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Showing posts from February 12, 2017

Terror stalks South Asia

The new wave of suicide bombings that has so far taken a very heavy toll of lives in Pakistan is being officially blamed on Afghanistan. Almost at about the same time an almost equal number of terror blasts have occurred in Afghanistan resulting in heavy loss of lives. These are being blamed on Pakistan by the Afghan media. The question is, are the two neighbours trying to get even with each other by resorting to terrorism? This is unthinkable. Both seem to be victims rather than perpetrators of terrorism. Perhaps a third force, most likely the Daesh, is trying to exploit to the hilt the mistrust that exists between the two countries to get a foot-hold in some parts of the territory to set up a terror headquarter for launching its activities across South Asia. If this is what is being planned by Daesh it is time for Pakistan, Afghanistan and India to join hands to defeat the menace before it gets out of control. But this cannot happen as long as the mistrust that exists between In

Dryad Maritime’s Piracy Report Highlights Gulf of Guinea as New “Hotspot”

Dryad’s 2016 figures highlighted a significant increase in offshore maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea compared to 2015. The figure of 49 attacks at sea for 2016 is a huge increase on the 2015 total of 20 attacks. The number of crew kidnapped (51) is also significantly greater than the 31 abducted for ransom the previous year. The Somali pirate threat in the Indian Ocean remains broadly contained with the main focus being the ongoing civil war in Yemen and the implications to shipping in the region. As a result of the reduced risk, NATO has ended its counter-piracy mission and a number of nations are reducing or removing their naval forces in the region.   EUNAVFOR attributed only a single incident to Somali pirates, although neither NATO nor UKMTO recognised the incident as an attack. While the Yemen conflict has raised concern in the Bab al Mandeb, maritime attacks in the strait have been mainly on ships involved in the conflict. The focus of the maritime crime statist

Maritime security governance prospects in the Bay of Bengal

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BIMSTEC, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, celebrates its 20th anniversary in June 2017. It is well positioned to engage in maritime security cooperation to face the challenges of a changing strategic and economic landscape. Although BIMSTEC was initially established to tackle sub-regional economic and social development issues, its potential for sub-regional security cooperation has come to the fore in the past decade. While BIMSTEC started with six economic-related priority areas in 1998, security issues have been included since the 8th Ministerial Meeting in 2005, including counter-terrorism, transnational crime and disaster management. In October 2016, India hosted a joint BRICS–BIMSTEC Outreach Summit for the first time, effectively increasing BIMSTEC’s profile as a sub-regional economic and security organisation. A number of factors have facilita

Don’t panic over cyber-terrorism: Daesh-bags still at script kiddie level

RSA USA  There’s no need to panic about the threat of a major online terrorist attack, since ISIS and their allies are all talk and no trousers. That's according to the former head of the US National Counterterrorism Center. Matt Olsen, who has also served as the NSA’s top lawyer, told the  RSA security conference today that the levels of online terror we’ve seen have been limited to propaganda and the occasional script-kiddie-level attack that can quickly get them caught. Having said that, the terrorists are trying to up their game, he noted, and may be willing to buy in outside help. “I want to avoid hype, it’s really important not to overstate the nature of online attacks,” Olsen said. “Their skill level remains low relative to nation states, but on an upward trajectory. It’s not that hard to imagine their efforts to increase their skills bearing fruit.” Al-Qaeda is no longer a serious force, he said, both on and offline. But since 2014 ISIS had “changed the game” in ter

Germany raids apartments of four Turkish imams suspected of spying

German police on Feb. 15 raided the apartments of four imams suspected of conducting espionage on behalf of the Turkish government against followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, which  Ankara  accuses of organizing the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.  The raids took place in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany’s Spiegel reported on its website on Feb. 15. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (GBA) said in a statement that the imams had acted on an order issued on Sept. 20 last year by the Turkey-based Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) which said the Gülen movement was behind the coup attempt, according to Reuters.  German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the four imams were members of Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB), Germany’s largest association of mosques, which brings imams from Turkey to serve the community of approximately 3 million people with a Turkish background who live here.  “It is ve

Cybersecurity work to merge under Turkish president’s office

The Turkish President’s Office has launched an initiative to gather all cybersecurity work under its roof in a bid to boost measures in the field in the aftermath of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.  As part of the work, which was kicked off upon President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s order, the office will gather all separate measures of cybersecurity that have been carried out by different ministries and state institutions like the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) under its own control. With a list of advices for the umbrella project, the office is working to cover gaps and weaknesses in the field, which emerged after the coup attempt. One of the other aims of the new initiative is to make the field of cybersecurity as “native” as possible. In line with this aim, filed experts have begun to evaluate and compare successful cybersecurity practices across the globe. At the end of the work, the study will be drafted and used for a cybersecurity center set to be hea

Can the PYD split from the PKK?

While the al-Bab operation that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is conducting together with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which it is supporting, is coming to an end, the question now is whether or not the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) will split from the outlawed  Kurdistan Workers’ Party  (PKK).  Ideas are being discussed that if the PYD distances itself from the PKK, splits from Kandil [Mountains] and forms a canton in Syria’s north, Turkey might tolerate this. The opinion is processed that the PYD, as Turkey did with Masoud Bazrani in northern Iraq, cuts its ties with the PKK, actually, stands against it; only then the formation of an autonomous region in northern Syria might be accepted.  It may be drawn from this that the aim is pondering on a model based on an unarmed PYD split from the  PKK which has good relations with Turkey as an autonomous administration, like the one in the north of Iraq.  Before pondering on such a model, first of all, answers to these questio

Syria is plagued with radioactive contamination: Dr. Leuren Moret

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American geoscientist and international radiation expert Leuren Moret says the whole country of Syria is plagued with radioactive contamination because the United States not only used depleted uranium weaponry, but provided it to terrorists fighting against the Syrian government. Dr. Moret made the remarks in n interview with Press TV on Friday, days after the Pentagon admitted that it used depleted uranium (DU) ammunition in Syria, the controversial weaponry that causes serious health problems among the population. The US military fired thousands of rounds containing mutagenic weapon depleted uranium during strikes against purported Daesh (ISIL) positions in Syria in late 2015, reports said on Tuesday. When US started using depleted uranium in Syria  A US fighter jet launches from the USS Carl Vinson on March 19, 2015. (Photo by AFP) Dr. Moret said the use of depleted uranium ammunition is “not limited just to attacking Daesh, or ISIL, positions in Syria in late 2015. Actual

UK at risk of terror after Daesh supporters back home: Police chief

The London police chief has warned that Britons fighting alongside the  Daesh   (ISIL) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq are on their way back home and will become an increasing threat to the country.  Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, said on Friday that the battle-hardened militants who had left Britain to fight with the Takfiri group had been “brutalized and militarized”, adding that they were expected to return home as the terrorist group had lost ground. “We are now seeing Daesh’s sphere of influence being reduced in Syria and Iraq, and it looks as though it’s clear that they will lose and the other side will win,” he said. “Some of those people are going to come home and that’s the threat that’s hanging there." Howe said the returnees include a “small army” of Britons who would put more pressure on Britain’s counter-terrorism police and security services upon their arrival.  "They are the ones that we most have to worry

Bomb blast kills child, wounds 17 in southeastern Turkey

At least a child has been killed and over a dozen people sustained injuries after a car bomb exploded in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sanliurfa, officials say. The bombing took place in the garden of a housing complex for judges and prosecutors in the market town of Viranşehir, about 50 kilometers north of the Syrian border, on Friday night. The official Anadolu Agency quoted Viranşehir Governor Gungor Azim Tuna as saying that the huge explosion killed a three-year-old child of a court clerk and injured at least 17 others. He further said that the car used in the bombing was reportedly parked near the housing complex by an approximately 20-year-old person. “The terrorist attack was carried out by detonating the bomb-laden car via remote control. The housing complex was severely damaged,” Tuna said, adding that the wounded were not in critical condition and had been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag denounced the “terrorist” a

‘Impossible for Pakistan to control terror groups with double game’

A top US lawmaker has said Pakistan’s intelligence services have for too long supported some terror organisations and it is impossible to get a handle on fanatical and violent groups when one plays “double game”. Expressing his sympathies for the peaceful worshippers who were killed in a deadly terror attack on a Sufi shrine in Sindh, Congressman Brad Sherman said, “Pakistan’s intelligence services have for too long supported some terrorist organisations while combating others.”  “It is impossible to get a handle on fanatical and violent groups when you play this double game,” he said while strongly condemning the terrorist attack in Sindh that claimed over 80 lives. “Unfortunately, we have a situation where ISIS can operate within Pakistan and carry out attacks as it did this week,” he said in a statement and called on Pakistan to change its policies towards terror organisations. Mr. Sherman is Chairman of the Sindh Caucus and a Ranking Member of the Asia Pacific Subcommitt

Pakistan province takes further action against Hafiz Saeed, puts Anti-Terrorism Act restraints on him

NEW DELHI: Pakistani terrorist  Hafiz Saeed  has finally been named under the country's Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) which puts  major restrictions on all his movements +  , Dawn reported. On  Islamabad 's orders, Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed, has been put on the ATA's fourth schedule by Pakistan's  Punjab  province, Dawn said, quoting a senior police official. The fourth schedule, according to Dawn, is a section of the ATA under which a person suspected of terrorism is kept under observation. As per the schedule's norms, it also becomes mandatory for that person to register his attendance with the local police regularly. The  federal interior ministry , which ordered the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) to add Saeed's name to the ATA's fourth schedule, has directed it to "move and take necessary action" against him and four others, the senior police official told Dawn. "The Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 empowers the government to mark a per

Pakistan asks Afghanistan to handover 76 ‘most wanted’ terrorists

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Afghanistan was asked to either take "immediate action" against the named terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan. In an unusual move, Pakistan Army today handed over a list of 76 “most wanted” terrorists to Afghan embassy officials and demanded “immediate action” against them, amidst a spurt in terror attacks in the country. Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz also telephoned Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and urged him to take action against militants involved in terrorism inside Pakistan. Aziz called the Afghan National Security Adviser after an unnamed official from the Afghan embassy was summoned to military headquarters in Rawalpindi and handed down a list of 76 “most wanted” terrorists for “immediate action” or extradition to Pakistan. The Pakistan Foreign Office said in a statement that Aziz underlined that the government and the people of Pakistan were in a state of deep anguish and pain at the recent terroris

Pak faces IS threat as Syrian conflict nears an end: Aizaz Chaudhry

Pakistan is under threat from the Islamic State (IS) militant group which may head to the country as the Syrian conflict nears an end, Islamabad’s newly-appointed envoy to the United States has said. Aizaz Chaudhry, who was named Pakistan’s Ambassador to the U.S. this week has said that terrorism from Afghanistan is now spreading into Pakistan where elements are trying to destabilise the country and sabotage major events like the Pakistan Super League, a cricket match hosted by the country this month. Pakistan is under threat from the IS terror group, which may head to the country as the Syrian conflict nears an end,  Dawn  newspaper quoted the former foreign secretary as saying on Thursday while addressing a seminar at the Air University Islamabad on matters of national security. Pak opposed to terror? The IS cannot establish a base in Pakistan as the nation is united when it comes to opposing terrorism, Mr. Chaudhry said. “It has been established that the IS is operati

Far right feels squeeze on EU funding

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Alliance for Peace and Freedom wants its €600,000. MEPs aren’t convinced. Harry Cooper AFP and NPD lawyer Peter Richter, center, celebrates the German Federal Constitutional Court's decision to not ban the NPD in 2015 | Simon Hofmann/Getty Images The EU’s long tradition of funding its worst critics could be upended if lawmakers cut off the cash to a political group dubbed “the worst right-wing extremists and neofascists” in Europe. What happens to the Alliance of Peace and Freedom is a test case for the European Union, which handed over €600,000 to the group and its affiliates in 2016 and is slated to do so again this year. Some mainstream MEPs, who describe the group as racist and violent, are deploying a previously unused procedure to halt the funding. The group denies the charges against it and threatens to take the case to court if the money isn’t forthcoming. EU cash is regularly handed out to groups that are critical of the bloc, including Euroskeptic pa