Terrorism Watch

London [ UK ], February 19 (ANI): The United Kingdom and  Canada  on Thursday (local time) imposed  sanctions  on  Myanmar 's  military  rulers for launching a coup against the civilian government. According to a report by Al Jazeera, the  UK  said it would impose asset freezes and travel bans on three Generals while  Canada  said it would take action against nine  military  officials. "We, alongside our international allies, will hold the  Myanmar   military  to account for their violations of human rights and pursue justice for the  Myanmar  people," British foreign minister Dominic Raab said. The  UK  had earlier placed  sanctions  on  military  leader Min Aung Hlaing over human rights abuses on Rohingya and other ethnic minority groups. According to a report by Nikkei Asia, the  sanctions  imposed by  Canada  on  military  generals include leader Min Aung Hlaing and Defense Mya Tun Oo. "Following recent measures by the United States, and in coordination with the

AMRITSAR: A policeman of  Pakistan ’s Sindh province is reported to have abducted a minor Hindu girl and converted her to  Islam  before marrying her.  Intelligence sources here have said that Neena Kumari, daughter of Ramesh Lal of Halani Darbar in Sindh’s Naushahro Feroze district, was abducted by policeman Ghulam Maroof Qadri, who was deployed at a picket for the security of the area’s minority residents. A Hindu leader of Sindh, who didn’t wish to give his name, told TOI on Tuesday: “Neena went missing about five days ago. When she failed to return from school, the family searched for her and came to know about the kidnapping.”  The All-Pakistan Hindu Panchayat (APHP) says that cop Qadri converted Neena to Islam at a local ‘dargah’ on February 11 and renamed her Maria before marrying her in Karachi, 400 kilometres from her home. The marriage was made public on Tuesday.  The marriage certificate uploaded on the social media carries only the cop’s date of birth and mentions Neena’s a

A special peace tribunal in Colombia has found that at least 6,402 people were murdered by the country’s army and falsely declared combat kills in order to boost statistics in the civil war with leftist rebel groups. That number is nearly three times higher than the figure previously admitted by the attorney general’s office. The killings, referred to in  Colombia  as the “ false positives scandal ”, took place between 2002 and 2008, when the government was waging war against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (or Farc), a leftist guerrilla insurgency, which ultimately made peace with the government in 2016. Soldiers were rewarded for the manipulated kill statistics with perks, including time off and promotions. Related:  The ‘false positives’ scandal that felled Colombia’s military hero Included in the 2016 deal was the creation of a special peace tribunal – known by its Spanish initials, JEP  –  to investigate and try crimes committed by all sides in the conflict. On Thursday

Enhanced cooperation and implementation of best practices are needed to avoid, deter and report attacks threatening ships and crew in the world's top piracy hotspot, says the United Nations' (UN) maritime agency Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) expressed his deep concern about the escalation in the number and severity of attacks on ships and crew in the Gulf of Guinea region, and insisted on the need for a collaborative approach to restore security and reduce the threats to the safety and security of crews and vessels operating in the region. Attacks on ships have been on the rise in the Gulf of Guinea, and a  recent attack on the containership Mozart  in January resulted in a fatality and the kidnapping of 15 seafarers.  Recently released for ransom , the sailors described how they faced death threats and were held in a forest during their three-week ordeal. In a circular letter issued last week, Lim said the IMO has been

Buhari. Photo: TWITTER/NIGERIAGOV President Muhammadu Buhari has lauded the Republic of Chad for what he calls the effective “security back-up” given to Nigeria in fighting against insurgency. Mr Femi Adesina, the President’s spokesman in a statement, said Buhari made the commendation when he received in audience Mr Ahmat Oumar Ahmat, a Special Envoy of President Idriss Deby Itno, at the State House, Abuja, on Friday. The Nigerian leader said the need for security collaboration with neighbours was why his first trips on assuming office in 2015 were to Nigeria’s immediate neighbours. “I went round because we needed to work together. The peoples are the same, cultures are similar, so it was important that we also worked together on security,” he added. He wished Republic of Chad best of luck in general elections coming up in April. The Special Envoy said he bore a solidarity message from President Itno on the security situation in Nigeria, as well as encouragement for Nigerian troops, wh

Local residents shout as police stand guard at the entrance gate of a Buddhist monastery where pro-military supporters took shelter after clashes with residents in a neighbourhood following a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on February 18, 2021. (Photo by Sai Aung Main / AFP) Myanmar’s military has imposed repeated internet blackouts, blocked some social media sites and drafted a cybersecurity bill as it attempts to grind down resistance to its takeover. These moves by the new junta have deepened worries that internet-hungry Myanmar will no longer have access to real-time information, be largely cut off from the outside world and face draconian punishments for some online posts. What has happened since the coup?  The military has so far ordered five temporary internet shutdowns, starting on February 1 — the day of the putsch — when civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained. x In recent days, communications have been throttled on three consecutive nights for a peri

The Nigerian Navy, on Monday, deployed 14 warships and two helicopters to tackle the rising cases of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). Intelligence from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) had indicated an increase in sea crime around the GoG. But the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, at a media briefing to flag off ‘Exercises Secured Waters,’ said the 14 ships and helicopters had been directed to ensure that the nation’s territorial water is safe for commercial activities. Admiral Gambo said the exercise, which is the CNS First Quarter Sea Exercise for the Year 2021, was aimed at sending strong messages to pirates and their sponsors that it was no longer going to be business as usual. x The CNS, who addressed newsmen onboard the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Thunder, disclosed that his cardinal priorities were to improve the operational efficiency of NN’s fleet in terms of sea readiness and its availability for operational deployments to speedily boo

A Long Tale of Blood, Oil and Water The Gulf of Guinea with its 11 countries — eight of which have proven oil reserves and five of which are major fuel producers, was labelled as the world’s most dangerous maritime zone in 2020. The reputation comes in light of attacks on oil tankers which have risen exponentially in recent years. Incidents that many countries in the region are still struggling to get under control. One might question if scattered efforts have been going about the situation all wrong — focusing more on the symptom and not the source of the problem. The Impunity of Niger-Delta Oil Spills The massive BP oil spill and cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico from June 2010 garnered a boatload of international media attention, not even comparable to the many spills that had been taking place and are still spills taking place in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region. The editor of the Washington-based Africa Focus Bulletin website, William Minter, recently posted research that had bee

Premium Times Maiduguri. Residents of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Jere Local Government Area and the entirety of Northern Borno Senatorial District have been forced into darkness since January 25, 2021 when armed insurgents used an improved explosive device to destroy the only functional electricity transmission line along Damaturu-Maiduguri highway that supplies light to many towns and communities in Borno State. The latest attack by the malevolent elements came as a final blow to the electricity supply system to the state in that before then the main source of power to Maiduguri was through the old transmission line from Biu-Damboa-Maiduguri. Following incessant vandalisation of the lines by insurgents, the Federal Government opted for the installation of a new transmission line along Damaturu-Maiduguri Road, which was also vandalised immediately after completion. Before its destruction, it was supplying power to the Borno State capital and some parts of nearby Niger Republic. Th

The report stated that China's cyber-espionage poses an "imminent threat" to the economy of The Netherlands, in sectors such as banking, energy and infrastructure ANI The intelligence agencies in the Netherlands, Finland and Canada have expressed concern about China's  espionage  and political influence in democratic countries. The Frontier Post quoted Axios as reporting that the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) in The Netherlands, last week, had released a report on threats to Dutch national security interests. The report stated that China's cyber- espionage  poses an "imminent threat" to the economy of The Netherlands, in sectors such as banking, energy and infrastructure. "Behind the scenes,  China  is rising on the agenda of the Dutch intelligence services. Spearheaded by the AIVD and NCTV, the focus is on economic  espionage  and political influence," Ties Dams, a research fellow at the Clingendael  China  Centre at t

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea appears to be worse than ever, judging by recent headlines. But these accounts and the data they rely on must be approached with caution. Figures on piracy and armed robbery at sea are susceptible to under-reporting and problems of definition. Over-hasty responses could lead to narrow solutions that fail to solve the underlying causes of maritime insecurity. A snapshot of piracy in the region shows a relatively consistent number of reported incidents. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), attacks were documented in 15 Gulf of Guinea littoral states over the past three years. The IMB's Piracy Reporting Centre recorded 84 attempted and successful attacks in 2020, up from the 64 in 2019, but almost the same as 2018, at 82 incidents. Most assaults targeted the crew to kidnap them for ransom. The region is now the site of over 90% of the world's reported kidnappings at sea. Piracy data is often used as an indicator of general maritime sec

On 30 January, armed robbers in Cape Town hijacked two members of a maintenance team loading automated teller machines (ATMs). They strapped a makeshift explosive device to one of the victims and forced him to open various ATMs in order to steal the cash. The victim was later released next to a highway. The device comprised blasting cartridges similar to those smuggled across South Africa's borders by organised crime syndicates. Members of the South African Police Service's (SAPS) Cape Town Explosives Section, specialising in hazardous device incidents, defused the device and freed the victim, unharmed. The illegal smuggling of explosives in South Africa is a disaster waiting to happen. Explosives are brought into the country predominantly from Zimbabwe, often by unsuspecting victims who find their way into the hands of organised criminals. The explosives are used to bomb ATMs, rob cash-in-transit vehicles, and in illegal mining operations. The incident in Cape Town displays wo

Paris: The French minister for higher education has sparked a backlash from university heads after warning about the spread of "Islamo-leftism" in the country's academic institutions. The term "Islamo-leftism" is often used in France by far-right politicians to discredit left-wing opponents they accuse of being blind to the dangers of Islamist extremism and overly worried about racism and identity. "I think that Islamo-leftism is eating away at our society as a whole, and universities are not immune and are part of our society," Minister for Higher Education Frederique Vidal told  CNews television  on Sunday. The comments came amid a divisive debate in France about what President Emmanuel Macron has termed "Islamist separatism," in which Islamists are said to be flouting French laws in closed-off Muslim communities and fuelling terror attacks on French soil. The lower house of parliament approved a tough draft law on Tuesday that will extend

COLLEGE PARK, Md.: In a text message, a radicalized Trump supporter suggested getting a boat to ferry heavy weapons across the Potomac River into the waiting arms of their members in time for Jan. 6, court papers say. It wasnt just idle talk, authorities say. Investigators found invoices for more than $750 worth of live ammunition and for a firearm designed to look like a cellphone at the Virginia home of Thomas Caldwell, whos charged with conspiring with members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group in one of the most sinister plots in the U.S. Capitol siege. Right-wing extremists, blessed by Donald Trump, were unleashed last month, and their menacing presence has reignited the debate over domestic extremism and how law enforcement should be handling these groups. Their talk of civil war, traitors and revolution mirrored fighting words echoed by right-wing social media personalities and websites for months as Trump spread bogus claims about a rigged presidential election. In nea