Terrorism Watch

CALIFORNIA: A Chinese cyber espionage group is believed to be targeting key countries for China's Belt and Road Initiative , reveals a report by FireEye, an American cyber-security company . "APT40 (Periscope) is a Chinese cyber espionage group that typically targets countries strategically important to China's "Belt and Road Initiative." Target countries are concentrated in Southeast Asia or are host to global entities involved in maritime issues, such as shipping or naval technology," a report issued by the company, titled "M-Trends 2019" said. FireEye says that its researchers had concluded with "high confidence" that it was part of China's online spying operations. It said the group's activities dated back to at least January 2013 and its victims included "maritime targets, defence, aviation, chemicals, research/education, government and technology organisations". The report said, "We assess with h

The United Arab Emirates said Friday that twin attacks on tankers in the Sea of Oman just weeks after four ships were damaged off the UAE marked a “dangerous escalation”. “The attack against the tankers in the Gulf of Oman is a worrying development and a dangerous escalation,” the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, tweeted after Thursday’s blasts. Gargash also condemned a Yemeni rebel missile attack which wounded 26 civilians at an airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. He said the “blatant attack on civilians” was only the latest in a spate of rebel assaults “undermining the UN’s political work and sending a message of continuing violence and hostility”. These developments “must spur the international community to act to maintain peace and security in the region”, Gargash said. Also read: Norwegian tanker attacked in Gulf of Oman, three blasts: Report “The responsibility for avoiding an escalation is collective.” The two tankers,

Hong Kong’s embattled leader on Saturday said a divisive bill that would allow Hong Kong to China would be “suspended” in a major climbdown from her government after a week of unprecedented protests. The city’s pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam has come under huge pressure to abandon the controversial legislation, including from her own political allies and advisers. “The government has decided to suspend the legislative amendment exercise, restart our communication with all sectors of society, do more... work and listen to different views of society,” Lam told reporters Saturday. “We have no intention to set a deadline for this work and promise to report to and consult members of the legislative council panel on security before we decide on the next step forward.” The international finance hub was rocked by the worst political violence since its 1997 handover to China on Wednesday as tens of thousands of protesters were dispersed by riot police firing tear gas and rubbe

A cook, a messenger, a porter. For many children in conflict zones involvement with armed groups does not require carrying a gun. However, even though these boys and girls are equally exposed to violence, they often get far less attention and assistance than child combatants. According to a new report released on Tuesday, June 11, by War Child U.K., a specialist charity for children affected by conflict, many minors involved with armed groups in supporting roles miss out on rehabilitation programs available to those who had to fight. “Current programs that help ex-child soldiers focus on helping combatants. But many boys and girls in armed groups do not carry weapons and occupy other roles,” the organization said . “It can lead to children being stigmatized or isolated. This can also be the first step for a child becoming a fighter.” Children exposed to violence – whether they are perpetrators, victims or witnesses – suffer from the effects long aft

ADEN, Yemen, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A landmine explosion struck a civilian vehicle in the Red Sea port city of of Hodeidah on Monday, killing a Yemeni citizen and injuring three others, a government official told Xinhua. The landmine explosion occurred in Qatabah area in the district of Khokha, destroying the civilian vehicle and killing at least one citizen in addition to injuring three others at the scene, said the government source who asked to remain anonymous. "The civilians were on their way to their residential area and passed through a nearby sub-route that is not completely cleaned from landmines laid by the Houthi militias," the source said. He added that "the Houthi rebels placed many landmines in that area during the previous armed confrontations with pro-government forces and civilians are now the victims." The injured civilians were transferred to receive treatment to a field hospital managed by the pro-government forces in

People check the site of an airstrike at a seaport under construction in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, June 14, 2019. Israel struck on Friday militants' facilities in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets fired from the strip, amid tension between the two sides after Israel imposed a naval blockade on the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar) GAZA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel struck on Friday militants' facilities in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets fired from the strip, amid tension between the two sides after Israel imposed a naval blockade on the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave. Eyewitnesses and security sources said Israeli war jets fired several air-to-ground missiles at training facilities that belong to militant groups, including the armed wing of the Hamas movement. Medical crews and civil defence forces rushed to the scene, witnesses said, adding that fire was seen in the targeted posts. No injuries were repo

When it came time for Donald Trump to bomb Syria a second time , the president actively sought the counsel of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his White House press secretary and chief spinmeister. “What does Sarah think?” became a common refrain from President Trump on a whole host of political, messaging, strategic, and even foreign policy considerations, according to two people with direct knowledge. On Thursday, Trump announced she would be departing his West Wing toward the end of June and “going home to the Great State of Arkansas.” He and Sanders did not initially specify her next steps, or who would fill the inevitable power vacuum . By the end of her more than two-year run in the president’s inner circle, she’d become much more than just his principal spokesperson or press handler. But to her critics, she exits the White House much as she entered it in early 2017: as one of his most prolific and shameless spinners , liars, enablers, and loyalists. It is uncle

Massive public protests taking place in Hong Kong over the past week are aimed at a new extradition law, known as the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance , that would see accused criminals extradited to mainland China to face prosecution. Hongkongers feel the law could be used to legalise the kidnapping of people who express views, and act in ways, that are not popular with the Chinese government . The same law could also be used to extradite tourists and visitors to China who are arrested on suspicion of having committed these crimes. Protesters want the bill scrapped. For now, debate of the legislation has been postponed . Organisers say one million people turned out for the protests, while police estimate the number was around 240,000. Either way, it was a significant number of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population. Commentators on Twitter remarked on how well organised the protesters were. So, how did they do it? Protesters across the world are using n

In this file photo, same sex couples wait to get married prior to a group marriage of forty same sex couples in Sao Paulo, Brazil.   | Photo Credit: AP more-in The court’s judges have said the ruling was to address an omission that had left the LGBT community legally unprotected. Brazil’s Supreme Court officially made homophobia and transphobia crimes similar to racism on Thursday, with the final justices casting their votes, in a ruling that comes amid fears that the country’s far-right administration is seeking to roll back LGBT social gains. Six of the Supreme Federal Tribunal’s 11 judges had already voted in favor of the measure in late May, giving the ruling a majority. The final justices voted Thursday for a tally of eight votes for and three against. Racism was made a crime in Brazil in 1989 with prison sentences of up to five years. The court’s judges ruled that homophobia should be framed within the racism law until th

Jalalabad (Afghanistan) : A suicide bomber targeted a police checkpoint Thursday in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, killing at least 11 people and wounding 13 others, an official said. The Afghan arm of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which was committed by an assailant on foot, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province. There was at least one child among the fatalities, while three others were wounded. The area around Jalalabad is home to fighters from both the Taliban and the IS group's Afghan affiliate. Last month, three blasts in rapid succession in the center of Jalalabad left three people dead and 20 wounded. Until then, this city near the border with Pakistan had largely been spared from attacks and fighting, mainly with IS, in far-flung parts of the surrounding province. However, in March, at least 16 civilians were killed in a suicide bombing followed by gunfire targeting a construct

Syrian and Russian warplanes have jointly carried out precision attacks against the positions of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, in the northwestern province of Idlib. A gathering of the terrorist group's ringleaders at Taftanaz military airbase in Idlib was pounded three times by Syrian and Russian aircraft on Thursday night as part of a joint operation, Sputnik news agency reported. The report said the terrorists’ hideouts in the southern areas of Khan Shaykhun, Sufuhon, Kafr Nabl, and Hass in the province were also targeted by the warplanes. The strikes came after the militants refused to honor a full ceasefire agreement brokered between Russia and Turkey late Wednesday with the aim of halting clashes between Syrian forces and militants in the area. That agreement put on hold a Syrian government offensive to liberate Idlib, where between 10,000 and 15,000 militants are est

Five suspects linked to the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka have been repatriated from the UAE, police said Friday. The suspects also include Mohamed Milhan, a prominent member of the banned terror outfit National Thawheed Jamath (NTJ) that was responsible for the attacks. Milhan was also listed as a terror suspect in the Intelligence warnings issued before the Easter Sunday terror attacks, the Times Online reported. A team comprising officials of the Criminal Investigations Department took the suspects in its custody in Dubai and brought them back for further questioning. “Officers of the Criminal Investigations Department brought the suspects back to Sri Lanka this morning,” police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said in a statement. A series of coordinated blasts on April 21 targeted three churches and high-end hotels, killing 258 people and injuring over 500 others. Earlier, the Sri Lankan government banned the NTJ after the deadly attacks and arrested over 100 peop

Riyadh: Saudi forces on Friday intercepted five drones launched by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, in a second assault on an airport in the kingdom's southwest in two days. Representational Image of Yemeni Houthi rebels. Reuters The drones targeted Abha airport, where a rebel missile on Wednesday left 26 civilians wounded , and the nearby city of Khamis Mushait, which houses a major airbase, the coalition said in a statement released by Saudi state media. The latest raid comes amid spiralling regional tensions after Washington accused Iran of carrying out attacks that left two tankers ablaze in the Gulf of Oman, the second such incident in a month in the strategic sea lane. "The Royal Saudi Air Defence Forces and air force successfully intercepted and destroyed five unmanned drone aircraft launched by Houthi militia towards Abha international airport and Khamis Mushait," the coalition statemen

Israeli warplanes have attacked several Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip following a Palestinian rocket attack in the south of Israel , the military has said. The incident comes after Israel and Hamas exchanged rocket fire on Thursday, in the first  serious cross-border escalation since a surge in fighting in May. In a statement on Friday, the Israeli military said fighter jets and aircraft struck "infrastructure in military compounds and a Hamas naval force military compound as part of a strike on a number of Hamas terror sites throughout the Gaza Strip". The statement said the attack came in response to a rocket launched from Gaza which hit a Jewish seminary in the town of Sderot. The seminary was empty at the time of the attack as students had left to celebrate the Jewish sabbath with their families.    "If the rocket had hit a few hours earlier there would have been a disaster," former defence minister Amir Peretz, a Sderot resident, said in a

New Delhi:  In a stern message directed at Pakistan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that countries sponsoring, aiding and supporting terrorism must be held accountable. India stands for a terrorism-free society, he said. Underscoring the aim of the SCO to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism, PM Modi called for a global conference to combat it. Countries will have to come out of their narrow purview to unite against terrorism to fight it, PM Modi said in the presence of his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan. "During my visit to Sri Lanka last Sunday, I visited the St Anthony's church, where I witnessed the ugly face of terrorism which claims the lives of innocents anywhere," he said. PM Modi arrived in the Kyrgyz capital on Thursday for the two-day SCO summit. The SCO is a China-led 8-member economic and security bloc to which India an

Washington : South Asia has become a perfect breeding ground for religious extremism and it must be tackled as a global challenge because one-fourth of the world's population lives in this region, a senior leader of the Mohajir community has said. Half of the population in the region is under 25 years of age, South Asia Minorities Alliance Foundation (SAMAF) chairman Nadeem Nusrat said during a panel discussion at the US Capital organised by the body. Advertisement Low literacy rates, proliferation of deadly weapons, rising poverty and ethnic tensions and deprivation make the region a perfect breeding ground for extremist forces and this must be seen and tackled as a global challenge, he said. Representational image. AFP Pulitzer Prize winner journalist Pir Zubair Shah said while the militants of banned outfits are freely roaming throughout Pakistan, the elected Pashtun parliamentarians belonging to the Pashtun Tahafuz Moveme

Riyadh: A Yemeni rebel missile attack on Abha airport in south-western Saudi Arabia wounded 26 civilians on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels said. Representational image. Reuters Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said an unidentified "projectile" hit the airport which is used by thousands of passengers a day. Advertisement Eight of those wounded at Abha airport were admitted to hospital, Malki added. The other 18 were discharged after receiving first aid, he added in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency . He said at least one Indian was among three women wounded along with two Saudi children. Flights were disrupted for several hours before returning to normal. Abha, capital of Asir province, lies high in the Asir mountains and is a popular getaway for Saudis seeking escape from the searing summer heat of Riyadh or Jeddah. The Houthi rebels had said earlier that they had launched a miss

Pakistan has taken some "important" steps against terror groups post Pulwama attack but they are still reversible, a top US official said Wednesday, urging the Pakistani leadership to take sustained actions against terrorists operating in the country. Terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) will continue to pose a grave risk to international peace as long as they are able to operate freely in Pakistan, Alice G Wells, Senior State Department Official for South and Central Asian Affairs told House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation. "On the broader issue of counter-terrorism, the Pulwama terrorist attack in February that sparked a crisis between India and Pakistan underscored the importance and immediate need to halt terrorist activity in the region," she said in a prepared statement. The sub-committee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing

Pakistan is yet to take “concrete action” on India’s concerns and create an atmosphere free of terrorism, which is necessary to facilitate any possible engagement between the two sides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday. Modi made the remarks when the issue of Pakistan came up during his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek. “The Prime Minister did inform President Xi Jinping that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terrorism and that at this stage, we did not see this as happening as yet, and that, therefore, we expect Pakistan to take concrete action on the issues that India has proposed in the areas of concern that we have flagged to Pakistan,” foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale told a news briefing after the meeting. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan too is in Bishkek for the summit though Indian officials have ruled out th

Sudanese protesters are seen near burning tyres used to erect a barricade on a street, demanding that the country’s Transitional Military Council handover power to civilians, in Khartoum. (Reuters) Security forces deployed at every corner in the capital city of Khartoum, citizens continuing to fight for a civilian rule, and media blackout throughout the country – this is what the situation of Sudan is right now since the past few days. Although the North African country’s President Omar Al-Bashir has been ousted, the citizens of Sudan continue their fight for a civilian rule while the Sudanese military refuses to give in. The Guardian reported that at least 124 people were killed and more than 700 injured in the last 10 days in the strife-torn country. With news of sexual violence, murders, mass arrests, gunfires, and bodies floating in the river Nile, the crackdown was an alarming turn in the two-month standoff between the Sudanese people and the military. Sudan