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Showing posts from September 17, 2017

11 arrested in Bangladesh for terror financing

Eleven people have been arrested for their suspected links in terror financing during separate raids in the Bangladeshi capital. The anti-crime and anti-terrorism Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) made the arrests from different parts of the capital.    The arrestees were identified as Tony Nath, Md Faysal alias Tuhin, Amzad Hossain, Moin Khan, Md Nahid, Md Jahed Ullah, Md Helal Uddin, Helal Uddin, Al Amin, Al Mamun and Al Amin, the Daily Star reported. The elite force in separate drives arrested them from different parts as they were involved in terror financing, the report said, quoting a message from RAB office. Bangladesh has been witnessing a spate of attacks on secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013. The country launched a massive crackdown on militants, specially after the July 1 terror attack on a Dhaka cafe that killed 22 people, including 17 foreigners. ISIS has claimed several attacks in Bangladesh, but the government rejects the presence of foreig

UN Ends Disarmament in Colombia as FARC Honors Slain Rebel

The United Nations has finished deactivating thousands of weapons and munitions that once belonged to demobilized leftist rebels in Colombia. In a ceremony Friday attended by President Juan Manuel Santos and leaders from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the U.N. said it had collected a total of 8,994 firearms and more than 38 tons of explosives. While the FARC appears to have honored its commitment to disarm, many are doubtful it will begin confessing to war crimes and compensating victims as required by last year's peace deal. In a separate event Friday, 50 rebel leaders laid flowers at the grave of one of the FARC's most prominent but also cruelest military strategist. The rebel commander known by his alias, Mono Jojoy, was killed in combat in 2010. Source:  https://www.voanews.com/a/united-nations-ends-disarmament-colombia/4041184.html

Evil Islamic State terrorists use charities in Ireland to raise cash for fighters in Syria and Iraq

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EVIL Islamic State terrorists are using charities in Ireland to raise cash for their fighters in Syria and Iraq, a shocking new report has revealed. Compiled by Financial Action Task Force investigators and seen by the Irish Sun on Sunday, it also found there are “some areas of concern” that non-profit organisations here are transferring funds to war zones. EPA 3 London cops shoot dead three terrorists The ‘Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures Ireland Mutual Evaluation Report 2017’ discovered sympathisers here use “legitimate and illegitimate” sources to raise funds for terror groups. Based in Paris, the FATF’s role is to highlight the risks posed by money laundering scams run by terrorist and organised crime gangs in Europe’s 27 member states. The report — also delivered to the Justice Department and the Gardai’s Financial Intelligence Unit — was produced after it emerged London Bridge attacker Rachid Redouane had lived here. It reads: “Ir

Separatist Shabir Shah 'Confesses' to Links With Hafiz Saeed, Pak Hawala Operators

An Enforcement Directorate chargesheet against Shabir Shah also said the separatist leader had confessed to receiving a 3% commission from Pakistani hawala operators. New Delhi:  Separatist leader Shabir Shah has reportedly confessed to links with hawala operators in Pakistan who were laundering money to fund militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.   The chargesheet filed against the separatist leader by the Enforcement Directorate said he had also admitted that he was in “regular” touch with 26/11 attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed and had last spoken to the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder in January this year.  The chargesheet, a copy of which was accessed by CNN-News18, also said that Shah had confessed to receiving a 3% commission from the hawala operators. CNN-News18 had earlier reported on how money from Pakistan was being routed to India to fund terror activities in the Valley. The ‘Jihadi Badaam’ investigation had exposed how Pakistan's ISI and Lashkar-e-Taiba were using cross-border trade

Terrorism putting 'unsustainable' strain on British police, says Met Commissioner Cressida Dick

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Terrorism  is putting an “unsustainable” strain on British police, the head of the UK’s largest police force has warned. Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said the four terror attacks to hit London so far this year had an impact on the entire force. “Every single response requires a huge amount of officers in the immediate aftermath and a huge investigation,” she told LBC radio, speaking one week since the  Parsons Green attack  and on the six-month anniversary of the  Manchester bombing. “That puts a strain not just on counter-terror police but neighbourhood officers, and all our officers and staff. “In the long run, if we continue with this level of threat – which is what people are predicting – this is not sustainable for my police service.” Ms Dick said she agreed with the warning given by Sara Thornton, head of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), who detailed how the response to terrorism was impacting other areas of policing.

Money talks: China’s purse strings direct Pakistan’s war on terror

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China is being lauded as Pakistan’s new partner, in the fight against regional terrorism, by offering soft loans in the interests of securing the China-Pakistan corridor, with some 71,000 Chinese nationals reportedly visiting the country in 2016.  Following this week’s BRICS summit, hosted by China, it is clear the region is looking for more than sheer military might, as offered by the US, in order to shore up future security. When President Trump  accused  Pakistan of continuing to provide a “safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror”, he failed to recognise that the South Asian nation has, in fact, made  great strides  in improving the security situation following a costly four-year crackdown on domestic insurgent groups.  These improvements are reflected in Pakistan’s macroeconomic performances since 2012, not least due to the relative  confidence  of investors in the $55 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road

Gov’t tracing source of Maute terror funds — Duterte

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President Rodrigo Duterte has revealed that the government is tracing the source of the terror funds and weapons acquired by the Maute group to stage a rebellion in Marawi. Duterte makes fifth visit to Marawi City on National Day of Protest (Bong Go / MANILA BULLETIN) He said they have traced some bank transactions between the groups and foreign donors. But the President still wondered why the Maute rebels still have many weapons to sustain the fighting in Marawi. “Let me ask you a question, we are in the third month, how come the Maute brothers and the terrorists were able to stockpile so much ordnance and bullets and ammunition and IEDs? Saan nila kinuha yun?” he asked. “But we now have a good picture of what happened in Marawi,” he added. The President earlier said the conflict in Marawi is almost over but ruled out any victory celebration. He said there was no need to celebrate the end of the fighting out of respect for the many people who were killed. Source:  h

Former Pak envoy questions Islamabad's double standard on terrorism

Former ambassador of  Pakistan  to United States, Husain Haqqani has questioned Islamabad's double standard on terrorism, saying that the latter fights some of the terror groups while encouraging some others. "Some groups have been attacked by the Pakistani military and they have been dealt with but others have been encouraged, including Hafeez Saeed 's LeT," Haqqani told ANI. He said that the jihadi terrorists in  Pakistan  are threat not just to the entire  world  but to  Pakistan  as well. " Pakistan  needs to clean its own house instead of finding scapegoats abroad. Pakistan, has always in the past, been very mindful of how America looks at it but right know it has become a zero sum game," he said. "The culture of denial that has been cultivated in  Islamabad  means people in  Pakistan  think they can deal with Trump administration the same way they dealt with previous administrations. Make a new few promises and let them be broken later b

Facebook bans 'dangerous' Rohingya militant group

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Facebook said it has banned a Rohingya militant group from its site, designating it a 'dangerous organisation' as information on the deepening crisis is muddied by claims, counter-claims and hate speech on social media. The social network is a key tool in the information war taking place over violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, which has driven more than 420,000 Rohingya Muslims from the country and sparked UN accusations of military-led "ethnic cleansing". Rohingya activists have used the platform to post alleged scenes of brutality from the conflict zone, where humanitarian and media access is severely restricted, while the army and government deliver near-daily updates on the crisis. A Facebook spokeswoman told AFP late Wednesday it was not requested by the government to bar the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which remains active on Twitter.  The spokeswoman added that the move was in line with its policy of prohibiting violent groups from

Angelina Jolie's Cambodian genocide film deserves to be watched

The story:  From 1975 to 1979, an estimated one-quarter of Cambodia's population of seven million is dead because of the genocidal policy of the ruling Khmer Rouge. This account of the period is taken from Luong Ung's 2000 biography, which describes her life, first as a child of middle-class parents in Phnom Penh, then as a prisoner in resettlement camp and later, as a child soldier sent to fight the invading Vietnamese. We have seen Cambodian genocide films. Most famously, there is the Oscar-winning  The Killing Fields  ( 1984 ), a film that delivers a gut-punch of emotion. But that kind of power can backfire: Because genocide films are so tough to watch, the viewer often feels that seeing one of these is enough and there is no moral obligation to sit through another depressing lesson in human depravity. This would be a shame because this film, despite its flaws, deserves to be watched. It is an important film because a big-name Western film-maker - in this case, co-

Rohingya refugee tide is India’s challenge too: Bangladesh

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“In our view, countries like India have to step up now, because they will suffer the consequences of failure, not only us.” A Rohingya refugee mother fans her child with a piece of paper in a newly built makeshift camp, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain Hasina and Rashidul Islam’s third child came into the world at lunchtime Wednesday. Blood from his birth ran from the floor of the tarpaulin-sheet shelter, over sodden yellow clay, into a ditch running along the road. No chicken was slaughtered to celebrate the birth of a son: the family had just ended a 15-day journey to safety, fleeing the hamlet of Toarbil in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. “I don’t know what the future holds for us,” Rashidul Islam said, “I can’t even afford to bury my son if he dies.” In Bangladesh, now home to a tide of refugees that United Nations estimates put at 500,000, and unofficial ones place up to 200,000 higher, officials fear that failure to address the needs

BRICS, SAARC and IBSA to support India in push for adoption of international treaty against terrorism

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United Nations:  India received the backing of three international groups: IBSA, BRICS and SAARC on Thursday to push for the adoption of the international treaty against terrorism that has been languishing for more than two decades. The ministerial meetings of the organisations in their statements called for the early adoption of the Comprehensive Compact on International Terrorism that was proposed by India in 1996 to ban support for terrorist organisations and punish cross-border terrorism. "The reference to counter-terrorism has been a common thread" in almost all the statements from the multilateral meetings External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended in the last three days, Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. The India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) group's ministerial meeting, which was presided over by Sushma Swaraj, "called for a comprehensive and determined international action", including "the early conclusion and adoption of t

How gangster Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar, Dawood’s kid brother, was nabbed by Thane cops

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He would target businessmen dealing in disputed properties, but 'encounter specialist' Pradeep Sharma finally managed to arrest him from Haseena Parker's house. The recent arrest by the Thane police's Anti-Extortion Cell of Iqbal Ibrahim Kaskar, the youngest brother of India's most wanted fugitive, Dawood Ibrahim, has brought to light the new formula of extortion he had devised to make pot-loads of money.  Iqbal Kaskar, the kid brother of the dreaded gangster, was for long not actively involved in the gang’s operations. But it seems that after the ‎death of his elder sister, Haseena Parkar, in July 2014, Iqbal actively got involved in what for them is family business. This included extortion, land grabbing and various other criminal activities. Before that, Iqbal was known to maintain a miniscule set of close associates who would carry out petty dealings and small-time extortion for him. Iqbal was arrested from the Gordon House residence of Haseena Parkar a

Indian Army foils plan to revive terrorism in Chenab Valley

The Indian Army has thwarted terrorists' plan to revive insurgency in the Chenab Valley of Jammu as they arrested two local ultras. The terrorists attacked Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) detachment, killing one soldier and injuring another apart from snatching their weapons at Banihal in Ramban district on Wednesday. Gazanfar and Arif were arrested by a joint team of the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police in a swift operation. "They were involved in the terror attack on SSB personnel at Banihal. Two service rifles, including an AK 47 and INSAS, which were snatched during the attack, were also recovered from their possession," an army spokesman at Nagrota-based 16 Corps said. Police said the terrorists had used a 9mm pistol to fire at SSB personnel when they were returning to their residential barracks. Head Constable of SSB was shot in his head while assistant sub-inspector suffered broken jaw after being hit by a blunt object. After the attack, the ultras decamped with the se

Is a good neighbor hard to find in the Middle East?

In the 15th Istanbul Biennial, the theme grabs you almost as much as the works of art. It is a misleadingly simple, event upbeat phrase: “A Good Neighbor.” Yet, it is so emotionally explosive, so laden with baggage and so variable that, as the Nordic duo of curators, Elmsgreen and Dragset said, it seems to have an invisible question mark at the end. The inevitable reply, after touring the six different venues of the Biennial, that a good neighbor, in the troubled Middle East and the troubled world, is hard to find, let alone to be. Is a good neighbor simply someone who does not storm into your village, destroy your house and kill your parents? Yes, if we go by one of the most forceful works of the Biennial, the short video of Mardin-born Turkish artist Erkan Özgen, where a deaf-mute boy describes without words the violence he has witnessed when the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters seized Kobani in January 2015. In this video ironically titled “Wonderland,” the thir