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Showing posts from March 3, 2019

Erdoğan: PKK has harmed Kurdish citizens the most

The PKK terrorist organization caused major harm to Turkey and Turkish society, particularly to Kurdish citizens, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday. Speaking at a rally in southeastern Şanlıurfa province, Erdoğan pointed out that the terrorist acts of the PKK targeted civilians, causing the killing of thousands. "These [PKK terrorists] killed unborn babies, innocent children and caused grief in many families," Erdoğan said, noting that when the terrorist organization failed to fight against the Turkish army, it targeted civilians, from teachers to health officers, road workers to farmers. "This organization never had the aim to defend the rights of our Kurdish brothers or any group in the region," he noted. In early 2013, under then-Prime Minister and current President Erdoğan, the Turkish government launched an initiative publicly known as the resolution process to end the decades-old conflict with the PKK. The process stalled in 2015 aft

Snubbed By Global Watchdog, Pak To Tag Terror Groups "High Risk": Report

Pakistan has decided to "upgrade" a group of banned outfits, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), to a "high" risk category and start monitoring and re-examining their activities to comply with obligations of global watchdog Financial Action Task Force or FATF, according to a media report today. The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force or FATF, which examines and looks out for financial crimes, had expressed extreme dissatisfaction over Pakistan considering these dangerous terror groups as "low" or "medium" risk. FATF recently snubbed Pakistan, saying it "did not demonstrate a proper understanding of the terror financing risks posed by Daesh (ISIS), Al Qaeda, Jamaat-ud-Dawa (Jud), Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Haqqani network (HQN), and all terrorists affiliated with the Taliban". The proscribed terror organisations will be examined under heightened security checks at all

Taliban dismisses seeking dialogues with Afghan government, a ceasefire during ongoing Qatari meet with US

The  Taliban  has on Friday denied they were holding discussions over a ceasefire and talks with the  Afghanistan  government during an ongoing series of dialogues with the  United States  in Doha, Qatar. According to Dawn news reports , Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that “this phase is about fleshing out the details of the two issues … the withdrawal of all occupying forces from Afghanistan and not allowing” the nation to be used as a base for international militancy. Mujahid described them as the “external” aspects of a 17-year-long conflict. He further added, “Other issues that have an internal aspect and are not tied to the United States … have not been held under discussion.” The  US state department  spokesperson Robert Palladino had on Tuesday affirmed the opposite. Palladino said, “What we’re focusing on are the four interconnected issues that are going to compose any future agreement,” while terming them as “terrorism”, “ceasefire”, “intra-Afghan

Now, Technology To Keep Infiltrators At Bay Along India-Bangladesh Border

Indo-Bangladesh Border (Lower Assam):  A 61-km stretch of a riverine border that India and Bangladesh shares on the Brahmaputra in lower Assam was essentially porous until now, allowing infiltrators and smugglers easy entry into the country. But that's about to change. In a fitting example of how man and machine can together make the country's borders smarter, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel will now keep the volatile patch under enhanced surveillance with the help of indigenously developed equipment. The Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System, as it is called, integrates five different kinds of sensors to maintain surveillance over the riverine border. And it's of great importance at this time, when the government has to demonstrate the fulfilment of its promise of sealing the India-Bangladesh border ahead of the general elections. "Sealing the border has been a long-standing demand of the Assamese people, and this is the first step in that

British ISIS Bride Shamima Begum's Newborn Son Has Died

After a series of conflicting reports, a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesperson confirmed the death of the newborn son of the UK's runaway ISIS bride, Shamima Begum, in a refugee camp in Syria. The baby, named Jarrah and just over two weeks old, died of pneumonia, according to a medical certificate, the US-backed SDF forces running the camp where the 19-year-old was based said on Friday. A UK government spokesperson said the death of any child was "tragic and deeply distressing for the family". A paramedic working for the Kurdish Red Crescent in the camp said the baby had been suffering from breathing difficulties. He was taken to a doctor on Thursday morning before being transferred to hospital, along with his mother, but died later on Thursday. Begum has since returned to the camp and her child was buried there on Friday. Earlier, the Bangladeshi-origin girl's family lawyer had stated on Twitter that they had received unconfirmed reports from within

Pakistan's dilemma over Terrorism

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Standing guard at the gate of a madrassa on the outskirts of Islamabad was a stern-looking young man, armed with what appeared to be a powerful automatic rifle, and missing one eye.  Inside, one of those involved in running the religious school acknowledged it is said to be run by Jaish-e-Mohammad - the militant group which claimed responsibility for last month's suicide attack in Indian-administered Kashmir's Pulwama district which killed some 40 troops and sparked a conflict between Pakistan and India.  But the cleric said the allegations were untrue and the madrassa was, in fact, just another ordinary Islamic school.  A small poster on the wall behind him, however, depicted an assortment of guns alongside a slogan evoking a famous battle from Islamic history. In the dusty street outside, a poster advertising a rally on behalf of the Kashmiri cause was emblazoned with the distinctive white and black flag of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). As part of a "crackdown"

Google to users: Immediately update Chrome because the current version is under threat of cyber attack

If you haven't updated your Chrome to latest version 72.0.3626.121, chances are you may be at the risk of a cyber attack. Google is asking Chrome users to immediately update the browser to the latest Chrome version via an auto-update which was released last week by the company. While the company's changelog didn't mention of any fix then, Google has revised the announcement now to inform that the released update was rather a fix for a vulnerability CVE-2019-5786. " To remediate the Chrome vulnerability (CVE-2019-5786), Google released an update for all Chrome platforms on March 1; this update was pushed through Chrome auto-update. We encourage users to verify that Chrome auto-update has already updated Chrome to 72.0.3626.121 or later," the company notes on its blog post. Google says that the vulnerability has been patched in the latest Chrome version but that doesn't necessarily mean that your system is safe from the bug. To ensure that you are runnin

US moving terrorists from Syria’s Baghuz to ‘new Guantanamo’: Analyst

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The US is reportedly withdrawing extremists and their family members from Daesh's last stronghold in Syria’s Dayr al-Zawr province to camps in western Iraq which an Iraqi analyst has called the “new Guantanamo”. Five years after Daesh swept across Syria and Iraq, all that remains of the “caliphate” that at its peak stretched across two countries and controlled 10 million people is a handful of streets in a bend of the Euphrates river running through the desert town of Baghuz. Trapped from the east and the west by advancing US-backed SDF militants and by the Syrian army and Russia, the self-proclaimed caliphate is a hellscape of smoke and fire. There is nowhere left for the fighters to go. Between 1,000 and 1,500 men are believed to be still inside the riverside pocket, along with an unknown number of women and children. Now, the US-led coalition is reportedly evacuating the enclave and moving the terrorists and their family members to camps in western Iraq. PressTV-&#

Iranian navy thwarts pirate attack on oil tanker: state TV

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian naval forces intervened to repel pirates who attacked an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, state television reported on Friday. The broadcast said pirates in 11 speedboats attacked a tanker with a cargo of 150,000 tonnes on Thursday. It showed naval forces opening fire on speedboats, without saying whether the footage was from the latest incident. Iran’s navy has extended its reach in recent years, dispatching vessels to the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. Source:  https://in.news.yahoo.com/iranian-navy-thwarts-pirate-attack-oil-tanker-state-102937039.html

In Satellite Images Of Jaish-e-Mohammed Camp After Air Strike, An ISRO Connection

A high-resolution satellite image of the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp in Pakistan's Balakot taken after last month's Indian air strikes has triggered a controversy as  experts argue over the damage caused at the site . While some have said the image shows structures at the terrorist camp still standing, others have pointed to spots that could be possible points that the bombs penetrated before exploding inside. Incredibly, the image in question came from a private American satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO. Taken days after the February 26 Indian Air Force strike, it was released to news agency Reuters by the San Francisco-based Earth-imaging company Planet Labs Inc. Most of the over 120 tiny satellites used by Planet Labs were launched from India's spaceport at Sriharikota, setting a world record of putting in orbit the largest number of satellites - 104 - in a single launch in 2017. Where Are India's Own Satellite Ima

Take ‘sustained and irreversible’ actions against terrorists: US tells Pakistan

Stepping up pressure on Pakistan, the US has asked Islamabad to take “sustained and irreversible” actions against terrorist groups operating from its territory to prevent future attacks and promote regional stability. Stepping up pressure on Pakistan, the US has asked Islamabad to take “sustained and irreversible” actions against terrorist groups operating from its territory to prevent future attacks and promote regional stability. The State Department statement came as Pakistan, under global pressure after the Pulwama terror attack and India’s air strikes against Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26, started taking actions against some of the terrorist outfits and their leaders over the past few days. In Islamabad, the Interior Ministry on Thursday announced that a total of 121 members of the proscribed groups have so far been taken into “preventive detention” across Pakistan. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Ro

Catholic Church cardinals implicated in sex abuse, cover-ups

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FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2019 file photo, French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin waits for the start of his trial at the Lyon courthouse, central France. Pope. A French court on Thursday March 7, 2019 is expected to acquit a cardinal and five other defendants accused of protecting a pedophile priest, but alleged victims say France's most important church sex abuse trial has at least allowed them to bring the affair into the open. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File) VATICAN CITY (AP) — The conviction of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin for failing to report a known pedophile priest to police deepens the crisis confronting an already discredited Catholic Church hierarchy. The verdict handed down by magistrates Thursday shows the church's once-untouchable "princes" increasingly are judged accountable for priests who abuse children and the superiors who allowed the abuse to continue. After centuries of impunity, cardinals from Chile to Australia and points in between ar

US bombs Syrian town with internationally-banned white phosphorus munitions

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US warplanes have again bombed a town in Syria's eastern Dayr al-Zawr province with internationally-banned white phosphorus munitions, killing several people, the official SANA news agency says.  The attack took place in the town of Baghouz on Thursday, leaving an unknown number of civilians including women and children dead, it added. The so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is supported by Washington, claims that is fighting the last remaining pocket of land controlled by Daesh terrorists in Baghouz. Thursday's bombing marks the third reported US attack with white phosphorus bombs after the SDF announced it had resumed operations following a break in the fighting to facilitate civilian evacuation last week. PressTV-US shells Syria with white phosphorous bombs Women and children have been reportedly killed in a chemical attack by the US-led coalition against a Syrian city. Washington has long been providing the SDF -- a predominantly Kurdish alliance

Iraqi popular forces urge ouster of US troops after ban

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Iraq's popular resistance forces have condemned US sanctions on Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and called for measures to oust American troops from the country. On Tuesday, the US designed Nujaba -- an Islamic movement whose crucial aid to the national army resulted in the defeat of Daesh in Iraq in late 2017 -- a terrorist group and imposed sanctions on it.  The decision has drawn angry reactions from Iraqis. On Thursday, popular anti-terror groups Kata’ib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq issued statements, calling for resistance against US presence in the region. Kata’ib Hezbollah's statement said the ban was a response to numerous US defeats in the region. It said Washington is seeking to weaken the Iraqi resistance against the occupation as it digs its heels in Iraq. Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq highlighted what it described Washington's hypocrisy in sanctioning the anti-terror group while allying itself with Saudi Arabia and Israel. "We believe the American crit