Terrorism Watch

For years, the insurgency in Mizoram existed less in active conflict and more as a shadow—present, remembered, unresolved. On Thursday, that shadow lifted. With the surrender of the final faction of the Hmar People’s Convention (Democratic), or HPC(D), the state has formally been declared insurgency-free. The moment came not in combat, but in ceremony—a “homecoming” event near Aizawl where 43 cadres, including leader Lalhmingthanga Sanate, laid down their arms. The Last Terror Holdout The Sanate faction had long been considered the final surviving insurgent element in Mizoram. Operationally weak, often dormant, but symbolically significant. Its demands were not new. The group had continued to push for an autonomous district council for Hmar-inhabited areas under the Sixth Schedule. That demand—unresolved for decades—had sustained its existence, even as other factions entered peace processes.   Now, that chapter has closed. The surrender follows a peace accord signed on April 14 ...

Maritime authorities are warning of an increased threat to ships off the coast of Somalia after a cargo ship became the latest vessel to be seized in a suspected act of piracy. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) raised the threat level in the area to "substantial" as it reported "unauthorised persons" seized the vessel and re-directed it to Somalia's territorial waters on Sunday.   At least four vessels have been targeted in suspected piracy incidents in the last week including a fishing vessel and oil tanker.   Until three years ago piracy had almost disappeared in this stretch of the Indian Ocean once notorious for hijackings, but it has since made a comeback.   "Due to the increased threat of possible PAG (Pirate Action Group) activity, vessels are advised to transit with caution," the UKMTO said in a statement, noting that weather is conducive to small boat operations.   The hijacking on Sunday occurred six nautical miles off Garacad, Soma...

WASHINGTON  – The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on former Congolese President Joseph Kabila for his alleged role in funding and providing political support to  rebel groups  operating in the east of his country. The Treasury and State departments announced Thursday that they had targeted Kabila, who served as Congo’s president from 2001 until 2019, with a freeze on all assets he may have in the United States or that transit through financial institutions in U.S. jurisdictions Source:  US hits Congo's former president with sanctions over support for rebels

  The NIA has told a Delhi court that the seven foreign nationals arrested last week had entered Mizoram illegally before crossing over to Myanmar, where they imparted training to Ethnic Armed Groups (EAGs) known to support terrorist organisations operating in India and target the Myanmar Junta. They imparted “pre-scheduled training” to EAG operatives in the domain of drone warfare, drone operations, and assembly and jamming technology, the National Investigation Agency informed the court Monday.   The agency said that six of the arrested persons are from Ukraine, while one is from the US. About the Ukrainian nationals, the agency told the court they were part of a group of 14 Ukrainians who entered India on tourist visas and flew to Guwahati before continuing their journey to Myanmar.   The seven people have been identified as Matthew Aaron Van Dyke, Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim, and Kaminskyi Viktor. Van Dyke, the...

  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh warns against double standards on terrorism at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet, stresses action on cross-border terror. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday (Apr 28) issued a stark warning against terrorism, asserting that there can be “no place for double standards” in dealing with terror. He was speaking at a conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. His remarks came in the aftermath of the recent anniversary of the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22 last year. “We must not lose sight of state-sponsored cross-border terrorism which attacks the very sovereignty of a nation state,” he said. “There is no place for any double standards, and SCO should not hesitate in seeking appropriate action against those who abet, shelter and provide safe havens to terrorists.” The Defence Minister also hailed India’s “firm resolve” against cross-border terror during Operati...

  The man was missing from his home in southeastern Bangladesh for the last three days after two unidentified men took Nayan with them. A month after a spiritual leader was beaten to death by a mob in Bangladesh, a Hindu temple caretaker Nayan Sadhu has now been found hanging from a tree. The man was missing from his home in southeastern Bangladesh for the last three days. Stern action has been demanded against the perpetrators in the case by a minority group. The 40-year-old resident of Dohazari area under Sthania Upazila of Chhattogram district, was serving as a caretaker-cum-priest at a Shivakali temple in Khurushkul union in Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) said late on Saturday, as reported by PTI. Two unidentified men took Nayan with them late on the evening of April 19, and three days later, his body was found hanging from a tree in a hilly area on the outskirts of the village, according to the police and residents in the ...

  Beginning on Saturday, Al Qaeda’s Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), and its allies in the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a collection of Tuareg and Arab rebel groups, fully or partially captured several cities from the Malian state and its Russian allies. The massive, coordinated offensive is the largest of its kind in Mali since 2012, when al Qaeda and its rebel allies took over all of northern Mali and prompted a French-led intervention. Early on Saturday morning, gunfire and explosions rang out almost simultaneously across Mali, ranging from just outside its capital in Bamako in the south to the largely Tuareg city of Kidal in its extreme north. Militants made use of traditional military assaults, while  suicide car bombs and kamikaze drones  were also used as force multipliers by the rebels, further enabling the scale of the offensive. In Mali’s north, both JNIM and the FLA jointly targeted the cities of Kidal and Gao, with the former city  being q...

  The Sahel region has faced multiple crises for decades, but it is far from a weakened area slipping into further turmoil. Terror groups are resurging and establishing the Sahel as a base of operations. In recent years, jihadist groups have carried out symbolic attacks to demonstrate their presence, creating an impression of fragmentation and limited capability. However, this perception is shifting toward a reality of more organized and hardened jihadist groups exploiting the Sahel’s crises to re-establish themselves on the global terror stage. The crises in the Sahel are caused not only by governance failures but also by security vacuums and narrow geopolitical interests. The West risks repeating the same mistakes it made in Afghanistan. The Phase of Colonial Struggle The Sahel region was under French colonial rule, during which France focused primarily on resource extraction while neglecting governance. This created significant governance gaps. Additionally, colonial borders wer...

  Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of the banned group Sikhs for Justice claimed responsibility for the disruption and threatened similar protests at upcoming shows on Diljit Dosanjh’s international tour. CHANDIGARH: Pro-Khalistan supporters and sympathizers allegedly created unrest and raised anti-India slogans during a c oncert by Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh  at Vancouver in Canada on last Thursday.  During Diljit Dosanjh’s "Aura-2026" concert in Vancouver on April 23, 2026, proceedings were briefly disrupted when pro-Khalistan sympathizers began waving flags and shouting slogans. Security personnel intervened to manage the situation, leading to brief, heated altercations before the demonstrators were successfully escorted from the venue. Sources claimed that the protest was reportedly held by individuals who were identified as Pawandeep Singh Bassi and Mandeep Singh Ravi who are allegedly associated with the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SJF). The incident has dra...

  In March 2012, soldiers overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure, accusing him of failing to contain a Tuareg-led separatist rebellion and the advance of Islamist armed groups in the north. AFP PARIS: Mali's latest wave of attacks by jihadists and Tuareg rebels is a new chapter in a security crisis that has for years shaped the country. In 2012, northern Mali was plunged into chaos when ethnic Tuareg rebels launched a campaign for independence or special status. Jihadists soon joined the rebellion, turning the north into a launchpad for an Islamist insurgency that has since swept into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso. Here are the key moments in Mali's turmoil since 2012. North falls to jihadists Since independence in 1960, Mali has faced repeated uprisings by the Tuareg, a nomadic Saharan people of Berber origin, driven by grievances against rule from the south. In March 2012, soldiers overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure, accusing him of failing to contain a Tuareg-l...

  N'DJAMENA: At least 42 people were killed in eastern Chad after a clash between two families over a water point escalated into a cycle of reprisals, the country’s deputy prime minister said late Sunday. Limane Mahamat said during a visit to the village of Igote, in the Wadi Fira province, near the border with Sudan, where the clashes occurred on Saturday, that 42 people were killed and 10 wounded. He said those injured were evacuated to the provincial health center. Mahamat said the cycle of reprisals had spread over a fairly large area, prompting an intervention by the army. He said the “swift response” by the military helped contain the clashes and that the situation is now “under control." The deputy prime minister announced the launch of a 'customary mediation' process in the village and of judicial proceedings to determine criminal responsibility. Intercommunal clashes over resources are common in the Central African country. Last year, clashes between farmers a...

  Pakistani attacks on the east Afghan province of Kunar have killed at least seven people and injured 75, among whom are students and a professor at Kunar University, multiple sources have told the BBC. According to the Taliban government, 30 of the injured are university students.  Pakistan's information ministry denied attacking the university and residential areas, saying the reports were fake.  Reports of the Kunar attacks come several weeks after a Pakistani air strike on a drug rehabilitation centre in the Afghan capital Kabul which, according to the UN, is now known to have killed 269 people.  The Taliban say mortars and rockets were fired in the attack on Kunar province, while other sources told the BBC that jets and drones had been used.  An unnamed professor who was teaching at Kunar University told the BBC he had heard terrifying explosions across the university campus. Matiullah Shahab, a freelance journalist and human rights activist in the town of...

  As Sudan’s healthcare system teeters on the brink of collapse, doctors like Dr. Jamal Eltaeb and Dr. Osman Ismail Osman are battling against impossible odds to keep hospitals operational and save lives. For Dr. Jamal Eltaeb, an orthopedic surgeon at Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman, the war in Sudan has forced him to make heart-wrenching decisions daily. With dwindling medical supplies, frequent bombings, and a flood of patients, Eltaeb has become a symbol of resilience in a country where healthcare is on the verge of collapse. “You choose... as if you can decide who will live and who will die,” Eltaeb said, reflecting on the impossible triage decisions he faced after a strike on a nearby market left over 100 injured and eight dead. A hospital under siege Al Nao Hospital, once a tranquil facility with nearly 100 beds, became a lifeline for countless wounded as fighting between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified. Despite being targeted four tim...