Terrorism Watch

Source http://m.timesofindia.com/world/us/102-countries-pledge-not-to-oppose-UN-action-on-genocide/articleshow/49512935.cms UNITED NATIONS: More than 100 countries have signed a "Code of Conduct" pledging not to vote against a credible UN Security Council resolution seeking to prevent or end genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.  The initiative was launched on Friday, the eve of the UN's 70th anniversary, by Liechtenstein's Foreign Minister Aurelia Frick who called the code "a catalyst for a culture of zero tolerance for atrocity crimes within the council."  She said it would also serve as a catalyst for political accountability between the council and the rest of the 193 UN member states.  While not legally binding, the Code of Conduct reflects growing concern at the power of the five veto-wielding council members — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — to veto a resolution on atrocity crimes.

JUBA: Eighty civilians, including 57 children, were killed in just one county in war-torn Unity state between October 4 and 22, according to a group of humanitarian organizations monitoring civilian casualties in South Sudan.  Twenty-nine of the children drowned after running into swamps to hide from attacks in Leer County. There were reports of widespread use of sexual violence, including more than 50 rape cases, said the Protection Cluster, representing 60 local and international organizations.  South Sudan's military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said Saturday that he had no reports of fighting in Leer County.  The U.N. and human rights groups have documented widespread abuses against civilians, including rapes and killings by government soldiers and their militia, in Unity state this year. Fighting persists despite a peace deal signed in August.  The latest incidents took place following a brief takeover of Leer town by rebel forces on October 2. Government forces pushed

Source http://m.timesofindia.com/world/middle-east/Kurds-say-joint-raid-with-US-in-Iraq-aimed-to-free-their-fighters/articleshow/49512715.cms ERBIL/BAGHDAD: US and Kurdish special forces who raided a compound in northern Iraq were acting on intelligence that Kurdish fighters were being imprisoned there by Islamic State, a source in the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Friday.  Kurdish counter-terrorism forces planned and led the raid which rescued 69 people early on Thursday, supported by US forces, Iraqi Kurdistan's US representative said. One US commando was killed, the first American to die in ground combat with Islamic State militants. Four Kurds were wounded.  Such rescue attempts are rare. The joint operation highlighted the status of Kurdish peshmerga fighters as key allies of the US-led coalition against the militants, also known as ISIL, who control large swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.  "The intention was to rescue peshmerga taken hostage by I

Source http://indiatomorrow.co/world/3958-europe-fast-becoming-eurabia Friday, 23 October 2015 The Syrian government sells passports and birth certificates at affordable prices. Many migrants have no passport, no ID, and refuse to give fingerprints. Because Islam is the heart of the culture of people formerly colonized, Europeans rejected criticism of Islam, saying it would blend smoothly into a multicultural Europe. They did not demand the assimilation of the Muslims who came to live in Europe. Much of the time, Muslims are not assimilated -- and often show signs of not wanting to assimilate. Any criticism of Islam in Europe is treated as a form of racism, and "Islamophobia" is considered a crime or a sign of mental illness. European people still have the right to vote, but are deprived of most of their power: all important political decisions in Europe are made behind closed doors by technocrats and professional politicians in Brussels or Strasbourg. Europe

Source http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/chhattisgarh-iaf-practise-air-attacks-on-naxals-addl-dg/ R K Vij Adding a new dimension to anti-Maoist operations in Bastar, Chhattisgarh Police and the Indian Air Force (IAF) plan to carry out attacks from air “in retaliation”. The state police and the IAF have already conducted successful exercises in Bastar. Additional DG (anti-Naxal operations) R K Vij told  The Indian Express : “Maoists have often fired at Mi-17s (helicopters). We have lost personnel and people, but we have never retaliated. The law has never stopped us from retaliation. We have conducted exercises. Garud commandos of the Indian Air Force practised firing from Mi-17. We are not sitting ducks, we can also attack them. It will help us handle the situation better.” While the official statement is that the IAF will attack only in retaliation or self-defence, it gives enormous edge to security forces battling the Maoists. IAF officers in Chhatt

Source http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/Maoist-Ganapati-Killed-by-His-Second-Wife-in-Self-Defence/2015/10/24/article3094423.ece KARIMNAGAR: Former maoist Mallaveni Gattaiah alias Ganapati (60) was killed by his second wife Anjali alias Vasantha, who was also a Maoist, at Pathagudur in Velgatoor mandal on Thursday midnight. According to police, the couple went underground in 1992 after murdering Ponugoti Kondal Rao and his son Venkat Rao and surrendered to police in 1994 and they were later rehabilitated  by the government. However, Gattaiah allegedly suspected his wife Anjali’s fidelity and recently beat her. “On Thursday night too he beat her with a boulder, but she escaped and attacked him with the same boulder, killing him on the spot,”  Velgatoor SI B Anjaiah said adding that they have registered a case against Anjali based on a complaint lodged by his first wife Shankaravva. In another incident, Md Sadiq, an attender, has allegedly killed his wife

Source https://www.rt.com/news/319405-putin-valdai-discussion-club/ There can be no "moderate" terrorists, President Putin said, speaking about the situation in the Middle East at the Valdai discussion forum. " Why play with words dividing terrorists into moderate and not moderate. What's the difference? " Putin told the forum. A whole " snarl " of terrorist groups act in the region, who fight also against each other for " sources of income " and not for ideology, Putin said, adding that the weapons provided to " moderate " opposition in the region had ended up in the hands of terrorists. Some countries are playing a double game, the Russian president said, adding that while they fight against terrorism they also " place figures on the board " in their own interests. “ Success in fighting terrorists cannot be reached if using some of them as a battering ram to overthrow disliked regimes ," Putin tol

Source http://m.timesofindia.com/city/ranchi/Durga-worship-for-commandos-safety-in-Maoist-den/articleshow/49469662.cms RANCHI: In the campus of Jharkhand's Gorkha battalion, one of the premier security agencies fighting Maoists, women are busy invoking goddess Durga for the safety of their husbands, sons and brothers who are trained commandos deployed in various districts of the state to fight Maoists. Several women members are observing nine-day-long fast while others offer prayers for the safety of the men. Several Gorkha jawans have been killed fighting Maoists in Jharkhand.  "A jawan can win the battle only when he carries the blessing of the goddess. Prayers offered here during the festival give power to the jawans in the battlefield to defeat the enemies," said Bimlal Pathak, the chief priest at Gorkha battalion (also known as Jharkhand Armed Police 1) headquarters in Ranchi.  The women will worship arms and ammunition on Wednesday in the Gorkha battalion campus. In

Source http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/police-officials-meet-family-of-top-maoist-leader/article7798988.ece It was a pleasant surprise for the parents of underground Maoists as they were presented with new clothes and other gifts on the occasion of Dasara by the police officials in various parts of the district on Thursday. Superintendent of Police D. Joel Davis, along with additional SP (administration) B. Janardhan Reddy, OSD L. Subbarayudu, Sultanabad CI T. Srinivas Rao and others visited the native place of Maoists’ KKW secretary Kankanala Raji Reddy alias Venkatesh in the interior Kistampet village of Kalwa Srirampur mandal and greeted his aged mother Veeramma (78) and his brothers Komal Reddy and Malla Redy. On the occasion, the SP assured Veeramma of complete treatment for her ailment. He asked her to ensure that her son surrendered so that they could rehabilitate him suitably. Veeramma appealed to the Maoists’ leader to join the mainstream. The Maoist leader had j

Source http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/chhattisgarh-top-maoist-sunnu-poyam-wife-surrender/ A platoon commander of the CPI (Maoist) and his wife have surrendered before the Chhattisgarh police. Senior police officers said Sunnu Poyam, who joined the Maoists movement a decade ago, was the commander of platoon number 13 of Bijapur division. His wife Maini Majhi was a medical attendant with the Bhairamgarh local guerilla squad. They said Poyam had joined the Dandakaranya Adivasi Mazdoor Sangh in 2003, where he worked for the next two years. He then became a part of the Mirtoor local organisation squad following which he trained members in IED explosives as Bhairamgarh area committee commander. In 2009, he was made commander of platoon 13. During his surrender, Poyam not only gave up his AK-47 rifle, the only one in the platoon, but also two SLR weapons besides other small weapons. Speaking at a press meet at the state police headquarters after his surrender, Poyum s

Source http://m.timesofindia.com/world/middle-east/Israel-military-Palestinian-attacker-shot-dead/articleshow/49517060.cms JERUSALEM: Israeli forces shot a knife-wielding Palestinian dead Saturday after he ran toward a crossing between Israel and the West Bank and tried to stab security personnel at the site, the Israeli military said. The incident is the first time an official West Bank crossing was targeted in the latest round of violence that began in mid-September. In the past five weeks, 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings, while 49 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 28 said by Israel to be attackers and the rest in clashes. The violence initially erupted at a sensitive Jerusalem shrine revered by both Muslims and Jews, and has quickly spread to the rest of the city, as well as the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The daily attacks have caused panic and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a full-fledged uprising that will

Source http://m.timesofindia.com/world/south-asia/Islamic-State-claims-responsibility-for-Bangladesh-bombings-on-Shias/articleshow/49517781.cms DUBAI: Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for bombings that targeted Shias in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on Saturday, the monitor group SITE said. It cited Islamic State as saying "soldiers of the Caliphate in Bangladesh" detonated explosive devices in Dhaka during "polytheist rituals".  Islamic State — an ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim group that sees Shias as apostates — claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier on Saturday, a series of blasts killed at least one person and wounded dozens as Shia Muslims gathered for a procession in the old part of Bangladesh's capital to mark the holy day of Ashura, police said. However, Bangladesh's interior minister told Reuters that no militants were involved and the blasts were not linked to an attack that killed 16 people at a Shia procession in Pakistan

Source http://indiatomorrow.co/states1/3960-assam-fundamentalists-keenly-interested-in-isis Friday, 23 October 2015 Assam police is keeping a close watch on extremist militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria which has generated a lot of interest in the state going by the “hits in the internet photos of ISIS”, state DGP Khagen Sarma said. Noting that Assam has religious fundamentalists, the DGP today said that “a lot of interest has been generated in Assam in the ISIS. Hits in the internet photos of ISIS is very high in Assam”. On being reminded that the hits on the internet may be out of curiosity about the ISIS, he said, “That kind of interest is a very small percentage”. Recent media reports quoting the findings of a national survey by an intelligence agency showed the second largest volume of internet traffic related to ISIS was from Assam after Jammu and Kashmir. Sarma, however, said while responding to queries on the global terror outfit’s threat to the st

Source http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Pakistans-Balochistan-Mischief-Now-Globally-Exposed-Defence-Expert/2015/10/24/article3095118.ece  NEW DELHI: Defence expert P.K. Sehgal on Saturday said that Pakistan’s deepening hostility with Balochistan has been exposed in front of the world after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was heckled by a Baloch activist Ahmar Mustikhan in Washington, who demanded a free Balochistan province. “The world knows now that it is Pakistan who is doing mischief in Balochistan. Their military leaders have been killing Balochis by the thousands exactly in the same manner as they were doing in East Pakistan and eventually ended up losing that region. This sort of mass killing of women, elderly, children, youth continue and it is only a question of time by which Pakistan would lose Balochistan,” Sehgal told ANI here. The defence expert also said that Pakistan has been causing all sorts of mayhem within Balochistan since its independence. “Balochist

Source http://indiatomorrow.co/world/3961-islamic-state-to-be-finally-tackled-with-a-plan Friday, 23 October 2015 What if there was an actual strategy to defeat ISIS and stop their reign of terror? The state of affairs and the very existence of IS as a governing entity is intolerable so we developed a strategy called Cut Down the Black Flag – A Plan to Defeat the Islamic State, the second book in the Secure Freedom Strategy series. President Obama has failed to articulate or implement anything resembling a strategy during his time in office. This fact is even more painful when considering the rise of the Islamic State (IS) occurred on his watch and was largely due to his shortsighted and foolish decision to cut and run from Iraq. He lost the peace after our troops won the war. Unlike the President, we’re not interested in token gestures doomed to failure as IS kills, rapes, and tortures on ground won for freedom just a few short years ago. We will not stand on the sideline

Source http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/soldier-killed-iraq-raid-belonged-delta-force/story?id=34676330&ts=true The U.S. Army soldier killed in the raid that freed 70 hostages from an  ISIS  prison in  northern Iraq  was a highly-decorated, veteran member of the elite Delta Force, U.S. military sources told ABC News. Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler is the first American combat death  in Iraq  since  American troops  returned in mid-2014 to train, advise and assist the  Iraqi  military to fight ISIS, military officials said. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, "died Oct. 22, in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, from wounds received by enemy small-arms fire during an operation," the Defense Department said in a statement, which also noted that he was assigned to "Headquarters U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina." He is survived by his wife and four sons, the Army said. Two military officials have told ABC News that Wheeler was a team