Terrorism Watch

The army said the body of the deceased person had been deposited at a morgue An explosion occurred at a military facility in Kaduna State, killing one and injuring others on Saturday. This was disclosed in a press statement posted by the Nigerian Army on X. The statement, signed by Maria Sambo, the spokesperson for  Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria  (DICON), explained that the explosion “occurred at the DICON Ordnance Factory Disposal pit.” The army explained that the explosion occurred when specialists were concluding the destruction of the remaining quantity of the expired items at the disposal pit. It noted that the DICON had tried to destroy some expired materials “including a large quantity of Ammonia Nitrates, Primer Caps, Propellants and others” which were stored in some old storage bunkers. One dead, others hospitalised The army said the body of the deceased person had been deposited at a morgue while other injured persons were hospitalised at 44 Nigerian Army...

The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has publicly addressed the recent allegations of staff misconduct in sharing personal data, as  highlighted by a viral BBC Africa investigation.  In a statement, NIRA confirmed that an investigation has been initiated in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs Office and the Uganda Police Force.  This follows claims that individuals linked to a brutal sex trafficking ring had illicit access to NIRA's database, allegedly to process travel documents for their victims. A Controversial Documentary Shines a Harsh Light The BBC documentary exposed a dark sex trafficking network operating in the luxurious neighbourhoods of Dubai.  The report identified Charles Mwesigwa, a former London bus driver, as the alleged ringleader.  Mwesigwa brazenly confessed to the undercover reporter that he supplies women for sex parties, with prices starting at $1,000.  The investigation also brought to light t...

Hamas terrorists commandeered four UNICEF trucks carrying infant formula in Gaza City last week, robbing aid at gunpoint and depriving 2,700 babies of food, according to Israeli and United Nations sources. The trucks, which were set to distribute formula for free, were seized just outside UNICEF’s compound. COGAT, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, said the incident exposed once again Hamas’s exploitation of Gaza’s civilians. “Hamas proves time and again that it has no interest in the well-being of the residents of the Gaza Strip, but only in its terrorist motives,” COGAT head Maj. Gen. Ghasan Alyan posted on X. “Even as the State of Israel works together with the U.N. and international organizations to expand the scope of humanitarian aid, Hamas is desperate to thwart this, thereby once again abandoning the residents it claims to represent and enslaving them to ensure its survival. I strongly condemn the attack on U.N. workers by Hamas.” Alyan added that...

  Major European airports including Brussels, Berlin and London's Heathrow were hit by "cyber-related disruption" on Saturday, September 20, affecting check-in and baggage drop systems and causing delays, airport service provider Collins Aerospace told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "We have become aware of a cyber-related disruption to our MUSE software in select airports," the aerospace firm said, after at least three busy European air hubs reported facing disruption and warned of flight delays and cancellations. "The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations," Collins Aerospace added. Read more (from 2024)    French military intelligence is worried about increasing foreign interference At least 10 flights were cancelled out of Brussels Airport and another 17 delayed by over an hour after the system was hit by a "cyberattack" overnight on Friday, the airport said. On...

A significant cache of weapons, including 20 Chinese hand grenades, was recovered by joint security forces during an intelligence-based operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch sector. The recently dumped arms, including grenades and other ammunition, were intended to be moved to the hinterland for terror-related activities. Sources told India Today TV that timely intelligence foiled the conspiracy. Last month, in a related security operation, joint security forces  recovered two Chinese grenades  as they arrested two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist associates in North Kashmir's Bandipora district. Apart from Chinese grenades, two under-barrel grenade launcher grenades, and 10 AK-series rifle rounds were also seized from the terrorists. During the Bandipora incident, one Army jawan sustained injuries in an exchange of fire. According to the authorities, the seized arms are linked to ongoing terror campaigns in the region. Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Counter Int...

  United States President Donald Trump says American forces have carried out a third strike targeting a ship that he claimed was “trafficking illicit narcotics” and killing at least three men on board the vessel. The announcement, late on Friday, came as Venezuela accused the US of waging an “undeclared war” in the Caribbean and called for a United Nations probe into the strikes. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the latest “lethal kinetic strike” took place on his orders in the US Southern Command’s “area of responsibility”, a region that encompasses 31 countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean. “Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking illicit narcotics, and was transiting along a known narcotrafficking passage en route to poison Americans,” Trump said. “The strike killed 3 male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel, which was in international waters. No US Forces were harmed in this strike.” Trump posted minute-long aerial footage showing sid...

NEW DELHI:  Pakistan-backed terror groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) have begun relocating to its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province after Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and killed at least 100 terrorists in the early hours of May 7 when Operation Sindoor was launched, people familiar with the development said on Friday citing intelligence inputs. The move reflects a significant tactical adaptation by these groups that now view PoK as vulnerable to Indian precision strikes, the people said, adding that KPK offers greater depth due to its geography, proximity to the Afghan frontier, and existing jihadi safe havens dating back to the Afghan war. On May 7, the Indian Air Force struck two terror sites at Markaz Subhanallah in Bahawalpur and Markaz Taiba near Muridke, while the army hit targets at seven places including Mehmoona Joya in Sialkot, Sawai Nala and Syed Na Bilal in Muzaffarabad, Gulpur and Abba...

Like other states in Nigeria’s South-east, security has deteriorated in Enugu State with frequent attacks by armed persons. Some gunmen have killed a Catholic priest in Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east. Witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES that the Catholic priest, Matthew Eya, was shot dead on Friday evening along the Eha-Alumonah–Eha-Ndiagu Road in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state. Mr Eya, the parish priest of Saint Charles Catholic Church, Eha-Ndiagu, was said to be returning from Enugu Urban when the hoodlums ambushed him. One of the witnesses, who did not want his name mentioned in the report, said the attackers, who were on a motorcycle, opened fire on the cleric upon sighting his Toyota Camry car. “The gunmen first shot at his tyres and deflated them before shooting the reverend father at close range. “We initially thought they were kidnappers. But, considering that they were only interested in killing the priest, it is clear they were assassins,” he said. Viral video clip A...

Relations between France and Mali have worsened, after France suspended counter-terrorism cooperation and ordered two Malian diplomats to leave Paris. The move came in response to the arrest of a French embassy staff member in Bamako last month. French diplomatic sources said the two Malian officials – attached to the embassy and consulate in Paris – were declared persona non grata and told to leave by Saturday. The decision deepens a long-running row between Paris and Bamako, which has been under military rule since successive coups in 2020 and 2021. On 15 August, Mali’s junta announced it had detained a French national accused of spying for the French intelligence services. Colonel Assimi Goïta 's government claimed “foreign states” were supporting a plot to destabilise Mali’s institutions, allegedly involving a small group within the Malian armed forces. France rejected the charges as “baseless” and demanded the “immediate release” of its staff member, stressing he was a duly ac...

Eleven people detained in Ghana after being deported from the U.S.  are suing  President John Mahama's government. Their lawyer, Oliver-Barker Vormawor, said the  deportees  had not violated any Ghanaian law, and their detention in a military camp was therefore illegal. The group had been held in a U.S. detention facility before being shackled and flown on a military aircraft to Ghana under President Donald Trump's hard-line  immigration policy . The government has not yet commented on the lawsuit, but previously said it plans to accept another 40 deportees. Opposition MPs are demanding the immediate suspension of the   deportation   deal until Parliament ratifies it, saying that's required under Ghanaian law.   Source:  U.S. Deportees Sue Ghanaian Govt for Unlawful Detention - allAfrica.com

  How Controlling the Dalai Lama’s Succession Could Backfire In early July, thousands of Tibetans, Buddhists, and other well-wishers gathered in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, to mark the 90th birthday of Tenzin Gyatso—better known as the 14th Dalai Lama. The de facto pope of Tibetan Buddhism announced that, when he passes away, Tibetan Buddhists will start the traditional process of finding and anointing a reincarnated successor, ensuring that the centuries-old institution of the Dalai Lama will continue. Just months earlier, in a new memoir, the Dalai Lama made clear that any search for a successor must take   Source  https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/beijings-dangerous-game-tibet

Declaration by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) that there is no end in sight to the incessant attacks and killings in Plateau State is not only alarming, but also a statement laced with impunity that necessitates security interrogation. Embedded in the statement is a pointer to the possible cause and lasting solution to incessant criminality and lawlessness holding sway in the Middle Belt. That such intervention has not taken place reflects the government’s sloppy or half-hearted response to a national calamity that has been manifesting over time. Such an attitude unduly empowers outlaws and fuels a prolongation of insurgency and terrorism across the country. The cattle breeders claimed that the sustained bloodletting on the Plateau is due to the alleged injustice herders face in the state. MACBAN’s National Secretary, Bello Gotomo, while speaking in Abuja after the association’s National Executive Council meeting, enumerated proliferation of weapons, ...

  Gilgit [PoGB], September 17 (ANI): A high-powered committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif once again failed to evolve a consensus on Tuesday over the demands of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan's (PoGB) traders, forcing the matter to be postponed until Wednesday, as reported by Dawn. According to Dawn, the 22-member body headed by Federal Energy Minister Awais Leghari met in Islamabad for the fourth time to address disputes linked to taxes and clearance of consignments imported through the Khunjerab Pass. The meeting was attended by senior ministers Rana Sanaullah and Amir Muqam, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, PoGB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan, PoGB Assembly member Amjad Hussain Advocate, and representatives from state institutions, including NLC, FBR and ISI. The session remained inconclusive after PoGB representatives reiterated their demand for declaring the region a tax-free zone, arguing that as a non-tariff area, federal taxa...

  In September 2023, Azerbaijan restored full sovereignty over  Karabakh , ending decades of conflict. This landmark event reshaped the South Caucasus and set a precedent for resolving frozen conflicts worldwide. In September 2023, Azerbaijan decisively altered the course of history in the South Caucasus, closing a chapter of instability that had persisted for decades. On September 19–20, under the leadership of President and Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s national army conducted a swift but decisive anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh. Lasting barely a day, the operation delivered results with historic consequences:  Azerbaijan fully restored its sovereignty , dismantled the separatist project in Karabakh, and reestablished constitutional order throughout its internationally recognized territory. To the outside observer, this was not a sudden or impulsive action, but rather the culmination of three years of mounting frustration. Since the signing of the t...

South Sudan's political elites have been  criticized  in a new report for systemic government corruption and brazen predation, according to the UN Human Rights Commission. The report, Plundering a Nation: How Rampant Corruption Unleashed a Human Rights Crisis in South Sudan, accuses the country's political elites of systemic corruption and diversion of public revenues, leaving millions without basic services. The  report  is based on two years of independent investigations and analysis by the commission. It reveals that over $25 billion in oil revenues since independence in 2011 have been siphoned off through opaque schemes, while education, health, and justice systems collapse. The commission warns that corruption is driving hunger, preventable deaths, and violent conflict, with international donors now funding more basic services than the government. It urges urgent reforms to end impunity, strengthen accountability, and redirect national wealth toward meeting citi...

A pair of car bombings hours apart in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit southwest killed at least 11 people and wounded about two dozen others on Thursday. The first attack occurred in Turbat, a district in Balochistan province, when a  suicide bomber rammed a vehicle  into a security convoy, police official Elahi Bakhsh said. Three security personnel and two local officials were killed, and 23 others were wounded in the attack, he said. Pakistan taxi stand blast Hours later, another car  bomb exploded  near the Afghan border in the southwestern city of Chaman, killing six people, said government administrator Imtiaz Ali. According to the local administration, the blast occurred when explosives concealed in passengers' luggage detonated at the busy stand. The injured and deceased were shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital. Authorities have launched an inquiry into the attack. ALSO READ:  Pakistan Blast: Explosion Hits Cricket Ground During Match In Khyber ...