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Showing posts from September 12, 2021

Former IS teenage bride Shamima Begum offers to help fight terror in UK

  Shamima Begum, who left the UK for Syria as a teenager, says she will regret joining the Islamic State group for the rest of her life and has offered to help the UK fight terrorism. She told the BBC she could be "useful to society" and it would be a waste to let her "rot" in a Syrian camp. The 22-year-old is accused of playing an active role in IS - she denies that. Sajid Javid is standing by his decision to revoke her citizenship.  Shamima Begum was 15 when she and two other east London schoolgirls travelled to Syria to join IS.  There, she married a Dutch recruit and lived under IS rule for more than three years. In 2019, she was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp. Her baby later died of pneumonia and Ms Begum said she had previously lost two other children. The then-Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped Ms Begum of her UK citizenship on national security grounds.  Who is Shamima Begum and how do you lose your citizenship? Shamima Begum cannot r

Keralite church diocese sparks row with handbook mentioning Love Jihad'; expresses regret following protest

  Amidst raging controversy over the 'narcotic jihad' remark by Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt, another church diocese has sparked a row by publishing a catechism handbook detailing nine stages of the implementation of the alleged 'Love Jihad' to trap Christian girls. The Thamarassery Diocese, under the prominent Syro Malabar Church, has published the book with controversial content for the catechism study of students belonging to classes X to XII. When the book triggered a row after various Muslim outfits asked the government to confiscate it, the church authorities expressed regret on Wednesday and clarified that they did not intend to hurt any religion or faith and aimed only to keep the youth rooted in the Christianity. The Diocese has no discrimination or intolerance towards any faith or religion, the statement said. "This book has been published not out of any hatred or objection towards any religion. It is only aimed at keeping the Christian youth rooted in

TIME lists Most wanted Mullah Baradar among Time’s 100 ‘most influential people of 2021’

  New York:   Mullah Baradar, co-founder of Taliban and deputy Prime Minister of cabinet announced by the group has been named among the world’s 100 most influential people of 2021 by TIME magazine. The Time profile describes the Taliban co-founder Baradar as a “quiet, secretive man who rarely gives public statements or interviews.” “Baradar nonetheless represents a more moderate current within the Taliban, the one that will be thrust into the limelight to win Western support and desperately needed financial aid. The question is whether the man who coaxed the Americans out of Afghanistan can sway his own movement”, says Baradar’s profile. The list also includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala. US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan and former US president Donald Trump are also on the list. Did Mull

In Niger, living in fear of terrorists

"They have killed our husbands, the other men have fled, our storehouses have been burned down," said Hajiya Sibti Mouhamadou, who lives in the small village of Sara Koira in Niger's volatile Tillaberi region. "Today, it's the females who have to take on the role of both the men and the mothers ... and take care of the children and the old people," Mouhamadou says in the  DW  interview. "How should we manage to do all of this?" Tillaberi is a vast arid area of 100,000 square kilometers (39,000 square miles) in Niger's southwest, where people primarily live from livestock herding and subsistence farming. The situation in Tillaberi, which forms part of the tri-border region shared by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, has sharply deteriorated in the past few years. "It's not easy to live in such a situation because as soon as you hear the sound of a motorcycle, panic breaks out in the village," Mouhamadou said, referring to the habit of

About 634,000 Afghans displaced this year as a result of conflict: UN OCHA

  United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan announced that more than 6,34,000 Afghans were internally displaced by conflicts in 2021. As of September 12, 2021, a total of 6,34,800 persons have been displaced by hostilities, with 2,82,246 displaced people had received assistance, according to the UNHCR. According to a report by Xinhua, since the Taliban took control of the country in mid-August, the security situation in Afghanistan has remained stable. Officials in Afghanistan and humanitarian organisations have raised worry over the living conditions of displaced families in the country, claiming that it has harmed women and children who lack access to health care and education. More than 28,000 Afghans affected by catastrophes According to OCHA, more than 28,000 Afghans have been affected by the catastrophes in Afghanistan since the beginning of this year. At a high-level ministerial conference on Afghanistan's humanitarian cris

Al-Qaeda Regrouping in Taliban-controlled Nation; Indian-origin Man Abducted in Vehicle Used by Insurgents

Afghanistan  LIVE Updates: United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said that they are noticing early signs that Al Qaeda may be regrouping in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. According to the Deputy Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency David Cohen, current intelligence reports indicate “some potential motion of Al Qaeda [returning] to Afghanistan," reported Intelnews.org. An Indian-origin businessman dealing in Afghanistan’s medicine market, named Bansri Lal was kidnapped by unknown miscreants. Matter so far seems to be a local crime-related issue and India is in touch with stakeholders in the matter and the Taliban is acting on it. Lal lived in Afghanistan and was not part of those who wanted to be evacuated back to India.  The Taliban government’s acting army chief of staff, Qari Fasihuddin said they are working to form a ‘regular’ and ‘strong’ army, Tolo News reported. “Our dear country should have a regular and strong army to easily defend and prote

Anti-terror conference to be held at Delhi Police Headquarters tomorrow

New Delhi [India], September 16 (ANI): An anti-terror conference will be held at  Delhi Police Headquarters  on Friday to discuss the new models and threats of terrorism, informed sources on Thursday.  Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana who has recently returned from Mumbai to Delhi will be part of the conference, the sources informed.  State Anti Terror Squad (ATS) officers and senior officers of intelligence agencies will also be involved, as per the sources. Few officials will join via video conferencing as well. (ANI)   Source:  https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/anti-terror-conference-to-be-held-at-delhi-police-headquarters-tomorrow20210916152006/

Head of Islamic State in Sahara 'killed' confirms France's Emmanuel Macron

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French troops have neutralised the Islamic State (IS) leader Adnan Abou Walid al Sahraoui in the Sahel region, country’s President Emmanuel Macron said on 16 September. In a tweet, he confirmed that Sahraoui, who led the terror outfit in the Greater Sahara, has been killed, marking a “major success” in France’s fight against terrorism. It is imperative to note that France has repeatedly been subjected to attacks perpetrated by Islamist terrorists leading Macron to blatantly declare a war on “Radical Islam”.  The jihadist militant was involved in the massacre of six French charity workers and their Nigerian driver last year. In addition, his group has also abducted foreign citizens and conducted multiple attacks on them. According to multiple reporters, he is believed to still be holding American Jeffrey Woodke, who was abducted from his home in Niger in 2016. Terror attacks in France  Last year in October, an armed man with a 12-inch-long knife stabbed people praying inside the Basilic

80 organizations, experts urge rescue of Yezidis still missing after being kidnapped by ISIS

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  Yezidis (Ezidis) in a Kurdistan Region displacement camp mourn loved ones killed or kidnapped by ISIS, Aug. 15, 2020. (Photo: Kirkuk Now) ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Following Tuesday’s opening of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, over 80 organizations and experts called on world leaders to ensure that missing Yezidi (Ezidi) women and children kidnapped since 2014 by ISIS in the disputed Iraqi district of Sinjar (Shingal) are located and safely reunited with their families. The emergence of ISIS and its violent assault on Iraq’s Yezidi-majority city of SInjar in August 2014 led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of members of the religious community while committing crimes that are now widely recognized as genocide. Read More:   UN experts: ISIS committed genocide against Yezidis Seven years after ISIS abducted them from Sinjar, 2,763 Yazidi women and children are still unaccounted for and their fates remain unknown, a joint letter from the organizations read. “Despit