Terrorism Watch

  Israel has killed multiple senior officials with Iran's armed proxies like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 Demonstrators gather in reaction to the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, in Los Angeles. Caroline Brehman - FR172323 AP BEIRUT (AP) — Israel has killed multiple senior officials with Iran’s armed proxies like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon since the  Hamas-led attack  on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Now Iran's Supreme Leader  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  is dead, following a major attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency said Sunday without elaborating on a cause. President  Donald Trump  previously announced the death, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The compound of the 86-year-old Khamenei was among the first targets in the attack coordinated by the U.S. a...

  As US-Iran tensions surge, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis ramp up missile capabilities, stage anti-Israel drills and prepare to target Red Sea shipping and American bases, raising fears of a coordinated regional escalation Tensions in the Middle East are at a peak. The United States is massing forces in the region, issuing threats while leaving the door open to diplomacy, and Iran is vowing a firm response. In between, Israel is preparing for all scenarios, including the possibility that Iran’s regional proxies — chief among them Hezbollah and the Houthis — will assist the mullah regime if it is attacked rather than stand aside. The Houthis have attacked Israel numerous times since the outbreak of the war, disrupted freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and even succeeded in launching ballistic missiles and drones, a small number of which struck Israeli territory. With the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas taking effect, they halted their operations, but have since prepared for the ...

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Islamic militant groups have  stepped up attacks  and deepened their presence in border areas of  Benin ,  Niger  and  Nigeria  in West Africa over the past year, a crisis monitoring group said Thursday. From 2024 to 2025, the number of violent events involving jihadi groups in border areas of the three West African countries rose by around 80%, and deaths more than tripled to over 1,000, according to a report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, or ACLED. The data show how violence in the region has entered a new phase, with Islamic militants not just expanding but also cementing their presence, said Héni Nsaibia, ACLED’s senior analyst for West Africa. “Militant groups are taking advantage of long-standing vulnerabilities, exploiting governance gaps and weak regional military coordination,” Nsaibia said. Over the past year, two jihadist groups — the al-Qaida-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNI...

Leadership Impact: If confirmed, Akhundzada’s death may trigger a Taliban leadership scramble, exposing rifts between the Kandahari traditionalists and the Haqqani faction, potentially weakening Taliban unity. Conflict Escalation: Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in cross-border strikes, with rising hostilities and retaliatory attacks, signaling a shift from skirmishes to a more open conflict. Akhundzada’s Role: Known as the Taliban’s cleric-in-chief, he maintained control through religious legitimacy rather than battlefield prowess, helping the Taliban stay cohesive and expand territory before 2021   Unverified reports that Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has been killed in Pakistani airstrikes have injected fresh uncertainty into an already volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan confrontation. An unverified  claim that could redraw the conflict An international open-source intelligence group claimed earlier today that Akhundzada and several senior Taliban commanders ...

Key Surrender: Suresh Koda, one of the last active Maoist commanders in Bihar, surrendered after 25 years as a declared absconder, marking the official end of organized Maoist violence in the state. Decline of Violence: LWE incidents dropped from 342 in 2004 to just 13 per year by 2024–25, with zero security force casualties and massive arrests of extremists, including 42 top-tier commanders in the last five years. Impact on Elections: For the first time in decades, polling stations in previously high-risk districts like Gaya, Jamui, and Rohtas operated without relocation due to extremist threats, reflecting restored security and public confidence.   In January 2005, K C Surendra Babu, then Superintendent of Police (SP) of Munger, was returning from an operation when his convoy was blown apart by a landmine in the Kharagpur Hills. The blast, triggered by Maoists in the Bhimbandh forests, killed the SP and four other policemen, and confirmed the impunity with which Naxalite squads w...

Nurzai's death stands as a symbol of Pakistan's shrinking influence over Afghanistan, thus reflecting the Taliban's shift toward a more pragmatic foreign approach that largely sidelines Islamabad in favor of increased global outreach, especially with India Haji Lali Mama Nurzai, a highly influential figure and longtime operative of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had reportedly died. However, the cause of death of the chief architect of jihadist training networks remains unclear. Some reports suggest that he died due to a heart attack, while others indicate his mysterious elimination in a covert operation. Who was Haji Lali Mama Nurzai? A report by AMU TV states that Nurzai has played an instrumental role in building suicide training camps, guerrilla networks, and madrassas that furthered the ISI’s objectives. His death comes amid escalating tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan and the latter’s improving relations with New Delhi. It is also being claimed t...

Al-Qaeda-affiliated  Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin  (JNIM) has claimed to have inflicted heavy losses in  Burkina Faso  as a surge in deadly jihadist attacks sweeps across the Sahelian state. Burkina Faso, ruled by a military junta led by  Ibrahim Traoré  since September 2022, has faced more than 10 years of raids by groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, including JNIM. A UN Security Council report in February noted that the “pace of JNIM attacks” had slowed from September as fighters were diverted to  Mali  to back an attempted  fuel blockade . “The group’s efforts in  Mali have been the primary focus  since early September last year,” said Heni Nsaibia, analyst at conflict monitor ACLED. READ MORE  Mali: The domino effect of the JNIM blockade However, the attacks never stopped, and JNIM has launched a string of large-scale assaults in northern and eastern Burkina Faso since mid-February, killing dozens, incl...

Support on Terrorism: Poland recognises India’s right to pursue and strike terrorists, emphasising full empathy for attacks like the April 2025 Pahalgam incident. Bilateral Relations: Despite minor differences, India-Poland ties remain strong and constructive, with cooperation in military trade and shared condemnation of terrorism. Regional Stance: Poland maintains diplomatic ties with Pakistan but prioritises India in South Asian foreign policy, highlighting India as the key partner for defense and military collaboration.   New Delhi:  Poland unequivocally stands with India on the question of terrorism, Polish ambassador to India, Piotr Antoni Świtalski, said in an exclusive interaction with ThePrint in New Delhi Wednesday, underlining that Poland recognises India’s right to fight against terrorism. “We recognise your (India’s) right to fight against terrorists. We have no real problem to say India is doing right, pursuing terrorists and hitting them. And we said so,” he said...

Controversial Artwork: Harvard’s Elementary Sanskrit course featured an image described as “straight out of a horror movie”, showing a dark Hindu figure with a tilak and ghostly figurine, sparking accusations of blatant Hinduphobia. Public Outcry: The Coalition of Hindus of North America criticized the university for portraying Sanskrit and Hinduism negatively, leading to heated online debates and calls for an apology. Context & Artists: The artwork, titled *Master of Puppets*, was created by Indian artist Anirudh Sainath, depicting Krishna’s Ras Leela. Another referenced piece, *Millstone of the Caste System* by Gaganendranath Tagore (1917), satirized social oppression within the Brahminical hierarchy   Harvard University has found itself at the centre of a growing online storm after an artwork featured on its Department of South Asian Studies website drew sharp criticism and allegations of bias. The Coalition of Hindus of North America ignited the debate after calling out the...