Terrorism Watch

Saudi Arabia's warplanes have conducted fresh airstrikes against Yemen, violating a 48-hour ceasefire which the kingdom announced earlier. Yemen's al-Masirah television said Saudi jets bombarded a district in the southwestern province of Ta'izz several times. Similar attacks were carried out in the Salif district of Hudaydah Province, the Maran neighborhood of Sa’ada Province and the Bani Hushaysh district of Sana’a Province, the report said. Yemen's army forces also foiled an attempt by Saudi mercenaries to advance in the Baqa border region and killed dozens of them, it added. The attacks came shortly after Saudi Arabia said it had decided to begin a 48-hour ceasefire from 12:00 noon in Yemen's timing (0900 GMT) on Saturday. The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the naval and air "blockade", however, would remain in place and surveillance jets would continue to fly over Yemen. The announcement followed a request for a ceasefi

In their latest push to liberate Mosul, Iraqi forces say they have won back full control of the city’s southern front, killing over 950 members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group. Federal police chief General Shaker Jodat said late Friday troops had purged 1,850 square kilometers of Mosul’s southern front of Daesh militants and freed more than 10,000 families, the al-Sumaria news website reported.  The Iraqi soldiers destroyed 25 car bombs, 83 motorbike bombs, 92 explosive belts and some vehicles equipped with weapons and missiles during their advances in the area, Jodat said. He further noted that police forces had confiscated 36 mortar shells containing chemicals. Meanwhile, Iraq's War Media Cell reported that Hashd al-Sha'abi forces had detained seven Daesh elements in the eastern province of Diyala. Sadiq al-Husseini, the chairman of the security committee in Diyala provincial council, said that the arrests had been made in three different operations

WASHINGTON: Pakistan "can and must" take more effective action against terror groups operating from its soil as no state should allow its territory to be used to launch attacks into another, the White House has said. "While recognising the sacrifices of the people and the security forces of Pakistan in fighting some militant and terrorist networks -- a fight which we support -- President (Barack) Obama has emphasised that Pakistan "can and must" also take more effective action against terrorist groups operating from its soil," a senior White House official said yesterday. "The President has made it very clear that no state should allow its territory to be used by terrorists to launch attacks into another state, and we will continue to engage on this issue," he said in response to a 'We the People' online petition that was signed by a record 665,769 people. The petition asked the Obama administration to declare Pakistan as a  State Sponso

The emergence of President-Elect  Donald Trump  and the effectiveness of his hate-fueled campaign has emboldened the so-called “Alt-Right” to become more vocal than ever. This has sparked the  Neo-Nazi  website  The Daily Stormer  to announce a “Fake Black Person” Twitter campaign with an end goal that has yet to be fully formed. Engadget   reports: The Daily Stormer, an alt-right website that regularly features racist, sexist and anti-semitic content, claims it has nearly 1,000 “fake black person” Twitter accounts that it plans to use in a “big,” upcoming harassment campaign. This is a response to Twitter’s recent ban of multiple accounts that distributed white supremacist content and ideas — many of these banned users are prominent names in racist circles online. The bans are a result of Twitter’s attempt to clean up its image with a new set of rules for reporting abuse. The company rolled out these safeguards on Tuesday. We won’t dignify Daily Stormer’s plans by sharing

NEW DELHI: Security forces have killed one terrorist in an encounter in Kakapora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama. Fierce gunfight between the terrorists and security forces is underway. According to Times Now, two terrorists are believed to be holed up. Security forces have cordoned off the area. Security forces launched an anti-militancy operation after receiving a tip off about presence of terrorists at Begumbagh village in Kakapora area, a police official said. He said hiding militants opened fire on noticing the security forces who retaliated, triggering a gunbattle. Earlier today, Pakistani army targeted several posts and civilian areas  along the LoC in Nowshera and Sunderbani sectors of Rajouri district +  with mortars and small arms fire, drawing strong retaliation from Indian troops. The firing in Sunderbani is the second ceasefire violation by the Pakistani side in less than six hours. The  Pakistan Army  first violated the ceasefire in Nowshera sector in the

ULAANBAATAR: The  Dalai Lama  preached today to thousands of supporters in  Mongolia , on a visit set to test the country's ties with China at a time when it is seeking a critical aid package from its powerful neighbour. The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader addressed followers at the Gandantegchenlin monastery and spoke about materialism to kick-start a four-day visit that Mongolia has said will be purely religious in nature and won't include meetings with officials. Still, the trip could have repercussions for land-locked Mongolia's relationship with China, which briefly closed its border with Mongolia in 2002 to protest a visit by the Dalai Lama. China views the Dalai Lama as a separatist seeking to split Tibet from China and strongly opposes all countries from hosting the monk, who has been based in India since fleeting Tibet during an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. Yesterday, China's Foreign Ministry strongly urged Mongolia to deny the Dalai Lama a

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) booked controversial TV evangelist Dr Zakir Naik on the charges of inciting violence and promoting enmity between groups on the basis of religion and race. The booking on Friday follows the government’s decision to declare Dr Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). “The NIA has registered an FIR against Dr Naik under the UAPA and he will soon be asked to join the investigation. If he doesn’t, the agency will ask the court to declare him a proclaimed offender and set in motion to attach the properties of the IRF,” said a senior home ministry official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Dr Naik’s spokesperson Aarif Malik said the controversial Islamic preacher will join the investigation if called for questioning. “We have always maintained that Dr Naik will always be available for any probe launched by any Indian law enforcement agency. Our position has

On September 17th in Kyiv, Ukrainian activists—most of them young women—marched against gender-based violence, proceeding from Maidan square to the City Administration Building on Khreschatyk Street. With rainbow flags and slogans like “my body, my choice,” the march was a far cry from Femen’s topless (and controversial) antics of yesteryear. Instead, it looked much like college feminist protests anywhere in the United States or Western Europe. This was no coincidence: Viktoria Korobkina, a 23-year-old student, told me that she had learned about feminism from classmates from other countries while studying abroad in China. The march, which included participants from Kyiv’s leftist student movement FemSolution and the LGBTQ NGO Insight, built on the “I am not afraid to speak” (#янебоюсясказати) online movement of this summer, in which Ukrainians shared their experiences of sexual assault. The tidal wave of testimonials shocked many observers, and brought

The dire state of affairs in the Middle East and North Africa was triggered by geopolitical engineering implemented by external parties, Russia's deputy foreign minister said. MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The ongoing crises in the Middle East and North Africa, including an "unprecedented outburst" of terrorism, are largely a result of foreign intervention, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Thursday. "Currently, the Middle East and North Africa are facing a period of serious hardships due to increasing ethnic and regional differences and the unprecedented outburst of terrorism and extremism. Largely, this state of affairs became the result of a range of countries applying geopolitical engineering by intervening in internal affairs of sovereign states, attempts to change unwanted regimes, including by force," Bogdanov told reporters.    Iraqi Christian soldiers from the Nineveh Plain Protection Unit, sit next to a poster showing the V

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 17 (IPS) - The governments of Rwanda and Iraq have agreed to work together to fight rape as a weapon of genocide, noting disturbing similarities between sexual violence in Iraq today to the Rwandan genocide twenty years ago. Zainab Bangura, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe. Just as targeted rape was as much a tool of the Rwandan genocide as the machete, an estimated 3000 Iraqi Yazidis under ISIL's captivity are currently facing acts of genocide and targeted sexual violence, including sexual slavery. Given Rwanda's experience with sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide, Iraq's permanent mission to the UN has signed a joint communique, an official statement establishing a relationship, with Rwanda's permanent mission to the UN. The joint effort will be aimed at sharing action plans to rehabilitate women victims and reintegrate them into their communitie

Amid the global refugee crisis and growing global intervention in the war to bring down the ISIS, Germany had been a glowing light, shining in its singular achievement of welcoming refugees with open hearts and arms. Now, however, Germany is struggling to cope up with a reported 400% increase in numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees from its European neighbour and on-and-off ally, Turkey.  The number of Turkish asylum seekers now stands at 4,437, up from January and October 2016, compared to 1,767 applications received in all of the year 2015, the Funke Mediengruppe newspaper chain reported, citing German government data. There is a context behind the numbers. On July 15th, an attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan’s call to take to the streets to support him. 216 people died. The uprising was an “act of treason”, and those responsible would pay a heavy price, Erdogan later told reporters at a hastily arrang

What recent adjustments has the US government made to its national strategy on preventing violent extremism (PVE)? In this article, Cameron Sumpter first highlights the various criticisms that accumulated around the 2011 strategy and the repairs they’ve inspired. He then observes, however, that the PVE still prioritizes trust-building as one of its key aims, despite the lingering skepticism of others. Synopsis The United States executive branch has released an updated version of its 2011 strategy to prevent violent extremism through community engagement. While additions offer promise, effective implementation will need to overcome persistent problems of stigmatisation and mistrust. Commentary WITH EYES fixated on the caustic drama of the United States Presidential debates, the White House last week quietly rolled out an updated national strategy to prevent violent extremism (PVE). The lack of fanfare surrounding the announcement was likely due to criticism aimed

UNITED NATIONS —  The United States was one of three countries to vote against a U.N. resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism on Thursday, citing freedom of speech issues and concerns Russia was using it to carry out political attacks against its neighbors. The resolution entitled “Combating glorification of Nazism, Neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” was approved by the U.N.'s human rights committee on Friday with 131 in favor, 3 against with 48 abstentions. Ukraine and Palau were the other no votes. “We condemn without reservation all forms of religious and ethnic intolerance or hatred at home and around the world,” said Deputy U.S. Representative to the Economic and Social Council Stefanie Amadeo, explaining the U.S. vote. “However, due to this resolution's overly narrow scope and politicized nature, and because it calls for unaccepta

At least two dozen people have lost their lives after Saudi-backed militants loyal to the former Yemeni government launched a mortar attack on a bazaar in the southwestern province of Ta’izz. The attack occurred on Thursday in the Suftail area of Hawban District, situated to the northeast of Ta’izz City, the provincial capital, Yemen’s al-Masirah television network cited local health officials as saying. Some 27 others were also injured as the projectiles hit the densely-populated bazaar. Saudi Arabia has been a waging a destructive military campaign against Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to restore Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close Riyadh ally, to power. Riyadh’s military has also been providing air cover to its mercenaries operating on the ground against Yemeni army forces and allied Houthi fighters. Saudi, pro-Hadi militants trifling with truce The Thursday bloodshed flew in the face of a ceasefire annou

BAGHDAD — Iraqi militias said on Wednesday they had driven ISIS fighters from an air base west of Mosul, a victory which would threaten the group's supply route from Syria to its last major stronghold in Iraq. "The airport of Tal Afar has been liberated," Yusif al-Kallabi, a spokesman for Popular Mobilisation, a coalition of mainly Iranian-backed militias, told Iraqi state TV. The capture of the base, if confirmed, could be a significant development in the campaign to recapture Mosul, ISIS' de facto capital since its forces swept through Iraq in 2014. Tal Afar lies about 38 miles west of Mosul on the main road to Syria. Its seizure could also alarm Turkey, which is wary of Iraqi involvement in Syria's civil war. "Tal Afar will be the starting block for the liberation of all the area...to the Syrian border and beyond the Syria border," said Hadi al-Amiri, head of Badr Organization, Popular Mobilisation's largest component,