Terrorism Watch

It is very rare for the mainstream media to acknowledge that they are products of the inconsistencies and brutalities of the belligerent Middle East policy practiced by the U.S., the U.K., France, Israel and NATO, the abject retaliations against innocent random passers-by for the thousands of deaths of innocents Muslims whose lives and names are almost never known to us. Is the growing trend of terrorist attacks expected to be reduced by the continued military operations in Muslims lands that the U.S. president is eager to expand with his NATO partners, deepening the United States’s involvement in Afghanistan, where the 17 year-long war has already lasted longer than any other in American history, and in Yemen, one of the poorest countries where, according to the United Nations, half the population of 28 million faces starvation? The use of military action as the core of a security strategy has led to radicalisation in Muslim countries and in European Muslim communities. Security

Protests at embassies of Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden demand they stop funding ‘HaMoked: Center For the Defence of the Individual'. The issue of demolishing terrorists’ homes has now reached foreign embassies in Israel. Over the past month, members of the   Ad Kan   organization protested across from the embassies of Germany, Norway, Sweden, Spain and others, demanding that they stop their countries’ funding of ‘HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual’ that assists terrorists. Members from Ad Kan held posters listing the amount donated from each country and a satirical thank-you note from Hamas and HaMoked for the countries’ support. The thank-you note also had a picture of the partially destroyed home of the terrorist who carried out the murder in Barkan. The protesters from Ad Kan started opposite the German Embassy in Israel and held a sign stating that Germany donated nearly 1.5 million USD to HaMoked in the past two years. Near the Germany Embassy, Tz

New Delhi: India raised 28 Pakistan-related queries at the just-concluded Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meet in  Sydney  and demanded that Islamabad specify the measures taken to curb finances of  Lashkar-e-Taiba  (LeT) and  Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).  The Pakistan delegation at the meet claimed that responses to the queries on terror financing would be provided in the next review meeting scheduled to be held in Paris on February 17-18. The Pakistan delegation at the meet said all the actions recommended by the FATF had been taken and a compliance report submitted to its headquarters.  Pakistan was put on FATF grey list last June at the plenary meet in Paris. By the end of this September, Pakistan has to comply with the 10-point action plan on combating terror financing and money laundering to get out of the list, or else it runs the risk of being downgraded. All permanent members of the UN Security Council are also members of the FATF-backed move to put Pakistan on the grey list. 

India is seeking extradition of Rana on the ground that he was actively involved in planning an attack on the New Delhi-based National Defence College and Chabad Houses in several cities. Rana, 58, a resident of Chicago, was arrested in 2009 on the charges of plotting the 26/11 terror attack. There is a “strong possibility” of Pakistani Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana’s extradition to India before the completion of his 14-year jail term in the US in 2021 for plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, an informed source here has said. Rana, 58, a resident of Chicago, was arrested in 2009 on the charges of plotting the 26/11 terror attack. Some 166 people, including US nationals, were killed in the attack carried out by 10 Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists in Mumbai. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after handed down death sentence by an Indian court. In 2013, Rana was sentenced to 14 years of impris

Syrian state media reported on Sunday one missile fired towards Damascus struck a warehouse at the city's airport. Prime Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu  has said that  Israel  carried out an air raid on Iranian weapons in  Syria  over  the weekend , a rare public confirmation of such attacks. "Just in the last 36 hours the air force attacked Iranian warehouses containing Iranian weapons in the Damascus international airport," Netanyahu said on Sunday at the start of a cabinet meeting, according to his office. "The accumulation of recent attacks shows that we're more determined than ever to act against Iran in Syria, just as we promised," the prime minister's office said. Syrian state media  reported  on Sunday that Israeli warplanes fired a number of missiles towards Damascus, with one striking a warehouse at the airport. The raids triggered Syrian air defence to shoot down most of them. Syrian state media broadcast footage of what it said was

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hakim (Photo by AFP) Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad al-Hakim says the Baghdad government supports the restoration of Syria's membership in the Arab League, amid promising signs that the incumbent Damascus government led by President Bashar al-Assad is being admitted back into the Arab world after nearly eight years of foreign-sponsored militancy. “We discussed solutions to eliminate terrorism in Syria and support the Syrian government, its territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Hakim said on Monday at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif, who is on an official visit to Baghdad. “We also discussed supporting Iraq's efforts to restore Syria's (membership) to the Arab League,” he added. On January 8, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the incumbent Damascus government needs to implement a number of measures toward the political settlement of the ongoing Syrian crisis in order for the

ISLAMABAD: The US' demand for maintaining long-term military bases in  Afghanistan  has emerged as a sticking point in talks with the  Taliban  to end the 17-year-long war in the country, according to a media report here.  The report came as the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation,  Zalmay Khalilzad , stepped up efforts to bring the Taliban to negotiations, with  Saudi Arabia , the UAE,  Qatar , Russia and Iran involved in discussions with the Taliban over the past few months.  The Express Tribune reported quoting officials that the US in return of its demand would provide substantial financial assistance for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan in the post-peace deal.  Although the Taliban have repeatedly demanded complete withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan, they showed an inclination to discuss the suggestion of the US maintaining certain bases in the recent negotiations held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  The US also wants gua

Washington:  A Nobel Prize-winning American scientist who co-discovered DNA has been stripped of his honourary titles after repeating racist comments in a documentary. James Watson, who discovered the double-helix structure of DNA alongside Francis Crick in the 1950s based on the work of British chemist Rosalind Franklin, said in a PBS film that genes cause a difference in intelligence between white and black people in IQ tests, CNN reported today. The 90-year-old's comments were labelled "reprehensible" by the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory (CSHL) on New York's Long Island, where Watson had been the director from 1968 to 1993. The laboratory said on Sunday that it "unequivocally rejects the unsubstantiated and reckless personal opinions Dr. James D Watson expressed", noting the statements were "reprehensible (and) unsupported by science". "The Laboratory condemns the misuse of science to justify prejudice," it added. Mr Wats

The Syrian government has welcomed talks with Kurdish groups aimed at maintaining the country’s unity after the Kurds called for a Russian-mediated deal with Damascus. Syrian Kurdish leaders have sought a  Russian-mediated deal  with President Bashar al-Assad's government after US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw American troops from the war-ravaged Arab country. “We hope for the intensification of the dialogue. Many of the Kurdish statements were positive regarding their concern for the unity of Syria,” Syria's Assistant Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan told reporters in Damascus on Sunday. “We are confident that through dialogue we can deal with some of the demands ... and this dialogue guarantees that, as long as it is based on a commitment to Syria’s unity,” he added. Syrian Kurds are rattled by Turkey's threats of an invasion to eliminate US-backed YPG militants whom Ankara regards as terrorists. The deal would mark perhaps the most important milesto

An Iranian delegation, led by Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani (C-left), meets with Afghan officials in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 26, 2018. (Photo by IRNA) Tehran has confirmed that it has been in talks with the Afghan Taliban in an effort to promote Afghan and regional peace. Analysts say the move would also prevent the region from turning into a hotbed for Takiri terrorist groups, especially Daesh, which has already gained a foothold in Afghanistan as well. Daesh terrorists, who have been militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria, have been increasingly active in Afghanistan, clashing with both the Kabul government and Taliban militants and alarming neighboring nations, including Iran. Daesh has established a foothold in eastern and northern Afghanistan. The terrorist group has mostly been populating the eastern province of Nangarhar, from where it has carried out high-profile, brutal attacks at major population centers across the country.