoi summit in February. South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, declined to comment on the report.
Some previous South Korean reports of North Korean purges and executions have later proved inaccurate. The paper also said Kim Jong Un’s interpreter Shin Hye Yong was sent to a prison camp for a mistake at the summit.
She failed to translate Kim’s new proposal when Trump declared “no dear and walked away from the table. Chosun reported, citing another unnamed diplomatic Source. Kim Jong Un and Trump loft the Vietnamese capital without a deal after they failed to reach agreement on rolling back Pyongyang’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
The North has since sought to raise the pressure and carried out two short-range missile tests in May. Senior party official Kim Yong Cho’, the North’s counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in nuclear talks, was also sent to a labour camp, the paper said.
Blast at Russian explosives plant injures 42
A blast at a major explosives plant in central Russia on Saturday, June 1 injured 42 people and damaged nearly 200 buildings nearby, said local officials, Russian news agencies reported.
The explosion happened at the “Kristall” factory in Dzerzhinsk about 400 kilometres east of Moscow, in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
A local health ministry official quoted by the Tass news agency said 42 people had suffered light or moderate injuries, an increase on earlier estimate.
Of the injured, 14 had to be hospitalised, but no one had been killed, said the spokesman.
Earlier, health ministry officials told news agencies that the wounded had “shrapnel wounds of mild and moderate severity” and that they were receiving medical assistance.
The force of the blast damaged five factory buildings and 180 houses nearby. The deputy governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Dmitry Krasnov. told Russian state television that two people were missing.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had Opened an investigation into potential violations of industrial safety at the plant.
10 killed in Israeli attack On Syria following rocket fire
Israel carried out air strikes Syria on Sunday, June 2 in response to rare rocket fire from the neighbouring country, its military said, with a war monitor reporting 10 killed including Syrian soldiers and foreign fighters.
Israel’s army said two rockets were fired from Syria at Mount Hermon in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights late Saturday and one had been “located within Israeli territory,”
In response, the army attacked “two Syrian artillery batteries. A number of observation and intelligence posts on the Golan Heights, and an SA-2 aerial defence battery,” its statement said.
The Israeli attack left three Syrian soldiers and seven foreign fighters dead. the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. According to the Britain-based war monitor, which did not specify the nationality of the foreign fighters, they died in missile strikes close the capital Damascus where Syrian troops, Iranian forces and Hezbollah fighters are stationed.
Syrian anti-aircraft defences fired against “enemy missiles” from Israel targeting positions in south-west Damascus, the official SANA news agency quoted a military source as saying.
The Israeli army said its own aerial defence systems were activated due to the Syrian anti-aircraft fire, but none Of the Syrian fire hit Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had Ordered the strike.
Israel says it is determined to prevent its arch foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria, where Tehran backs President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s eight-year war which has killed more than 370,000 people.
The Jewish state insists that it has the right to continue to target positions in Syria held by Iran and Lebanese ally Hezbollah out of self-defence.
China warns its citizens of police harassment, crime in America
China on Tuesday, June 3 issued a pair of travel alerts to citizens going to the United States, warning them of police harassment and crime as tensions soar between the global powers.
The world’s two largest economies have been locked in a protracted trade war, and any major drop in Chinese tourism to the United States could cost billions to the US economy.
While it did not threaten to curb tours to the United States, China has used tourism as a weapon during previous diplomatic rows with South Korea, Japan and the Philippines. Tuesday’s warnings were issued as China also angrily hit back at US criticism of its human rights record on the 30th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, adding to tensions.
The foreign ministry said US law enforcement agencies have “repeatedly” used methods such as immigration and on-site interviews to “harass” Chinese citizens in the US.
It urged Chinese nationals and Chinese-funded institutions in the US to be cautious and “increase awareness and strengthen preventive measures”. “This is a response to the circumstances, China would not have done this if it was unnecessary,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.
“At the same time, I want to emphasise China holds an open attitude towards normal people-to-people exchanges and contacts between our two countries, but such exchanges and Contact must be based on mutual respect.”
A separate travel warning by China’s culture and tourism ministry warned: “Recently. shootings, robberies and thefts have occurred frequently in the United States.” It urged Chinese tourists to “fully assess the risk” and “improve their awareness of safety and security”.
Three million Chinese visited the United States last year, down from 3.2 million in 2017, according to the US National Travel and Tourism Office. They represent the fifth largest group of foreign visitors, spending $36.4 billion last year. This is the second travel advisory for the US issued by China Over the past 12 months.
The Chinese embassy in Washington last July warned Chinese tourists to be aware of issues including the threat of public shootings and robberies. searches and seizures by customs agents. telecommunications fraud and natural disasters.
3.3m people have fled Venezuela crisis: UN
An estimated 3.3 million people have fled the crisis in Venezuela since the start of 2016, including one million who have left the country since November, the United Nations said on Friday. June 7.
“The pace of the outflow from Venezuela has been staggering,” the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (10M) said in a joint statement Economically-devastated Venezuela is suffering from short-ages of food, medicine and other essentials amid a power struggle between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognised as interim president by more than 50 countries including the United States.
American actress and UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie will travel this weekend to a Colombian the region on Venezuela border “to assess the humanitarian response to exodus,” the agency said.
Colombia is hosting about 1.3 million people displaced from Venezuela. the most of any country, followed by Peru, Chile and Ecuador. The joint UNHCR-IOM envoy for the crisis, Guatemala’s former vice president Eduardo Stein, said there is “an urgent need to support host communities” in the countries receiving displaced Venezuelans.
Iran rejects idea of re-opening N-talks
Iran on Friday, June 7 rejected an idea mooted by France of re-opening nuclear talks, warning that seeking to broaden an existing landmark treaty could lead to its collapse. President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that his goal Of “regional peace” would require new negotiations, adding that Paris aimed to rein in Iran’s nuclear and ballistics activities and its regional influence.
He made the comments at a press conference with US President Donald Trump, who last year withdrew from the multi-lateral agreement known as the JCPOA. But Tehran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi warned on Friday that
“bringing up issues that are beyond the JCPOA does not help in saving the JCPOA, but will instead cause increased distrust among the remaining parties” to the deal.
European leaders, bitterly angered by Trump’s pullout from the deal in May last year, have struggled to find ways to salvage it in the face of Washington’s re-instatement of tough sanctions.
In a statement on the foreign ministry’s website, Mousavi said European parties to the deal had been “incapable of acting upon their commitments”. Under such circumstances, he said, making new demands would “only help America in nearing its Objective the collapse of the JCPOA”.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was an agreement between world powers including France and the United States, offering Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.
Bulgaria probes IS-inspired school student planning bomb attack
Bulgarian prosecutors on Saturday, June 8 said they had opened a probe into a bomb attack being planned by a student from an elite high school who was inspired by Islamic State.
The student was “extremely intelligent” and lived in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second city, deputy prosecutor general Ivan Gueshev said, adding that this was the first investigation of its kind in the country.
“Several home-made explosive devices were found at his home, including a bomb made with pipes and electric wires of a type often used in the United States,” he said.
“Furthermore, 14.5 kilogrammes of the explosive used in attacks in Belgium and France, were found in a plastic container surrounded by nails to cause maximum destruction,” he added.
“Furthermore, 14.5 kilogrammes of the explosive used in attacks in Belgium and France, were found in a plastic container surrounded by nails to cause maximum destruction,” he added.
Gueshev did not identify the explosive but said it was the same as the one used in a 2012 attack on Israeli tourists at the airport in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Burgas, in which six people died and more than 30 were injured. “This appears to be a classic case of the recruitment and radicalization of a minor” on the internet, he said. An Islamic State flag was also round in a room which was serving as the workshop.
The suspect had managed to make explosives from commonly accessed materials and that too in the space of a week. Gueshev said.
He did not say if the attack targeted Plovdiv, which is currently the European capital of culture and attracts many tourists.
The student has been released after arrest and is receiving counselling. Bulgaria, which neighbours Turkey, is used by many jihadists to travel and return from the Middle East but no national has so far been caught for planning attacks on home soil.
Europe in ‘no position’ to criticise Iran: Zarif
European countries are in “no position” to criticise Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday, June 9 ahead of a visit by his German counterpart Heiko Maas.
Germany’s top diplomat is due in Tehran on Monday, against a back-drop of Iranian pressure for Europe to uphold commitments made under a 2015 nuclear deal since abandoned by the United States.
“Europeans are certainly in no position to criticise Iran, even about issues that have nothing to do with” the agreement, Zarif said in televised remarks to journalists. Iran signed the landmark accord with China, Russia, Germany, Britain, France and the United States, leading to sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme.
But last year, US President Donald Trump walked away from the accord and Washington has since imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran. European and Western policies “have only caused damage in the region,” Zarif said.
“Now Some countries like Germany have stopped selling arms to Saudi Arabia tor bombarding the people of Yemen, some other countries haven’t done so,” he added. “In general, the West has allowed the autocratic regimes in our region to commit crimes. ” In May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran would no longer implement some parts of the nuclear deal and threatened to go further if the remaining parties failed to deliver sanctions relief.
Zarif said that Europeans have “a duty” to ensure that Iran’s economic relations return to normal. On Friday Iran rejected an idea mooted by France to re-open nuclear talks, warning that seeking to broaden the existing agreement could lead to its collapse.
France smashes neo-Nazi cell Over plot against Jews, Muslims
French police have smashed a neo-Nazi cell accused of plotting attacks on Jewish or Muslim places of worship. legal sources said on Tuesday, June 11.
Five members of the group. Who were “close in ideology to the neo-Nazi movement” were charged between September and May over the alleged plot, a source close to the investigation said.
“The investigation suggested they were developing an ill-defined plot to carry out an attack, likely to target a place of worship, the judicial source said. The sources gave no details of specific targets or motives.
“The investigation suggested they were developing an ill-defined plot to carry out an attack, likely to target a place of worship,” the judicial source said. The sources gave no details of specific targets or motives.
Police in the southeastern city of Grenoble first arrested a man on weapons charges in September 2018. The investigation led them to the four other suspects, two of them minors. Anti-terrorism investigators took over the investigation in January and charged the suspects with terror offences. including making and transporting explosive devices and being part of a terrorist conspiracy.
While France has repeatedly been targeted by Jihadists since 2015, a handful of alleged plots involving far-right extremists have made headlines in recent months. In November, six people Were arrested over an alleged plot to attack President Emmanuel Macron. In July 2017. a 23-year-old was charged with plotting to assassinate the president at France’s Bastille Day military parade.
‘UAE paid businessman to spy on Trump admin’
A United Arab Emirates businessman linked to a probe of illegal donations to Donald Trump’s political campaign was paid by his country’s intelligence agency to spy on the IJS president’s administration, The Intercept reported on Monday, June 10.
Rashid al-Malik received tens of thousands of dollars a month for gleaning information on Trump administration policy toward the Middle East in 2017, the website said, citing a former US official and documents. He reported back to the UAE’s National Intelligence Service on topics of interest to the oil-producing Gulf state including US efforts to mediate a Gulf feud involving Qatar as well as meetings between US officials and Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, The Intercept said.
Late last year, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported that US federal prosecutors were investigating whether foreigners illegally funnelled donations to Trump’s inaugural committee and a pro-Trump fundraising super PAC,
Al-Malik, chairman of the investment firm Hayah Holdings, was interviewed by special counsel Robert Muller’s office as part of the probe, according to the New York Times. The Times cited people familiar with the inquiry as saying it focused on whether people from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates used straw donors to make contributions in the hope of buying influence over US policy.
The report was denied by al-Malik’s lawyer, who told The Intercept that his client was “not an intelligence operative”. “He has never been ‘tasked’ to deliver information about the inner workings of the Trump administration,” Coffield wrote in an email to the website.
He has, however, “on numerous occasions, discussed various business ideas for IJAE projects in the US,” the lawyer was quoted as saying. The Intercept report Came after the Justice Department last week said George Nader, a well-connected Middle East fixer for the Trump campaign. was arrested for possessing child pornography. Nader was a witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling.
Journalist gunned down in Mexico
A journalist was murdered on Tuesday, June 11 in southeast Mexico, her former employer and other news outlets reported. Norma Sarabia was a correspondent for the newspaper Tabasco Today for 15 years and most recently worked for other local media outlets, the newspaper said in its report of her death. She was attacked by two armed men riding a motorbike who shot her several times outside her home in Tabasco state, the paper reported.
Three killed by French fire on ‘suspect vehicle’ in north Mali
Three people were killed in northern Mali when French counterterror forces fired on a vehicle after the driver failed to halt for an inspection, the French military said on Wednesday. June 12.
The incident took place on Saturday west of Timbuktu, one of three northern Malian towns that were recaptured from Jihadists by French and Malian forces in 2013 but which is still periodically attacked by Islamist radicals.
“A unit of the Barkhane force was confronted with a suspect vehicle that refused to submit to an inspection,” said a statement from the chief of staff’s spokesman in Paris, referring to the 4,500-strong French mission helping Mali and surrounding countries fight Jihadists.
Fighting kills 50 in DR Congo
At least 50 people have been killed in violence in lturi, a volatile province of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (ORC), governor Jean Bamanisa Saidi said on Thursday. June 13.
“As of the day before yesterday, we had a figure of some 50 dead, but it’s true. we are aware that there are other cases.” he told AFP Other sources said the toll could be 60 or more than 70.
The fighting began last Friday and escalated on Monday, affecting the territory of Djugu north of the provincial capital of Bunia, and causing many people to nee their homes, the sources said.
The cause of the flare-up was not immediately clear, but it occurred in a region where tens of thousands died in clashes between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups between 1999 and 2003.
S Arabia warns Iran over airport attack
Riyadh accused its arch-foe Tehran on Thursday, June 13 of ordering a Yemeni rebel missile strike which wounded 26 people at a Saudi airport and warned of “grave consequences”.
“The continuation of the Iranian regime’s aggression and reckless escalation, whether directly or through its militias, will result in grave consequences, “deputy defence minister Prince Khaled bin Salman tweeted.
Yemen’s Huthi rebels hit the civilian airport in the popular mountain resort of Abha in the southwest of the kingdom on Wednesday, damaging the arrivals hall and forcing its closure for several hours.
“We will confront the Huthi militia’s crimes with unwavering resolve,” said Prince Khaled, a son of King Salman. “Their targeting of a civilian airport exposes to the world the recklessness of Iran’s escalation and the danger it poses to regional security and stability,”
Tehran has always denied providing more than moral support to the rebels. Riyadh has accused the rebels of being Iranian proxies ever since it led its allies in launching a military intervention against them in March 2015.
“The Iranian regime is the only party in the region that has been pursuing reckless escalation, through the use of ballistic missiles and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to directly target civilian installations and innocent civilians,” Prince Khaled said. “For 40 years, the Iranian regime has been spreading chaos, death and destruction, by sponsoring and financing terrorist organisations including the Huthis.”
US ultimatum on Russia missile deal ‘inappropriate’
Turkey’s defence minister on Thursday, June 13 described as “inappropriate” an ultimatum from the US urging Ankara to abandon its controversial purchase of a Russian missile defence system.
Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan last week sent a letter telling Turkey that it had to renounce the S-400 system by July 31, or Turkish pilots training on the F-35 fighter jet programme would be expelled from the United States.
The letter said agreements with Turkish firms subcontracted for manufacturing parts of the stealth war- plane would also be cancelled. In a phone call, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told Shanahan that the letter’s wording was “inappropriate and not in line with the spirit of (Nato)”, according to a ministry statement.
They reportedly discussed the F-35 programme and agreed that talks would continue. Turkey’s push to buy the S-400 system has strained relations between the Nato allies, with the US worried it could give Russia access to sensitive technical knowledge if operated alongside its fighter jets.
It faces potentially crippling economic sanctions if it goes ahead with the purchase. But Turkey has repeatedly stated it is a “done deal” and Akar said last month that Turkish personnel had already been sent to Russia for training on the S-400.
“No one can give Turkey an ultimatum”, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Thursday. He repeated an offer to set up a joint working group to resolve US concerns, saying President Donald Trump looked favourably on the idea but that it was rejected by “some institutions” in the US.
Gunmen kill 40 in central Nigeria
At last, 40 people have died and dozens were injured in raids by armed bandits in eight remote Nigerian villages, the emergency services said on Thursday, June 13.
Groups of gunmen riding motor-cycles stormed into the farming and herding villages in Shiroro district of central Niger state on Sunday, firing indiscriminately and stealing cattle. “For now, 40 bodies have been recovered,” Niger State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) spokesman Ibrahim Audu Hussein told AFP.
“Search and rescue teams are still recovering bodies in the bush and the final toll will be announced later.” he said. Dozens of people were injured in the raids which forced over 2,000 villagers out of their homes, he added.
Hussein said the bandits took away hundreds of herds of cattle from the villages. The villages include Kwaki. Ajatayi, Gwassa, Barden Dawaki. Alewa and Sarkin Pawa. News of the attacks was slow to emerge due to the “difficult terrain” and poor telecommunication in the area, said Salihu Garba, another emergency Official.
The bandits are believed to have launched the attacks from Rugu forest which straddles Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states. Kidnapping and cattle rustling gangs have been terrorising communities in states in the country’s northwest but attacks in Niger state are rare.
Saudi Arabia intercepts five Yemeni rebel drones
Saudi forces on Friday, June 14 intercepted five drones launched by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, in a second assault on an airport in the kingdom’s southwest in two days.
The drones targeted Abha airport, where a rebel missile on Wednesday left 26 civilians wounded, and the nearby city of Khamis Mushait, which houses a major air base, the coalition said in a statement released by Saudi state media.
The latest raid comes amid spiralling regional tensions after Washington accused Iran of carrying out attacks that left two tankers ablaze in the Gulf of Oman, the second such incident in a month in the strategic sea lane. “The royal Saudi air defence force and air force success-fully intercepted and destroyed five unmanned drone aircraft launched by Huthi militia towards Abha international airport and Khamis Mushait,” the coalition statement said without reporting any casualties.
The airport was operating normally with no fights disrupted, the statement added. Huthi-run Al-Masirah TV reported earlier that the Iran-aligned rebels had carried out drone attacks on Abha Airport. Wednesday’s missile strike hit the civil airport in the mountain resort of Abha, which is a popular summer getaway for Saudis seeking escape from the searing heat of Riyadh or Jeddah. During a media tour of the airport on Thursday, Saudi authorities said they had closed a part of the arrival lounge after the missile tore a hole in the roof and disrupted flights for several hours.
Britain warns of ‘great risk’ Of escalation in Gulf
Foreign Secretary British Jeremy Hunt warned On Sunday, June 16 there was a “great risk” of escalation in the Gulf, adding that Washington wanted the situation to end in negotiations.
A Japanese-owned tanker, the and Koku ka Courageous, Norwegian-operated one, the Front Altair, were attacked on Thursday and left ablaze as they were passing through the Gulf of Oman.
Britain has concluded that responsibility “almost certainly” lies with Iran. Asked on BBC television about the possibility of escalation, he said: “This is the great risk of the situation that we are in. Both sides in this dispute think that the other side wouldn’t want a war, we are urging all sides to de-escalate. Having spoken to President Trump. I am absolutely clear that for America, they want this to end in negotiations.
The damaged Kokuka Courageous arrived Sunday at a UAE anchorage site as Saudi Arabia accused arch-rival Iran of being behind the attack. US President Donald Trump has said the twin attacks had Iran “written all over it” rejecting Tehran’s vehement denial.
The owner of the Japanese vessel said Friday in Tokyo that the crew saw a “flying object” prior to a second blast on board, citing two apparent attacks Hunt defended his assertion that Iran was almost certain” to blame for the attacks.
The research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute defence and security think-tank in London, who specialises in Iranian politics, said that more information needed to be delivered.
Rocket fire kills 12 civilians in Syria
Rocket fire has killed 12 civilians in a regime-held village in northwestern Syria, state news agency Sana has said blaming former A1-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham for the attack.
Sana said 15 people were also wounded late on Sunday, June 16 in the attack on Al-Wadihi village south of Aleppo city and said HTS. Which controls parts of Aleppo’s country-side as well as most of neighboring Idlib, was responsible,
It published graphic pictures purporting to show some of the victims in a hospital in the aftermath of the attack. including of bandaged men and children lying on stretchers, thick blankets covering their bodies. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the same death toll saying five children were among those killed and also blamed Jihadists based in rural Aleppo for the attack.
30 killed in triple suicide bombing in NE Nigeria
Thirty people were killed late on Sunday, June 16 in a triple suicide bombing in northeast Nigeria, emergency services reported. in an attack bearing the hallmarks of the BOKO Haram Jihadist group Three detonated their explosives a hall in Konduga, 38 kilometers from the the Borno state capital where football fans were match on TV. “The death toll from the attack has so far increased to 30. We have over 40 people injured, Usman Kachalla, head of operations at the state Emergency Management Agency (SEW). Said on Monday.
An earlier toll from the blasts, the bloodiest in months. gave 17 dead and 17 The attack happened around 9:00 pm (1800 GMT). Ali Hassan. the leader of a self-defence group in the town, said. The owner of hall prevented one of the bombers from entering the packed venue.
Kachala said the high number of fatalities was because emergency responders had been unable to reach the site of the blast quickly. Nor were they equipped to deal with large numbers of wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack bore the imprint of BOKO Haram. Which has led a decade long campaign to establish a hard ire state in northeast Nigeria.
The last suicide attack was in April this year suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the garrison town Of Monguno, killing a soldiers and a vigilante and injuring another soldier.
Konduga has been repeatedly targeted by suicide bombers from a Boko Haram faction loyal to long-time leader Abu-bakr Shekau.
Russia says victim of US cyber-attacks ‘for years’
The kremlin on Tuesday. June 19 said the victim of US cyber attacks “for Years” following a New York times report that Washington is stepping up digital incursions into Russia’s power grid. “we I’m talking about several of our financial and media organisations, states institutions and critical infrastructure have been under attack for several years,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The cyber-attacks “come from various western countries, including the US,” he added. Peskov said that president Vladimir Putin had “Several times suggested to Washington and his American counterpart to work together in the field of cyber security. These suggestions have been rejected by our American colleagues.”
The Times at the weekend repotted current and former government officials describing the classified deployment of American computer code inside Russia’s power grid and Other targets. The action is intended partly as a warning but also to the US poised to conduct cyber strikes in the event of a major conflict with Russia, the newspaper said.
US President Donald Trump reacted with fury to the report, calling it on Twitter a “virtual act of Treason” and rejecting the paper’s claims. The Times report came after an investigation by IJS special counsel Robert Mueller of alleged hacking by Russia’s GRU intelligence agency and social media manipulation by Russia’s Internet Research Agency to benefit Trump’s election campaign.
Iran says CIA spy network dismantled
Iran said on Tuesday, June 19 it has dismantled a new espionage network linked to the US Central Intelligence Agency and arrested a number of spies.
“Following clues in the American intelligence services, we recently found the new recruits Americans had hired and dismantled a new network,” state news agency IRNA said, quoting an intelligence ministry official.
It said some members of the CIA network had been arrested and handed over to the judiciary, while others still required “additional investigations”. In what it termed a “wide-reaching blow” to US intelligence, IRNA said Tehran had carried out the operation in cooperation with “foreign allies”, without naming any state.
The agency’s source did not specify how many foreign agents were arrested or if they were operating only in Iran. In a programme aired on Tuesday. Iranian state television gave details of a 2013 operation to dismantle another CIA network.
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. 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.
