South Asia: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2023

A lower rung Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre, identified as Ayata Madkam (30), was arrested by the District Reserve Guard (DRG) from the forests of Nilvaya village in Dantewada District of Chhattisgarh on January 1, reports The Pioneer. Dantewada, Superintendent of Police (SP), Siddharth Tiwari, said Madkam was a Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangathan (DAKMS) member of Nilvaya Panchayat (village level local self-Government institution) of the outlawed Maoist outfit, and was involved in several Naxalite [Left Wing Extremist, LWE] incidents last year. Read less...

An old mortar shell was found 150 metres away from the railway line at Kali Badi near the Samba railway station in Samba District of J&K, Daily Excelsior reports on January 2. A bomb disposal squad inspected the mortar and found it empty. Read less...

Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres reportedly abducted a youth, identified as Sanjay Tati, and killed him after branding him a ‘police informer’ in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh on January 1, reports The Times of India. Tati (25), was a resident of Tarem Police Station area, was found lying on the Road Rehabilitation Project (RRP)-I Awapalli-Jagargunda road. Bijapur, Superintendent of Police (SP), Anjaneya Varshney said that some Maoists abducted Sanjay from Kursampara village on December 31. The Jagargunda area committee of CPI (Maoist) claimed responsibility for the incident, SP, Varshney said, the Maoists also dropped pamphlets near the dead body branding him as a ‘police informer’, adds Hindustan Times. Read less...

On January 1, a civilian, identified as Sameer Ahmed Malla was injured in a grenade attack near Mirza Kamil Chowk in Hawal area of Srinagar District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports Daily Excelsior. The grenade was aimed at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle but missed the intended target resulting in injuries to the civilian. The CRPF and J&K Police launched a search operation in the area. Read less...

On January 1, a Pakistani drone was spotted by the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel at the Kamalpur border outpost of Gurdaspur District in Punjab, reports amarujala. The BSF personnel fired at the drone following which the drone went back to Pakistan. The BSF troopers have launched a search operation in the area. Read less...

On January 1, the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) arrested an individual, identified as Umar Aziz from Karnah Tehsil (revenue unit) in Kupwara District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports Daily Excelsior. Five Pistols, 10 Pistol Magazines, 77 Pistol rounds, one pistol cleaning rod, one Pistol User Manual guide, four hand Grenades and 10 packets of Heroin like narcotics substance weighing 9.450 Kgs was recovered from Garangnard Chatkadi in Kupwara District in J&K on disclosure of the arrested accused. The consignment was meant for The Resistance Front (TRF). An FIR under number 01/2023 u/s 7/25 Arms Act (AA), 5 Explosive Substances Act (ESA) 8/21-29 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Act (NDPS)13,18, 20, 23 & 38 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) stands registered. Read less...

Suspected militants killed four civilians, identified as Deepak Kumar, Satish Kumar, Pritam Lal and Shiv Pal and injured seven others at upper Dhangri village in Rajouri Tehsil (revenue unit) of Rajouri District in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), on January 1, reports Hindustan Times. Read less...

Two civilians, identified as Samiksha Sharma and Vihan Kumar Sharma, died when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off in Dhangri village in Rajauri Tehsil (revenue unit) of Rajouri District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Daily Excelsior reports on January 2. Six other individuals were hurt in the explosion, as per officials. In a statement issued following the blast, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh stated that IED was concealed in a gunny bag and that they had received information about the presence of two terrorists. He also stated that the area has been cordoned off and that a search is underway. Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, who reached the site said that the IED blast was intended to target senior officers who were about to reach there and that “it is time to give a boost to Village Defence Committees (VDCs).” Read less...

Two persons, including one Police Constable and a terrorist were killed during a clash between terrorist and Police when former attacked a Police checkpost in the Shahbaz Khel area of Lakki Marwat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on January 1, reports Dawn. “The terrorists attacked the police [checkpost] with heavy and automatic weapons and tried to break in,” Lakki Marwat Police spokesperson Shahid Hameed said, adding that RPG-7s, grenades and other “advanced weapons” were used. The killed Policeman was identified as Constable Tehsinullah of the Rapid Response Force while the terrorist was identified as Owais Abdulkhel. Weapons were recovered from his possession. Read less...

On January 1, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Director General (DG) M Khurshid Hossain, handed over four boys and five girls to their families at a function titled "Naba Diganter Pathe”, who left their homes after getting victimised to militancy following various contents posted on Facebook and other online sites, reports Dhaka Tribune. The rescued boys and girls claimed that they left homes to pray in isolation and finally reached a militant camp. Later, they realized their mistake and returned from the militant den. But, as they could not return to the family, they kept roaming in different places. RAB rescued them on December 22, and took them into custody and handed them over to their families through counselling. Read less...

On January1, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit arrested six Al-Qaeda terrorists, identified as Abdur Rob, Mohammad Shakib, Mohammad Shamim Hossain, Mohammad Nadeem Sheikh, Mahammad Abshar, and Mohammad Sayeed Uddin, reports The Daily Star. So far according to information, they were arrested from Syedabad Bus Terminal of Dhaka city, Chattogram District and Teknaf Sub-District of Cox’s Bazar District. Dhaka court placed the arrested militants on a five-day remand on January 2. CTTC Additional Commissioner Mohammad Asaduzzaman said the arrestees formed a team by communicating on social media and different apps. "They migrated to Teknaf and stayed there for militant activities, after training with local collaborators. They have more associates. An operation is underway to arrest them," Asaduzzaman stated. Read less...

On January 1, a blast killed 10 people and left several injured, which took place at 8 am near the gate of the Military Airport in Kabul, reports Tolo News. Read less...

On January 1, Hasht-e Subh reported that Taliban sold the remaining tools and equipment of the Third Police District to the Kuchis (Pashtun Nomads) in Ghazni the capital city of Ghazni Province. The equipments includes three military ranger vehicles, one Humvee tank vehicle, three containers and the debris of the destroyed mosque building, which the Taliban sold for scrap instead of repairing them. Read less...

On January 1, Taliban forces arrested a man, identified as Majid Ahmadi for posting critical content on Facebook from Firozkuh city in Shahrak District of Ghor Province, reports Hasht-e Subh. Read less...

‘Khalistani Zindabad’ slogan was written outside the walls of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Upinderjit Singh Ghuman's office in Muktsar District of Punjab, Punjab Kesari reports on January 3. The Police have launched an inquiry into the matter. Furthermore, it was written that, much like former Prime Minister (PM) Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra was threatened to be stopped on January 11, 2023. Shortly after, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) head Gurpatwant Singh Pannu released a video in which he discussed a number of incidents in Punjab, including a bomb found close to Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann's office, Khalistani slogans written, and the assassinations of Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. Read less...

A Pakistani infiltrator was shot dead by the Border Security Force (BSF) troops at Channa Border Outpost in the Gurdaspur District along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Punjab, Tribune India reports on January 3. A pump action shotgun has been recovered from the site. Read less...

According to an intelligence report, Pakistan-based terrorists are targeting forward defence locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Rajouri District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in an attempt to infiltrate into India, India Today reports on January 3. Around 25-30 terrorists are planning to infiltrate India using four launching pads, namely Kotli, Lanjote, Nikail, and Khuiratta located in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), in front of the Rajouri sector. The intelligence report further states that the terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) are planning to target civilians, and that an alert has been issued in the Poonch District of J&K. Read less...

On January 2, BSF had recovered an old broken Pakistani drone (hexacopter) along with a consignment of one kilogram of narcotics near the Border Observation Post (BOP) Kassowal in Gurdaspur District in Punjab, reports Tribune India. Read less...

The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, at the Passenger Terminal Building in Kartarpur Corridor at Gurdaspur District of Punjab, have recovered live cartridges of 12 bore pistol from the bag of a woman devotee, identified as Bhupinder Kaur, who was going to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, in Narowal District, in Punjab Province of Pakistan, Punjab Kesari reports on January 3. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered 73 cases, including 35 cases of Jihadi terror, in 2022, a 19.67 per cent increase from the 61 cases registered in 2021 and the highest in the last three years, reports The Indian Express. NIA officials asserted that around 60 cases each were filed by the agency in 2019 and 2020. An NIA spokesperson stated, “We have registered 73 cases in 2022, which is a 19.67 per cent increase from the 61 cases registered in 2021 and is an all-time high for the NIA. These cases include 35 cases of Jihadi terror in states such as J&K, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, 11 other cases in J&K, 10 related to Left Wing Extreme (LWE), five related to insurgents in the northeast, seven related to the Popular Front of India (PFI), four of Punjab, three cases of gangster-terror-drug smuggler nexus, one case of terror funding and two Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN)-related cases.” The spokesperson also stated, “The NIA has filed 59 chargesheets in 2022 against 368 persons and judgements have been pronounced in 38 cases, all of which have ended in conviction. In all, 109 persons have been convicted to rigorous imprisonment along with fine. Six life sentences have also been awarded. Overall conviction rate as on date is 94.39 per cent. Eight persons have been designated as terrorists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and necessary action against them is being taken by the NIA”. Read less...

One Army personnel was killed and unspecified number of others sustained injuries when Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) cadres attacked an Army camp in Sabbri Dhaddar area of Sibi District in Balochistan on January 2, reports Radio Zrumbesh. Claiming the responsibility of the attack, the BLA ‘spokesman’ Jeehand Baloch said the Army post was destroyed in the attack. Read less...

The National Security Committee (NSC) on January 2, asked Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, without directly naming them, to deny safe haven to Pakistani terrorist groups on its soil and end their patronage, while reiterating its intent to crush terrorist groups operating inside the country with full force, reports Dawn. The statement said: “Pakistan’s security is uncompromisable and the full writ of the state will be maintained on every inch of the (sic) Pakistan’s territory.” The meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and attended by key Ministers, services chiefs, and top intelligence officials, also endorsed the government’s road map for restoration of economic stability in the country. “No country will be allowed to provide sanctuaries and facilitation to terrorists and Pakistan reserves all rights in that respect to safeguard her people,” the NSC statement read. Further, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that Afghanistan’s soil continued to be used against Pakistan, despite an agreement. Speaking on Geo TV Shahzeb Khanzada’s show, he said the Afghan Government had promised that their territory wouldn’t be used against Pakistan, adding: “The Pakistani government is in constant touch with Afghanistan in connection with border violations”. Earlier, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, on December 31, had hinted that Pakistan was planning strikes against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts in Afghanistan if Taliban authorities failed to act against the terrorist group and hand over the TTP leaders and fighters living there. Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Islamic Emirate’s Defence Ministry on January 2, said in a statement that Sanaullah’s words were “provocative and baseless.” It further stated that Afghanistan was “ready to defend its territorial integrity and independence”. Read less...

Lutfozzaman Babar and Abdus Salam Pintu, ministers in the former Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government in Bangladesh assisted Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) in its attempt to kill Shieikh Hasina in 2004 and also helped the outfit procure arms for use against India, Abdul Kahar Akand, investigation officer in the grenade attack cases told a Dhaka court, on January 2, reports The Hindu. The investigation officer stated, “Most of their recruits came from Pakistan-(occupied) Kashmir and Bangladesh... They had also mobilised funds, arms and ammunition for insurgents in Kashmir of India.” He further stated that HuJI trained many youths, mainly madrasa (Islamic Seminary) students, how to operate firearms and bombs. Akand asserted that HuJI-B had planned to eliminate Hasina and other Awami League leaders as their government in its 1996-2001 tenure was an “obstacle” in its campaign of “recruiting and training youths as its operatives, and procurement of firearms for fellow militants fighting in India and Afghanistan.” The court granted Akand’s appeal seeking fresh remand for HuJI-B ‘founder’ Sheikh Abdus Salam. Read less...

Islamic State (IS) on January 2, claimed responsibility for series of terror attacks that occurred lately in Afghanistan, reports voanews.com. It’s Afghanistan-based affiliate- Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) was behind January 1, suicide bomb attack outside the military airport in the country’s capital, Kabul. ISKP also claimed that the attacker had participated and survived December 12, raid on a downtown Kabul hotel where Chinese nationals were staying, among other guests. ISKP further claimed a December 2, assassination attempt on Ubaid ur Rehman Nizamani, head of Pakistan’s Embassy in the Afghan capital. Nizamani escaped unharmed in the shooting incident, but his Pakistani security guard was injured. In late December, a car bomb in Badakhshan Province killed the Taliban regional Police Chief and his two guards, ISKP took responsibility for plotting that attack in the provincial capital of Fayzabad. Read less...

Local sources in Sar-e-Pul Province in North Afghanistan informed that the Taliban’s commission for restitution of undocumented lands, by the order of Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, granted more than 80 acres of agricultural land to the tribes native in Maidan Wardak province, Hahst-e Subh reports on January 3. Sources detailed that these lands have been distributed to the tribes living in Maidan Wardak in Qala-e-Sukhta vicinity in the capital city of Sar-e-Pul province. Sources added that the Taliban governor in Sar-e-Pul, as the head of the commission for restitution of undocumented lands, has ordered that the undocumented lands be handed over to the relatives native in Maidan Wardak. Sources expressed that the assignment of lands by the commission continues and the residents of Sar-e-Pul will be harshly dealt with if they protest. Read less...

An official review of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released on January 3 showed that in 2022, there was about 54 per cent reduction in terrorist incidents, 84 per cent in the deaths of Security Forces (SFs) and about 22 per cent in the recruitment of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports The Statesman. It also reveals that J&K security situation received constant attention of the UMHA during 2022 and J&K’s security grid was strengthened to ensure zero-fear of terrorists and separatists. Read less...

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, made an attack on Pakistan on January 3, terming it as "epicentre of terrorism", reports NDTV. He said that the impacts of cross-border terrorism cannot be limited within a region, especially when they are deeply linked to the drugs and illegal weapons trade, as well as other forms of international crime. Jaishankar had a detailed discussion on the threats to international peace and security that are posed by terrorism, including its cross-border practices, violent extremism, radicalisation and fundamentalism with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on January 3. In reference to the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks (26/11), he said, “This is a country which has attacked the Parliament of India some years ago, which attacked the city of Mumbai, which went after hotels, and foreign tourists, which every day sends terrorists across the border.” He also hit out at the European countries for not condemning Pakistan. "When we speak about judgments and principles, why don't I hear sharp European condemnation of these practices that have been going on for decades?" he said. Read less...

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) 32nd Battalion arrested a wanted Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre identified as Janaki Koda, during a search operation conducted on the secret information about the presence of Maoists in New Barmasia and Bankura of Kajra Police Station area in Lakhisarai District of Bihar on January 3, reports prabhatkhabar.com. Koda is accused of shooting and killing Chhotu Saav, the driver of Ganesh Rajak, the then head of Bhalui Panchayat (village level local self-Government institution) on August 19, 2019, and a case has been registered regarding this in Chanan Police Station. Apart from this, a case has been registered against him in Piribazar Police Station. He is accused of planting Improvised Explosive Device (IED) bombs and firing on the Police force. Koda has been sent to judicial custody. Read less...

Three Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, including two brothers, were arrested from Pannk Narayanpur Police Station limits of Bokaro District of Jharkhand on January 3, reports The Pioneer. About a dozen cases have been registered against them in Pannk-Narayanpur Police Station of Nawadih Block (administrative division) of the district, said Police. Acting on a tip off that two Maoists, Baburam Marandi and Dalo Ram Marandi belonging to Giridih District and another Maoist Futani alias Kuleshwar Kumar Sharma alias Koleshwar Thakur, a resident of Giridih, were arrested while they arrived at place in Nawadih under Pannk-Narayanpur Police Station. The arrested rebels were charged in case number 161/2014 Section-147/148/149/353/307 Bhadvi and 4/5 Explosive Substances Act and 17 Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act's First Information Report (FIR) has been registered on December 12, 2014. The Maoists were also accused of planting a bomb in a culvert on the Palamu-Sarubera Road in Nawadih with the intention of killing him. Read less...

Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on January 3, said that the Government has decided not to hold talks with any terrorist organisation, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), reports Samaa TV. Rana shared granular details of all the decisions undertaken during the two-day-long National Security Committee (NSC) which was chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and concluded in Islamabad on January 2. The Federal Interior Minister clarified that terrorists do not hold dominion over any stretch of land in either Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Balochistan. Read less...

Foreign Minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on January 3, said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan is a reality but Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a fitna (evil), reports Samaa TV. He accused Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of financing the TTP by paying extortion to the militants. Bilawal said, “We raised our voice even when decisions were being taken against our national security. We did what the whole world could not do in Afghanistan together. We wiped out the terrorists in Waziristan, Swat, and Karachi.” He said that the accomplices of the terrorists were released without consulting anyone. Where in the world does this happen, he questioned. He further said after winning the war against terrorists, the people involved in the Army Public School (APS) massacre were released. He accused former Prime Minister Imran Khan of comprising on the blood of martyrs. Bilawal alleged that PTI leaders were paying extortion to the TTP militants. Read less...

The Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on January 3, released the annual performance report of the year 2022 which reported 1,225 intelligence-based operations were conducted across the province, in which 244 suspects were arrested, 197 cases were registered and 782 recoveries were made, reports The News. According to the CTD spokesman, the department has achieved important achievements for the eradication of terrorism while maintaining its previous traditions. The spokesperson said in the year 2022, the operation wing of CTD Punjab added 105 suspicious persons and 354 madrasas to the Fourth Schedule list, apart from this. CTD Punjab's investigation wing has registered 205 terrorism cases, while 246 terrorists were arrested out of which 183 persons were challaned. 22 cases investigations are in progress for trial. The spokesman maintained the CTD Punjab recovered 64.36 kg of explosives, 48 hand grenades, 253 detonators, 7 batteries and 215 meters of prima cord, 3 SMGs, 40 pistols, 324 bullets and 3 magazines from terrorists. Similarly, the CTD Punjab detained 20 proclaimed offenders (POs) and 3 POs who were in Red Book died in a police encounter. He said the CTD raced 13 suspects involved in head money cases and 16 cases of head money were completed and red notices were issued to six accused. Read less...

Two Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel, identified as Additional Director Naveed Sial and Inspector Nasir Abbas, were shot dead by unidentified assailant at a truck stop in Khanewal city (Khanewal District) of Punjab on January 3, reports Samaa TV. Footage of the incident showed that a lone gunman was involved in the incident. Read less...

On January 3, Abdul Haq Hammad, the Taliban’s head of publications of the Information and Culture Ministry in a series of threads on Twitter said that after receiving complaints related to the activities of some media outlets against national interests, he summoned media outlets’ publishers to the Media Violations Commission to share his concerns in this regard, reports Hasht-e-Subh. The Taliban official at the Information and Culture Ministry stated that due to the absence of publishers, their cases were sent to the court to decide on the cancellation of the activity licenses of these media outlets. Read less...

On January 3, four Taliban fighters, identified as Abdul Majeed (an employee of the General Directorate of Combating Serious Crimes of the Taliban’s Ministry of Internal Affairs), Mawlawi Najibullah Hanifi (Director of planning and operation of Mirbacha Kot District, Kabul), Abdul Basit Atal (a soldier of the Taliban’s Border Protection Battalion), and Ehsan Ahmad (an employee of the Department of Combating Administrative Corruption of the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior) involved in Kidnapping of a businessman were killed in a gunfight in Kabul Province, reports Hast-e Subh. Read less...

On January 3, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that "Afghanistan seeks good diplomatic relations with all neighbours, including Pakistan", he added that good diplomatic ties were crucial to development, reports tribune.com.pk. He further stated "Islamabad's statements over Afghanistan are undesirable, the Islamic Emirate would not allow its land to be used to spread militancy and disability against a neighbouring country. We demand that Islamabad take measures to control unrest, militancy and the law and order situation". Read less...

Aijaz Ahmad Ahanger alias Abu Usman Al-Kashmiri, currently based in Afghanistan, one of the chief recruiters of Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK), was declared as an individual terrorist by Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) declared through a notification on January 4, reports Daily Excelsior. He also has contacts with al-Qaeda and other global terrorist groups and is engaged in restarting the Islamic State (IS) in India, He has been designated as the individual terrorist under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967. UMHA said Ahanger, appointed as the head of Islamic State (IS) recruitment cell for India, is working towards providing traction to militancy in Kashmir and has started the process of identifying people for inclusion in his Kashmir based network. He has also been instrumental in initiating an online India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine. Read less...

Arms and ammunition were recovered during a joint Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) by Police, along with other Security Forces (SFs) in Sadhpora Taad village under Karnah Tehsil (revenue unit) in Kupwara District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on January 4, reports Daily Excelsior. “During the search operation, the joint team recovered arms and ammunition including three pistols, three pistol magazines, 22 pistol rounds, and three Chinese grenades from a house belonging to Shameem Ahmad Shiekh, son of Suderdin Sheikh, resident of Sadhpora Taad,” a Police official said. Read less...

Eight prominent Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, including three women who were part of the CPI-Maoist squad led by Misir Besra, surrendered before the State Police in Ranchi District of Jharkhand on January 4, reports Ommcom News. Jairam Bodra, Martam Angaria, Sarita Sardar, Tungir Purti, Patar Koda, Kusnu Sirka aka Kartik Sirka and others, surrendered at a programme organised by the State Police. Many cases have been registered against them in different Police Stations of Chaibasa, Jamshedpur, Seraikela-Kharsawan Districts. Read less...

Suspected Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres killed a tribal after branding him as a ‘police informer’ in the Chintur Mandal (administrative sub division) area in Alluri Sitarama Raju District of Andhra Pradesh late on January 4, reports The New Indian Express. According to Chintur circle inspector Appala Naidu, about 10 Maoists went to the house of the victim Soyam Subbaiah (40) in Juvvigudem village in Chintur Mandal, later, they rounded up Subbaiah and allegedly thrashed him to death with sticks. Police suspect the Maoists came from the Konta area in Chhattisgarh. According to Police, Maoists killed Subbaiah suspecting him as a ‘police informer’. In the letter purportedly left by the Maoists, it was alleged that Subbaiah was working as a ‘police informer’ for the past five years. The letter read that the Maoists had warned Subbaiah to mend his ways several times, but in vain. Police suspect that Maoists believed Subbaiah passed on crucial information to the Police sometime back leading to the alleged fake encounter of a Maoist cadre. “Subbaiah was an active police informer and we wanted to punish him,’’ the Maoists said in their letter. Read less...

The ‘chairman’ of the Manipur Tribal Revolutionary Army (MTRA), identified as Chuirei Makung and one of his followers were arrested while trying to extort money at Mantripukhri Bazar under the Heingang Police Station in Imphal East District of Manipur on January 4, reports Northeast Now. Two mobile handsets and some incriminating documents have been recovered from their possession. Read less...

The cadres of All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) shot dead a Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M) local tribal leader in Sadar (east) subdivision of Tripura on January 4, reports Telegraph. Police said Bidya Debbarma, member of Janmejaynagar local committee of CPI-M and former chairman of the village development committee, had gone to meet his friend Gurumohan Debbarma in nearby Maharam Sardar para area in the evening. At around 7 pm, five ATTF cadres entered into Gurumohan’s house and dragged Bidya away. The militants shot him dead from point blank range 250 metres from the house. Read less...

The members of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI) acted like a terrorist gang, the magisterial inquiry into the KG Halli and DJ Halli violence concluded on January 4, reports One India. The report said that the SDPI conspired to strike terror among the people and Police authorities. "During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that the accused persons conspired with each other to form an unlawful assembly to protest against the decisions of courts and government in cases relating to the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act (popularly known as Triple Talaq Act) and the final judgment in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi dispute," the report also said. Read less...

Three Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, two of them involved in 2017 Burkapal and Bhejji attacks and carrying a total reward of INR 800,000 on their heads, surrendered in Sukma District of Chhattisgarh on January 4, reports The Print. Madvi Budhra, Vetti Joga and Madvi Joga turned themselves in citing disappointment with the “inhuman” and “hollow” Maoist ideology, Sukma, Superintendent of Police (SP), Sunil Sharma said, adding that they were also impressed by the state government’s rehabilitation policy and District Police’s ‘Puna Narkom (`new dawn’ in the Gondi language) campaign. Budhra, who carried a reward of INR 500,000, was Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangathan (DAKMS) ‘president’ and Kistaram Area Committee member of Maoist organization. Vetti, who carried a reward of INR 300,000 on his head was active as Kistaram Local Organisation Squad (LOS) ‘deputy commander’, SP said, adding that he was involved in the 2020 Minpa ambush and Tumirpad attack in which one trooper was killed. Madvi Joga was DAKMS ‘vice-president’ under the Palachalma Revolutionary People’s Committee as well as a member of the Naxalites’ platoon number 8, the SP said, adding that Joga was involved in the 2017 Burkapal attack, 2017 Bhejji attack and the Kasalpad attack in which 14 security personnel were killed. Read less...

Two militants of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) were found dead at Vangli village in Churachandpur District of Manipur on January 4, reports Northeast Now. The two deceased militants have been identified as Major Yaiphaba and Captain Jirilakpa of the UNLF. Read less...

Federal Minister of Interior, Rana Sanaullah said on January 4, that the Government could reengage in negotiations with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) if the militant outfit won't challenge the state's writ, reports Geo TV. "If the TTP decides to come under the ambit of the Constitution, then we can hold talks with them," Rana Sanaullah told a similar demand that the previous Government put forth before the TTP. Read less...

One Police Constable injured when Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) cadres opened fire on two Policemen on a motorcycle patrol near the Rapid Response Force (RRF) headquarters in Saeedabad area of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, on January 4, reports Radio Zrumbesh. BLF ‘spokesman’ Major Gwahram Baloch claimed the responsibility of the attack. Read less...

Three Army personnel were killed and two others injured when Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) cadres ambushed their vehicle with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Tump tehsil (revenue unit) of Kech District in Balochistan on January 4, reports Radio Zrumbesh. While claiming the responsibility of the attack, BLF ‘spokesman’ Major Gwahram Baloch said BLF cadres attacked a Vigo vehicle of a military convoy going to Mand from the Tump Army camp in the Kech area with a remote control bomb between Barat and Dukop in the Tump area. Read less...

Two militant outfits, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-i-Khorasan, on January 4, claimed responsibility for killing of two Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) personnel in Khanewal city (Khanewal District) of Punjab on January 3, reports Dawn. Earlier it was reported that both personnel belonged to Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). According to the first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn, ISI Multan Region Director Naveed Sadiq and Inspector Nasir Abbas met a source at a roadside hotel on the National Highway near Pirowal in Khanewal District. After having tea, they all walked to the parking lot when the source himself, identified as Umar Khan of Kacha Khoo, pulled out his gun, shot the officers dead and fled from the scene. The suspect reportedly executed the attack on the directions of his group leader, Asadullah. Meanwhile, the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack. Earlier, a group calling itself Lashkar-i-Khorasan, linked with Al Qaeda, had also made a similar claim. “Yesterday, a secret squad of TTP killed ISI Deputy Director Multan Naveed Sadiq along with his colleague Inspector Nasir Butt at Bismillah Highway in Khanewal district of Punjab,” TTP ‘spokesman’ Mohammad Khorasani said in a statement to the media. Read less...

Two militant outfits, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Al Qaeda-linked Lashkar-i-Khorasan, on January 4, claimed responsibility for killing of two Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) personnel in Khanewal city of Punjab on January 3, reports Dawn. Earlier it was reported that both personnel belonged to Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). According to the first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn, ISI Multan Region Director Naveed Sadiq and Inspector Nasir Abbas met a source at a roadside hotel on the National Highway near Pirowal in Khanewal District. After having tea, they all walked to the parking lot when the source himself, identified as Umar Khan of Kacha Khoo, pulled out his gun, shot the officers dead and fled from the scene. The suspect reportedly executed the attack on the directions of his group leader, Asadullah. Read less...

A foreign terrorist from Tajikistan, identified as Abu Omar in the ranks of the Taliban was killed in Kawk village of Baharak District in Badakhshan Province was killed by unknown individuals, reports Hasht-e Subh on January 5. He disappeared three days ago from same District. Read less...

On January 4, Afghanistan’s Journalists Center (AFJC) announced that Taliban released a journalist, identified as Faizullah Faizbakhsh from prison, who was earlier arrested while filming the site where the leader of the Al-Qaeda network was killed in Kabul, reports Hasht-e Subh. Read less...

On January 4, multiple blasts occurred in 8th District of Kabul city, reports Khaama Press. Hitherto, no killing and injury are reported. Read less...

On January 4, Taliban fighters detained a former member of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), identified as Khodadad in Panjshir Province, reports Hasht-e Subh. Taliban also detained two civilians in Dara District of Panjshir Province on the same day. An unidentified source confirmed that these two people were arrested on accusation of cooperation with the National Resistance Front (NRF). Read less...

Taliban killed a former member of Afghanistan’s National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), identified as Mohammad Hashem after torturing and hanged his body in public, reports Hasht-e Subh on January 5. He was detained by Taliban on January 4, from his house in Baghlan District of Baghlan Province. Read less...

The Ministry of Counter-Narcotics Department officers arrested two persons from an illegal narco factory and seized 12 kilograms of heroin, 123 kilograms of chemical raw materials in Argo District of Badakhshan Province, reports bakhtarnews.af on January 5. Read less...

On January 5, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre Chandru Manjhi alias Ramchandra Soren was arrested by the Penk-Narayanpur Police from Jamunia Forest of Uparghat (Nawadih) in Bokaro District of Jharkhand, and sent to jail in connection with the December 6, 2006, land mine blast case in Pulia near Naya Basti of Bokaro Thermal Police Station area in which 13 Security Forces (SF) personnel were killed, reports livehindustan.com. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 5, conducted searches at six locations in Karnataka in four Districts of Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Davanagere and Bengaluru and arrested two Islamic State (IS) militants, identified as Reshaan Thajuddin Sheikh, a resident of Varamballi, Bramhavar, Udupi District and Huzair Farhan Baig, a resident of 1st main, 7th Cross, Tippu Sultan Nagar, Shivamogga District, reports The New Indian Express. The place of arrest is yet to be disclosed. The case relates to a conspiracy hatched by the accused to further the terror activities of the IS and to endanger the unity, security and sovereignty of the country. The investigation revealed that Reshaan was radicalised by Maaz Muneer, another accused arrested earlier on September 20. The arrested duo received funds from their IS handler through Crypto-wallets for furthering the terrorist activities of the Islamic State. It was also revealed that as part of their larger designs, the accused also indulged in arson and targeting of vehicles and other establishments, such as liquor shops, godowns, transformers etc. Digital devices and incriminating documents were seized from the houses of the accused and the suspects during the search operation. Read less...

The Phundrei Battalion of Assam Rifles, in a joint operation with the Commandoes of Hiyanglam Police arrested one cadre of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), identified as self-styled ‘2nd lieutenant’ Aslam Khan alias Firoz Khan from Wabagai Tera Pishak Hiyanglam village in Kakching District of Manipur on January 5, reports Northeast Now. He was handed over to Hiyanglam Police Station for further investigation. Read less...

The State Investigation Unit (SIU) of Police, on January 5, conducted raids at multiple locations in Kupwara District in connection with a case regarding militant activities in the area, reports Daily Excelsior. The raids were carried out in an under-investigation case (FIR number 276/2022) of Police Station Kupwara. The searches were conducted at Hyhama, Kralpora, Mirnag, Lolab and Sulkoot localities of the District, in the residential houses of suspected relatives of eight militants who have crossed Line of Control (LoC) and joined militant ranks affiliated with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). As per initial investigations, these militants have been found involved in actively conspiring and facilitating infiltration of militants, supplying of arms and ammunition in addition to using of Cyber space in radicalising Kashmiri youths to join militancy besides raising funds for militant activities. During searches mobile phones and other materials have been seized. Read less...

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) on January 5, declared militant outfit The Resistance Front (TRF), as a terrorist organisation, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act- UAPA 1967, reports Daily Excelsior. The ministry made the announcement through a notification, mentioning that “the activities of TRF are detrimental for the national security and sovereignty of India”, reports ABPLive. The UMHA stated that the TRF, is recruiting youth by using online media to further terrorist activities. The notification also states that the TRF has been involved in carrying out propaganda of terror activities, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorists, and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir. Through the notification, the UMHA also designated Sheikh Sajjad Gul, a ‘commander’ of TRF, a terrorist under the fourth schedule of UAPA. Through another notification the UMHA also designated Mohammed Amin alias Abu Khubaib, acting as the ‘launching commander’ of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) as a terrorist. Read less...

Two couriers of the Communist Party of India (CPI-Maoist) were arrested by a joint squad of Charla Police and the personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) during a vehicle checking drive on the outskirts of the Charla Mandal (administrative sub division) headquarters town in Bhadradri Kothagudem District of Telangana on January 5, reports The Hindu. A bundle of 200-metre cordex wire, 10 pressure cookers, some substances used for making explosive materials, and a tractor-trolley were seized from them. The arrested persons were identified as P Sammaiah (35), and Satyaveni (33), both hailing from Charla. According to the Police, the duo had been working as couriers for the CPI-Maoist Dalam (armed squad) led by the Bhadradri-Kothagudem division ‘secretary’ Azad by providing essential commodities and explosive materials to the ultras operating in the neighbouring Chhattisgarh for the last two years. Read less...

At least 11 terrorists, including a militant ‘commander’ and two suicide bombers, were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Wana area of South Waziristan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on January 5, reports Dawn. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Security Forces (SFs) “successfully foiled a high-profile terrorist activity” during the operation. “During intense exchange of fire, 11 terrorists, including terrorist commander Hafizullah alias Tor Hafiz and two suicide bombers, were killed,” the ISPR said. A cache of weapons and ammunitions were also recovered from the possession of killed terrorists. Read less...

Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on January 5, that the recently held meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) in Islamabad had decided that there will be “no talks with any terrorist or militant group”, reports Dawn. Sanaullah was asked about the explicit threat issued by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) for “openly declaring war against the TTP to appease America”. The TTP statement pointedly mentioned PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif by name, as well as their respective parties, and warned religious parties against “activities against us”. He further said that the NSC had concluded that talks, if needed, should be carried out with the Afghan Government so that the importance of the Doha agreement, wherein the country had vowed to not allow its soil to be used against others, could be stressed. “If that is implemented, then the issue of terrorism in Pakistan and other countries will be solved, and Pakistan will be safe if Afghanistan honours its promise”, he added. Read less...

Five Police personnel deployed on security of polio workers got injured when unidentified terrorists opened fire and threw hand grenades on their vehicle in the Hussaini Chowk of Dera Ismail Khan town (Dera Ismail Khan District) on January 5, reports Samaa TV. One terrorist also sustained injuries in the retaliatory fire of Police personnel. However, the terrorists managed to escape. Read less...

One intelligence agency person was killed by Baloch Liberation Army (BLA)’s Special Tactical Operations Squad (STOS) in a bomb attack in Khuzdar District on January 5, reports Radio Zrumbesh. BLA ‘spokesperson’ Jeehand Baloch claimed responsibility of the attack. He said that the cadres of BLA eliminated a key person of intelligence agency. Intelligence wing of BLA had gathered credible information that a resident of Khuzdar, Aftab Shah, son of Abdullah Shah, who works for Pakistani secretive agencies, is attempting to penetrate into Baloch pro-independence organisations to collect intelligence information for enemy forces. BLA fighters made contact with Aftab Shah and after trapping him, the STOS members eliminated him in a bomb attack last night in Khuzdar. Jeehand Baloch said that Aftab Shah was a key collaborator of Pakistani military and its secretive agency ISI. He was heading a network of enemy collaborators in Khuzdar and Zehri. This network is involved in forcibly disappearing Baloch youth, targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, and other activities against Baloch liberation movement. Read less...

Police repulsed an armed attack of the terrorists on a Police Station at Wargara area of Lakki Marwat District on January 5, reports ARY News. Police said that all officials at the Wargara Police station remained safe in the terrorist attack. The terrorists faced retaliation by the Police force and locals. The terrorists managed to escape from the scene by taking advantage of the darkness of the night. Read less...

The Kalutara South Police arrested two persons for transporting more than 10 kilograms of ammonium nitrate without permits on January 5, reports Colombo Page. The raid was carried out on information received by the Panadura Division Criminal Investigation Division officials that a consignment of explosives was being transported. During the raid, a three-wheeler was seized near the expressway bridge in the Ukwatta area of Kalutara South police division and the police seized 10 kilograms and 380 grams of ammonium nitrate being transported in the vehicle. Read less...

An operation in Nimroz Province resulted in two arrests of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid said on January 5, reports Al Jazeera. Mujahid said light weapons, hand grenades, mines, vests and explosives were confiscated by the Taliban during the raids in Shahdai Saleh in neighbourhood of Kabul. Read less...

On January 5, a Vice and Virtue Department official came and asked women that we have one week to take away our shops and sit at home, a woman shopkeeper said, reports TOLO News on January 9. An official of the Provincial Department, Sayed Zahir, told TOLO News that the shops were closed due to co-working with men and lack of observing hijab by women. This comes after women were banned from working in Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Afghanistan, a decision that triggered global reactions. Read less...

On January 5, Pakistani forces launched an air strike on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) strongholds in Salala neighborhood in the vicinity of Goshta District of Nangarhar Province, reports Hasht-e Subh. Pakistan’s National Security Council (NSC) decided three days ago that the country’s forces should adopt a zero-tolerance policy against terrorists. Read less...

On January 5, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) raised concerns over the impacts of Taliban’s ban on women working in Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), which noted that the restriction "comes at a dangerous moment as winter conditions set in on a population already devastated by decades of conflict and an unprecedented economic collapse”, reports Tolo News. According to the IRC, 82 per cent of female-headed households in Afghanistan are food insecure, which is 32 per cent points more than male-headed households. The World Food Program (WFP) of the UN in Afghanistan has likewise announced a three-week suspension of activities in the country. This suspension comes at a critical time when “28.3 million of the population in Afghanistan will need humanitarian assistance in 2023”, a spokesperson of the WFP said. Read less...

Pakistani soldiers shot dead an Afghan civilian at the Torkham border crossing in Nangarhar Province on January 5, reports Hasht-e Subh. Also, a Pakistani official was wounded by Taliban fighters. Clashes erupted between Pakistani forces and Taliban fighters at the Torkham border crossing. Local sources in Torkham pass said that the clash between Pakistani soldiers and Taliban fighters took place at 11:00 am. Taliban fighters and Pakistani soldiers have had clashes several times before in Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings. Read less...

Taliban killed eight Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, including foreign nationals and arrested seven others in a series of raids targeting key figures in a spate of attacks in Kabul, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid said on January 5, reports Al Jazeera. Read less...

Addressing a public event in Dimapur District of Nagaland on January 6, Union Home Minister (UHM) Amit Shah commented on the security situation prevailing in Nagaland, reports Morung Express. He said, “The process of repealing The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) from Nagaland has already started in a gradual manner.” He further added that from 2014 to 2021 there has been a 74 percent reduction in violence related to “insurgency” and 60 percent reduction in the death of Security Force (SF) personnel. Read less...

An encounter between Police and cadres of the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC/TPC), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India (CPI-Maoist), took place in Angada Forest area under Kunda Police Station limits in Chatra District of Jharkhand on January 6, reports prabhatkhabar.com. Seeing the Police dominating, the TSPC cadres were able to escape by taking advantage of the forest while firing. After the encounter, Police recovered a huge quantity of goods from the encounter site. The recoveries included, one walkie talkie, wire, army paternal cloth, two solar plates with two mobile chargers, cooking utensils, steel plates eight, rice 20 kilograms, fresh vegetables, blanket, civil cloth, pithu bag and other daily use items. Following inputs that ‘regional commander’ of the banned Naxalite [Left Wing Extremist, LWE] organization TSPC, Akraman Ganjhu, carrying a prize of INR 1.5 million, and the ‘regional commander’, Shashikant alias Arif, carrying a prize of INR 1 million, are busy in the forest to carry out the incident, the operation was launched to arrest them. Seeing the Police coming towards them, the cadres started firing on the Police party, and the Police fired in retaliation. After this, the TSPC cadres escaped by taking advantage of the forest. Read less...

Bihar's Special Task Force (STF) arrested 57 Naxals [Left Wing Extremists, LWEs], including the six of the most wanted cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), in several operations in 2022, reports Republic World on January 7. The STF also arrested 283 most wanted criminals in the same period of time. Additional Director General (ADG), HQ, Patna, JS Gangwar, on January 6, said, "In 2022, STF arrested 57 Naxals including 6 most wanted Naxals and 283 most wanted criminals." He said the STF also seized arms and ammunition in large quantities. "Many arms and ammunition were recovered including 14 regular weapons, 3 AK-47s, one weapon belonging to the AK-56 series and five weapons that were snatched from police," ADG, Gangwar said. The Bihar Police official also highlighted the arrests of Naxals outside the State saying, "33 Naxals were arrested by Bihar police from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, and West Bengal." ADG, Gangwar said around 120 country-made weapons and live ammunition were also recovered for them. "118 country-made weapons, 7,870 live cartridges, 1 hand grenade, and 15-gram explosive material were also recovered," he added. Read less...

Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) youth wing leader Tajinder Tiwana has filed a complaint with the Bangur Nagar Police station in Mumbai City District, alleging that he received threatening text messages from a spokesperson, identified as Sandeep Singh, for the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Khalsa, Hindustan Times reports on January 7. The sender threatened Tiwana and his family with death if he did not resign from the BJP. Read less...

National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval on January 6, met his counterpart, the visiting Diplomatic Adviser to the French President, Emmanuel Bonne, and reiterated their commitment to take forward their strategic partnership to ensure peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific based on common beliefs in rules-based international order and strategic autonomy, reports The Indian Express. The French Embassy in Delhi stated that they discussed aspects of the Indo-French strategic partnership which includes defence and security cooperation, major international and regional issues, including the war in Ukraine, and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, counter-terrorism cooperation, cyber-security, space and civil nuclear energy. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the agenda included discussions on the situation in Afghanistan, Africa, South East Asia, Eurasia; Third Country Cooperation; cooperation in the lndo-Pacific, nuclear energy, space and cyber domains. Read less...

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) started enquiry over the social media accounts of the Popular Front of India (PFI), on January 6, that function secretly against the National Investigation Agency (NIA), reports english.janamtv.com. The investigation agencies have taken up working of the social media group that supports religious terrorists. It has been reported that secret meetings and group discussions of the PFI are still taking place even after the outfit has been banned. Read less...

The international jihadist group, Al-Qaeda in the latest issue of their journal Ghazwa-e-Hind threatened that it will demolish the Ram temple being built in Ayodhya and replace it with a mosque, reports indileak.com on January 7. The magazine, which was published online by jihadist channels, also mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, advising them not to disregard its exhortations as “propaganda of the Pakistani establishment,” and urged Indian Muslims to support jihad (holy war). Al-Qaeda stated in the magazine, “Just as the Ram temple is being built on the ruins of the Babri Masjid, it will be demolished, and the Babri Masjid will be rebuilt over the place of the idols in the name of Allah.” Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 6, arrested a student of a mechanical engineering college in Bangaluru, identified as Rihan Shaikh for his suspected links with the cooker blast that took place in Mangaluru on November 19, 2022, reports Daiji World. The NIA officials raided the flat of the accused, situated at Varamballi, Brahmavar taluk in Udupi District in Karnataka and took into custody a few documents and questioned the family members of Rihan. The NIA revealed that the Rihan had close contact with suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorist Maaz Muneer, who was earlier arrested on September 20 from Shivamogga and was said to done experimental blast on Tunga river bank near Purale of Shivamogga. Read less...

The Resistance Front (TRF), on January 6, warned of terror attacks on people whose names it has released on the ‘hit list’, reports India Today. According to a Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) notification, TRF is recruiting youth through the online medium for the furtherance of terrorist activities, recruitment of terrorists, infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir. Read less...

A Baloch man, identified as Shams Saleh s/o Master Saleh, allegedly forcibly disappeared by Security Forces from Balochi Bazar Apsar in Turbat town of Kech District on January 6, reports The Balochistan Post. Read less...

Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) attacked and blew up gas pipeline in Dera Ghazi Khan District of Punjab on January 6, reports Radio Zrumbesh. BRG ‘spokesman’ Dostin Baloch claimed responsibility for the attack. He said in his statement that BRG cadres attacked the thirty-six (36) inch diameter gas pipeline going to Punjab from the Sui Gas Plant, was destroyed by explosives. Dostin Baloch has further said that as a result of the explosion, gas supply to most of the Districts of Punjab has been completely suspended. Read less...

Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and security agencies killed four militants in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Sarband area on the outskirts of Peshawar, provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on January 6, reports Dawn. Four Kalashnikovs and three hand grenades were seized, officials said, adding that around more four militants escaped and a search operation was underway. Read less...

In Lakki Marwat District, Police along with residents repulsed an attack on a Police post in Shahtora Takhtikhel area near Serai Naurang town on January 6. “A group of terrorists used light and heavy weapons to breach the police post building but they faced tough resistance from the cops deployed there,” said an official on January 7. Read less...

One Policeman was injured when Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) cadres attacked the eagle force of Police with hand grenade near the fish market in Turbat town of Kech District on January 6, reports Radio Zrumbesh. BLF ‘spokesperson’ Major Gwahram Baloch claimed responsibility of the attack. Read less...

Security Forces (SFs) on January 6 allegedly detained two people from Gomazi town of Kech District and shifted them to an undisclosed location, reports The Balochistan Post. The disappeared youths were identified as Bilal, son of Ghafoor, and Umair son of Dad Mohammad, residents of Gomazi. Read less...

Three Army soldiers sustained injuries on January 6 when the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) cadres targeted an Army convoy with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Sharhrag area of Harnai District in Balochistan, reports Radio Zrumbesh. BLA ‘spokesperson’ Jeehand Baloch claimed responsibility of the attack. "Five personnel of Pakistani military’s bomb disposal squad were targeted with an IED, when they were passing through a road in Gelani, Shahrag. At least three enemy personnel were injured in the attack", Jeehand Baloch said. Read less...

On January 6, an insurgent, identified as Nurunnabi, was shot at by a bullet in a shootout that took place between two terror groups at Block B-39 of East-8 camp around 4:30pm in Balukhali camp of Ukhiya Sub- District in Cox's Bazar District, reports The Business Standard. The members of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and law enforcement agencies recovered a grenade from the house of injured insurgent. Read less...

The Police arrested a leader, identified as Hasan Mahbub, political secretary of Dhaka district north unit of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and Abul Bashar, an activist of JeI, at separate places in Savar, on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka on January 6, reports newagebd.net. Nayan Karkun, Inspector of Savar model Police Station stated that Hasan Mahmud was arrested from his residence in Dagarmora area of Savar municipality while Abul Bashar from his house in Parbatinagar area of the same municipality. Read less...

Displaying and hanging images of living creatures are prohibited by the Taliban in Zabul Province on January 6, reports Hasht-e Subh. Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Agents in Zabul warned shopkeepers in Qalat city, the capital city of Zabul province, to avoid displaying any kind of photos in their shops, in a virtue promotion campaign. Based on the order, it is forbidden to even hang photos of Taliban leaders on shop walls and cars. The Taliban in Zabul have warned that the violators of this order will be strictly punished. Read less...

On January 6, the Ministry of Vice and Virtue officials banned displaying and hanging images of living creatures in Qalat the capital city of Zabul Province, reports Hasht-e Subh. Based on the new order, it is forbidden to even hang photos of Taliban leaders on shop walls and cars. Previously, women were prohibited from rejoicing in wedding ceremonies. Read less...

A person identified as Abdullah Saood Ansari, a resident of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh who was arrested by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) on September 30, 2022 for his suspected links with the Popular Front of India (PFI) was granted bail by the Hon’ble Additional District and Sessions Judge, Special Judge NIA/ Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) Lucknow on January 7, reports muslimmirror.com. It was suspected that the accused was working as an active member of PFI from the year 2017. However, the investigating officer in the case found no evidence to prove the connection of the accused to the PFI. Read less...

A total of 43 militants, including a woman, of eight different militant outfits laid down their arms and ammunition before Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh in Imphal at a function on January 7, reports Sentinel. The 43 militants included 13 cadres of the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), 11 from the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), five each from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) / Revolutionary People's Front (RPF), the Kangleipak Communist Party - Noyon (KCP-N) and the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), two from the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PRO) and one each from People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Unification (NSCN-U). The surrendered militants deposited arms, ammunition and explosives, including 19 AK series rifles, pistols, hand grenades, IEDs and live ammunition. Read less...

The Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) has detained 18 suspects for interrogation in connection with the Dhangri village attack on January 1, 2023 in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India, reports Kashmir Reader on January 8. According to the authorities, "several vital leads" have been found that point to the presence of terrorists in various areas near Rajouri town in the Rajouri District of J&K. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 7, filed a chargesheet against a person, identified as Marghoob Ahmad Danish alias Tahir, a resident of Phulwari Sharif in Patna in connection with the 'Ghazwa-e-Hind' case relating to the radicalization of impressionable youth over various social media platforms, before a special court in Patna, reports India Tv News. An NIA spokesperson stated that investigations revealed that Danish was the admin of WhatsApp group 'Ghazwa E Hind' created by a Pakistani national namely Zain, and had added many people from India as well as other countries to the group in order to radicalize them and constitute them into sleeper cells for carrying out terrorist activities. The NIA spokesperson also asserted that, "Danish had created the said 'Ghazwa E Hind' group on different social media platforms viz WhatsApp, Telegram, and Bip Messenger. He had also created another WhatsApp group in the name of 'BDGhazwa E HindBD' and had added Bangladeshi nationals." Read less...

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Kolkata Police on January 7, arrested two persons, suspected to be terrorists allied to Islamic State (IS), from Aftabuddin Munshi Lane of Tikiapara area in Howrah District in West Bengal, reports The Indian Express. “Both persons are involved in spreading tentacles of the terror group in Howrah. We are questioning them to understand more about their roles,” said an unnamed officer, adding that they were also involved in “brainwashing local youths towards anti-national activities”. Read less...

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) through a notification on January 7, banned People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), an offshoot of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), reports India Tv News. The notification stated that PAFF is a proxy outfit of Maulana Masood Azhar-led Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and it is involved in regularly issuing threats to security forces, political leaders and civilians working in Jammu and Kashmir from other states. The notification also stated that “The PAFF along with other organisations is indulging in radicalization of impressionable youth for the purpose of recruitment and training in handling guns, ammunition and explosives.”, further reports The Indian Express. Read less...

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) through a notification on January 7, designated Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) operative Dr Asif Maqbool Dar as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, reports newindian.in. The notification reads, “Dr. Asif Maqbool, who is resident of Bandi Payeen, Wagoora, Baramulla, presently based at Daman, Ash Sharqiyah, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, is associated with terror outfit Hizb-ul- Mujahideen. The said Dr. Asif Maqbool Dar is involved in instigating the youth of Kashmir Valley for terrorist activities by using social media platforms.” According to the UMHA, Dr Asif Maqbool Dar is one of the leading radical voices on social media and is involved in nefariously influencing Kashmiri youth to take up arms against the Indian government and security forces. The UMHA further stated that Dr. Asif Maqbool Dar is accused in a case investigated by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) relating to a conspiracy hatched by the cadres of the terrorist organization to undertake violent terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir and major cities in India including New Delhi on the direction of handlers based across the border. Dr. Asif Maqbool is the 52nd person to be declared as a terrorist under the UAPA. Read less...

Thoubal District Police arrested 28 cadres of militant groups during the year 2022, reports Imphal Free Press. As per the report, Thoubal Police arrested 30 cadres of proscribed groups which included 16 cadres of Revolutionary People's Front (RPF)/ People's Liberation Army (PLA), one overground worker of PLA, one cadre of People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak- Progressive (PREPAK-Pro), four cadres each of Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), two cadres of Kangleipak Communist Party - Military Council (KCP-MC). Thoubal Police also seized numerous firearms, including seven 9MM pistol, one each of .32 and 7.65MM pistol, 15 hand grenade, 138 live bullets of different guns, nine detonator, three wireless detonator reviver, one each of remote control, walkie talkie and 9-volt battery. Read less...

Two Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, one carrying a reward of INR 100,000 on his head, surrendered to Security Forces (SFs) in Sukma District of Chhattisgarh on January 7, reports The Pioneer. Lekam Gujja and Madkam Hidiya turned themselves in after being impressed with the Government’s rehabilitation policy, Sukma, Superintendent of Police (SP), Sunil Sharma said. Gujja was the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangathan (DAKMS) ‘President’ and carried a bounty of INR 100,000 on his head, while, Hidiya was a ‘Militia Deputy Commander’, Sharma said, adding that they were reportedly involved in several Maoist incidents in Chintagufa and Chintalnar areas in the district. Read less...

A Police Constable, identified as Pasham Khan was killed and another suffered gunshot wounds in a militants attack in Dogar Umarzai village in Bannu District, Dawn reports on January 8. Read less...

Two Army personnel were killed when Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) targeted an Army outpost with rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weapons in Soraan area of Dhaddar in Kachhi District of Balochistan on January 7, reports Radio Zrumbesh. While claiming responsibility of the attack, BLA ‘spokesperson’ Jeehand Baloch said the attack lasted over 20 minutes in which the Army suffered heavy material losses. The enemy troops indiscriminately fired mortar rounds after the attack, however, BLA cadres completed their mission and returned to their positions. Read less...

On January 7, Mohammad Rashid the leader of Block A at camp No. 15, was killed at 7pm by masked assailants while talking to others at a shop in Teknaf Sub-District of Cox’s Bazar District, reports bdnews24.com. Read less...

On January 7, Taliban rescued a man from the grip of kidnappers in Angorbagh area of Chahar Bolak District in Balkh Province, reports Bakhtarnews.af. He was abducted few days back. Read less...

The troop of the 205th Army Corps of the Ministry of National Defence discovered a depot of various types of weapons in the area of Spin Boldak District of Kandahar Province and confiscated its ammunition, Bakhtarnews.af reported on January 8. The discovered ammunition includes 1 Pika rifle, 2 Kalashnikov, 1 mine pal, 28 fire rocket shells, 1500 Pika rounds, 1200 Kalashnikov rounds, 2300 M16 rounds, and a large number of equipment and supplies. MoD forces arrested several smugglers. Read less...

Canada-based gangster and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) operative Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla was declared a designated terrorist by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) after it found his involvement in heinous crimes such as murder, extortion and targeted killings, disturbing communal harmony and creating terror among the people in Punjab, Indian Express reported on January 9. Punjab Police officials reported that Arshdeep Singh Gill funded his associates through hawala (illegal money transactions), which the latter utilise to commit various crimes, The Tribune reports on January 11. Read less...

On January 8, one more civilian, identified as Prince Sharma, died as a result of injuries inflicted from the firing attack by terrorists in Dhangri village in Rajouri Tehsil (revenue unit) of Rajouri District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India on January 1, 2023, bringing the dead toll to five, reports Daily Excelsior. SATP previously reported that four civilians were killed in the Dhangri firing attack on January 1, 2023. Read less...

On January 8, Security Forces (SFs) destroyed an Improvised Explosive Devise (IED) that was found from Dandote village in Budhal Block in Rajouri District of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), India, reports Daily Excelsior. Read less...

On January 8, the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel fired 75 rounds on a Pakistani drone spotted near India-Pakistan border in Gurdaspur District in Punjab, reports Punjab Kesari. Search operation continues in the area. Read less...

On January 8, two infiltrators were killed by Indian Army troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Balakot sector of Poonch District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in India, reports Daily Excelsior. Huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including one AK 47 Rifle, one modified AK 56 Rifle, One Chinese Pistol, two Chinese hand grenades and two Improvised Explosive Device (IED), were recovered from the possession of the slain militants whose identity and group affiliation is awaited. A mobile phone, two night-vision goggles, one binocular, a camcorder with images of terrorists and their training, steel core AK ammunition, combat dress and warm clothing were also recovered from the neutralised terrorist. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed supplementary chargesheet before the NIA Special Court, Ranchi, Jharkhand against 14 accused persons in connection with the Naxal [Left Wing Extremist, LWE] attack on former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Gurucharan Nayak and the killing of two Police personnel in West Singhbhum, Jharkhand on January 4, 2022, reports lawbeat.in on January 9. The 14 accused charge sheeted persons are: Pradhan Korah @ Mantri, Sriram Tubid @ Sheeram Tubid, Shailendra Bahanda, Pusa Lugun @ Puse Lugun, Sunia Surin, Mangal Singh Diggi, Rangiya Lugun, Kujari, Mangal Singh Lugun @ Vikram, Kishmat Korah, Misir Besra @ Sagar da @ Bhaskar Da @ Diwakar Da @ Sunirmal, Sushant Da @ Anmol @ Samar Ji @ Lalchand Hembrom, Sameer @ Lalu Modiyam, and Ashwin @ Lachhu Korsa. All the accused persons have been charge sheeted under Sections 120B, 121, 121-A, 147, 148, 149, 201, 302, 307, 333, 353, 395, 396, 397 of IPC, Sections 16, 18, 18-A, 18-B, 19, 20, 38 & 39 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Section 27 of Arms Act. The NIA press release stated, “Investigations have revealed that the accused persons are CPI (Maoist) [Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist)] members and they participated in meetings in which a conspiracy was hatched to target former MLA Gurucharan Nayak. They also participated in the crime which resulted in the injury and death of police personnel and the looting of arms and ammunition. Investigations also revealed that the accused persons were involved in recruiting members for the commission of terrorist acts and organized Training Camps for carrying out terrorist activities.” As per the NIA press release, the case was initially registered on January 5, 2022, at Goilkera, Police Station in West Singhbhum, and later re-registered by the NIA on June 30, 2022. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 8 filed a chargesheet against five persons, identified as Gagi (dead), Surmukh Singh alias Sammu, Dilbagh Singh alias Baggo, Rajanpreet Singh, Zulfikar alias Pehalwan (Pakistani national) in a case related to a bomb explosion in Court Complex Ludhiana on December 23, 2021 reports Tribune India. In the chargesheet, NIA said that Lakhbir Singh Rode, a Pakistan-based International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) / Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF) terrorist handler, had planned to execute Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts at various locations in Punjab. NIA further adds that in order to execute the plans, Lakhbir Singh Rode in association with Pakistan-based smugglers, recruited India-based operatives to smuggle IEDs and to carry out blasts to cause maximum casualties and to strike terror among the general public. In furtherance of the conspiracy to carry out IED blasts in Punjab, Lakhbir Singh Rode, with the help of Zulfikar, a Pakistan based Cross-border Arms-Explosives-Narcotics smuggler, Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia, Surmukh Singh, Dilbagh Singh and Rajanpreet Singh, formed a terror gang to carry out blasts and smuggle weapons into India. The accused are charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Explosive Substances Act (ESA), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Read less...

The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy for the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), threatened the Sikh community in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in an open letter that any Sikh youth found working as Special Police Officers (SPOs) in the J&K Police Department under civilian cover will be deemed a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) agent, reports Tribune India on January 9. They also threatened members of the Sikh community who use religious places as meeting places for political persons. "You must stop such activities, otherwise you will not have a place in Kashmir, we are actively monitoring the situation," the group warned. Read less...

The Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata (West Bengal) Police on January 8, arrested a former member of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), identified as Abdul Raqib Qureshi, a resident of the Khanshahwali locality in the Khandwa District in Madhya Pradesh, from Khandwa District, reports The Indian Express. The accused had links with two suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorists, namely Mohammad Saddam alias Abdul Mallick and Sayeed Ahmed – who were arrested from Howrah (Howrah District), West Bengal, on January 6. His association with the two arrested terrorists, points to his involvement with the terror outfit. He has a history of association with fundamentalist organisations, adds NDTV. Abdul Rakib has been associated with SIMI and three cases, including two Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), were registered against him in the past. He has also been sentenced in three crimes out of which he has completed the sentence in two cases and he has been on bail in the third case since 2019. Read less...

A hand grenade was lobbed at the home of Member of National Assembly (MNA) Nasir Khan Musazai in Peshawar, the provincial capital of KP, in the night of January 8, reports Dawn. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Peshawar Police said that the home, falling within the limits of the Inqilab police station, was attacked by unknown miscreants. However, no causality was reported. The MNA Nasir Khan Musazai had joined the PTI in 2018 but had said earlier this week that he had accepted the invitation of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and would formally join the party within the next few days. The attack on his home comes days after he told journalists at the Peshawar Press Club that KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had informed him to exercise caution and restrict his movement as threats had been received against him. Read less...

Police on January 8 shot dead two militants during an encounter in Shamooni Khattak area of Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) who were involved in the attack on a Police van on January 7, reports ARY News. Earlier, SATP had reported the incident in which a Policeman was killed and another injured on January 7 when militants lobbed a hand grenade at a Police mobile. Read less...

Unidentified militants attacked the Yarik Police Station of Dera Ismail Khan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan with gunfire and ‘missiles’ in the night of January 8, reports Dawn. However, no loss of life was reported. A Police spokesman, Syed Yaqoob Shah, said that militants surrounded the Yarik Police Station at around 1am and fired missiles at the building. Police retaliated to the attack and an exchanged fire with the attackers took place, which lasted for about 45 to 50 minutes. The militants were forced to flee. The Police Station building was partially damaged. Read less...

On January 8, Mohammad Salim, Deputy leader of Bock B at 8-West camp was killed by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militants in Balukhali camp in Ukhiya Sub-District of Cox's Bazar District, reports Dhaka Tribune. Read less...

On January 8, Taliban Provincial Economy Directorate in Nimroz Province ordered aid groups to take guidance from the Taliban in hiring new employees, reports Hasht-e Subh. In this letter, it is stated that relief groups operating in Nimroz are obliged to follow the orders of the [Taliban’s] Provincial leadership in the process of hiring new employees. The Taliban’s letter warned national and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Nimroz that if they ignore this order, they will be held accountable. The Taliban have already imposed extensive restrictions on the work of domestic and foreign NGOs. This includes banning female NGO staff to work in Afghanistan. Read less...

Posters issuing ‘last warning’ and demanding to release of suspects, who were arrested from Addu City during a joint counter-terrorism conducted by the Police and Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) at Addu City, Male City and K. Guraidhoo on November 7, 2022, were put up in different areas of Addu City on January 8, reports The Sun. The Police earlier stated that the suspects were plotting to carry out a mass casualty terror attack in the Maldives using explosives in collaboration with the Islamic State (IS). Read less...

A Special Court in Mumbai on January 9, granted 10-year sentence to a ‘gutka’ manufacturer, identified as Joshi and two other persons, namely Jamiruddin Ansari and Farukh Mansuri for aiding Dawood Ibrahim in setting up a ‘gutka’ plant in Pakistan’s Karachi, reports msn.com. The three persons were convicted under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and Indian Penal Code (IPC) provisions by special judge BD Shelke. As per the prosecution, there was a monetary dispute between Joshi and co-accused Rasiklal Dhariwal, and the two sought the help of Ibrahim to resolve the dispute. The prosecution stated that in return for settling the dispute, Dawood sought their assistance to set up a ‘gutka’ unit in Karachi in 2002. Read less...

An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on January 9 at the gate of a residence at Nagamapal Kangjabi Leirak Laikangbam Leikai under Imphal Police Station in Imphal West District of Manipur, reports Imphal Free Press. The residence belonged to deputy registrar of National institute of Technology Manipur (NIIT) Laikangbam Dorendro. The blast caused some damage to the gate but no casualties were reported. Read less...

Following the Dhangri village firing attack in J&K on January 1, 2023, the Union Minister of Home Affairs (UMH) Amit Shah declared on January 9 that all conspiracies to derail peace process in J&K will be thwarted, no one will be allowed to disturb peace in Rajouri and Poonch Districts, Security and Intelligence Grids will be strengthened, and every challenge thrown by hostile forces will be met with very effectively, reports Daily Excelsior. “Those responsible for the lapse will be held accountable,” he said, adding security agencies will also hunt down militants responsible for the terror attacks. The Minister further stated that the Village Defence Groups (VDGs) will get automatic weapons Read less...

Intelligence sources stated that Pakistan-based terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are planning a major attack on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Temple in Ayodhya (earlier known as Faizabad) in Uttar Pradesh in an attempt to foment Hindu-Muslim communal violence, reports news18.com on January 10. Sources further revealed that the JeM and LeT would be bringing ammunition and suicide bombers from Nepal to carry out the attack. Read less...

On January 9, a Village Defence Guard (VDG) member fired shots from his .303 rifle after a suspected movement of militants was detected in Marad Pur village in Rajauri tehsil (revenue unit) of Rajouri District in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), India. No casualty was reported. Read less...

On January 9, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials have reported that the CRPF will provide weapons training to the Village Defence Guards (VDGs), earlier known as Village Defence Committees (VDCs), in J&K so that they can act as a line of defence in case of a terrorist attack, reports Hindustan Times on January 10. The Jammu and Kashmir administration has recently started reissuing weapons to the VDGs, following the Dhangri incident on January 1, 2023 in Rajouri District in J&K, India. The force may also be required to perform a range of internal security duties in the Jammu District in J&K, with the rising terror threats and the elections in J&K in mind. VDGs have also been activated along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in the Districts of Jammu, Samba, and Kathua, according to authorities. Read less...

On January 9, Palamu Police arrested ‘area commander’ of the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC/TPC), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India (CPI-Maoist), Bansat Singh alias Bachchan ji alias Diwakar ji of the Shashikant alias Arif squad, along with his four associates, following information of Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) Police Headquarters Ranchi, from Duruh Pahari area of Sultani Ghati under Chhatarpur Police Station limits in Palamu District of Jharkhand, reports jagran.com. Superintendent of Police (SP), Chandan Sinha informed that first of all Bachchan and his three associates were arrested, and after this, on the statement of the ‘area commander’, a youth named Irfan was arrested from Kutumba of Aurangabad District of Bihar. As per the Police records, the ‘area commander’ Bachchan was absconding for the last three years. A country-made revolver with three live cartridges and a loaded country-made katta, a mobile and a pamphlet with two diaries have been recovered from the captured Naxalite commander and from his associate Aurangabad resident Sonu Kumar. Bachchan, who was arrested by Palamu Police, had earlier escaped from the custody of the Police during the Covid test after being caught in Dumaria Police Station of Bihar State in Case No. 0-29/2020. During the absconding, he was collecting ‘levy’ (extortion money) for the organization from businessmen, public representatives and contractors. Manatu resident Bachchan is accompanied by Pipra resident Deepak Kumar, Aurangabad's Tandwa resident Guddu Kumar Yadav, and Dev resident Sonu Kumar. There are 8 cases registered against Bachchan in Chhatarpur, Naudiha Bazar, Nawabazar, Pipra, Baya's Bankebazar, Dumaria, Kutumba etc. Police Stations. Read less...

On January 9, the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) authorities handed over Self-Loading Rifles (SLRs) along with 100 bullets each, to 40 ex-servicemen acting as Village Defence Guards (VDGs) in Dhangri village in Rajouri Tehsil (revenue unit) of Rajouri District in J&K in India, reports Deccan herald. Earlier, all the VDC members in Rajouri District were equipped with .303 rifles which are single bullet loading weapons and having 10 bullets in magazine. Read less...

On January 9, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) authorities have attached the property of a militant, identified as Usman Gulzar Wani, who was arrested in 2022 during an encounter in the Shopian village in Shopian District on August 30, 2022 during which three militants were killed, reports Daily Excelsior. He is presently lodged at Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu District in J&K on judicial custody. Read less...

On January 9, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a major logistics provider, identified as Chhotu Ram Bhaat, from an unspecified location, on the allegations that he was acting a weapons supplier and was also providing hideouts to the gangsters of the Bambiha group before and after different crimes committed by them, reports NIA press release. On December 21, 2022, the NIA conducted searches at two locations in Sirsa District in Haryana (including the house of Chhotu Bhaat in Chautala village in Sirsa District in Haryana) to dismantle the emerging nexus between terrorists, gangsters and weapon suppliers based in India and abroad. "They were taking advantage of the border location of their hideout with Punjab. Further, investigations will continue to dismantle such terror networks as well as their funding and support infrastructure," the NIA press release stated. Read less...

Ten Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, one of them carrying a reward of INR 100,000 on his head, surrendered in Dantewada District of Chhattisgarh on January 9, reports The Pioneer. Dantewada, Superintendent of Police (SP), Siddharth Tiwari, said they were with the Malanger Area Committee of the outlawed Maoist outfit. Bandi alias Kolla Madkam, who carried the bounty, was a ‘Militia Platoon Commander’. The identity of the remaining cadres is yet to be ascertained. Read less...

The Delhi High Court on January 9, disposed of the petitions of two leaders of the Popular Front of India (PFI), identified as Mohd Perwez Ahmad, who was the president of PFI's Delhi unit, and its office secretary Abdul Muqeet, seeking for interim bail in a money laundering case, stating that they should wait for the trial court's order in the matter, reports theweek.in. The two persons had sought interim bail in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) as the agency failed to file a charge sheet within the stipulated period of 60 days from arrest which expired on November 21, 2022. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 9, filed a chargesheet before a special NIA court in Patna in Bihar, against four persons accused in the Bihar Popular Front of India (PFI) case, identified as Athar Parvej, Md Jalaluddin Khan, Nooruddin Zangi alias Advocate Nooruddin and Arman Malick alias Md Imteyaz Anwer, pointing “criminal conspiracy was hatched with an intention to carry out acts of terror and violence, leading to an atmosphere of terror and endangering the unity and integrity of the nation”, reports The Print. All the accused are residents of different districts in Bihar and have been charge-sheeted under IPC and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. The case pertains to the involvement of the accused and suspected persons, associated with the PFI in unlawful and anti-national activities, who assembled in Phulwari Sharif area of Patna. The case was initially registered on July 12, 2022 at Phulwarisharif Police Station in Patna and re-registered by the NIA on July 22, 2022. The NIA chargesheet stated, “Investigations revealed that the criminal conspiracy was hatched with an intention to carry out acts of terror and violence, leading to an atmosphere of terror and endangering the unity and integrity of the nation.” Read less...

The Supreme Court, on January 9, extended till February 17 its interim order placing social activist Gautam Navlakha, accused of having links to Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), under house arrest, reports The Pioneer. The top court had on November 18 ordered that Navlakha be placed under house arrest "without fail" within 24 hours and ordered some additional security measures to be put in place at the building where the activist will be kept under house arrest. Alleging that Navlakha's medical report issued by the Jaslok Hospital was "vitiated", the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had said proper treatment was given to him whenever required and his condition was manageable within the premises of Taloja central jail. The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches made at the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the Police claim triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial on the outskirts of the western Maharashtra city. Read less...

Two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) concealed inside tiffin boxes, planted by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, were defused by the Security Forces (SFs) in Gorra village under Edka Police Station limits in Narayanpur District of Chhattisgarh on January 9, reports The Print. “Acting on a tip-off regarding a Naxalite pamphlet, thrown on a gravel road leading to village Gorra, a team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) Force, accompanied by police personnel reached the spot and carefully inspected the road,” Police said in a statement. During the inspection, security personnel found Naxalites [Left Wing Extremists, LWEs] pamphlets and traced two 25 kilograms IEDs, concealed inside tiffin boxes dumped at around 150 meters before Gorra village and defused them before they went off. The IEDs are believed to be planted by Maoists in the area, with the intent to injure security personnel. A case has been registered at Edka Police Station in Narayanpur against ‘unidentified’ Kiskodo Area Committee of CPI-Maoist under sections of the Explosive Substances Act. Read less...

A group of clerics (religious scholars) from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on January 9 issued a fatwa condemning terrorism and stating that Jihad can only be declared by the head of an Islamic state, not by individuals, reports Samaa TV. In the fatwa (religious edict), the scholars declared that not everyone has the right to declare Jihad, and that avoiding the laws of the land is unlawful. They also stated that it is haram (forbidden or unlawful) to take up arms and wage war against police and military personnel. If soldiers and policemen are killed while protecting Pakistan, they are considered martyrs, according to the fatwa. The fatwa also addressed the issue of rebellion against the State, stating that insurgency against the ruler of the time is considered sedition, and that perpetrators deserve punishment. It stated that sedition and rioting within the Islamic state, as well as incitement against the state, are not permitted under Sharia (Islamic law). The fatwa declared that anyone involved in sedition is considered to be rebelling against the Constitution of Pakistan. The 14-page fatwa has been signed by 16 religious scholars from difference schools of thought, including Maulana Qari Ehsanul Haq, Mufti Subhanallah Jan, Dr Maulana Attaur Rehman, Maulana Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Dr Abdul Nasir, Mufti Mukhtarullah Haqqani, Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, Maulana Salmanul Haq Haqqani, Maulana Rehmatullah Qadri, Maulana Umar bin Abdul Aziz, Allama Abid Hussain Shakri, Mufti Mairajul Din Sarkani, Mufti Raza Mohammad Haqqani, Mufti Khalid Usmani, Mufti Sheikh Aijaz and Maulana Abdul Kareem. KP Chief Khateeb Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, one of the signatories, said the Ulema had issued the fatwa to answer some questions related to jihad. Maulana Tayyab Qureshi said: “Recently some so-called ulema tried to create chaos using Islam. After that, it became our responsibility to issue the fatwa.” Read less...

The Chandra Kant Raut-led Janmat Party and the Ranjita Shrestha-led Nagarik Unmukti Party(NUP) on January 9, reached a 12-point deal for functional unity with the aim of increasing their bargaining power ahead of the Cabinet expansion, reports The Himalayan Times. The Janmat Party won six First Past-the-Post(FPTP) seats in the House of Representatives (HoR), whereas the Nagarik Unmukti Party(NUP) won three FPTP seats. Both the parties are partners in the seven-party alliance led by the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) and stated that they will join the government if their demands are met. Both the parties extended their support to the Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda-led government and the Janmat Party also sent one of its lawmakers as a minister in the new Cabinet. Read less...

On January 9, a group of five operatives of Jamaat-e Islami (JeI) and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), identified as Mohammad Noor Un Nabi, Afsar Uddin Roman, Abu Saeed Saju, Swadhin Mia, and Abdus Salam, were arrested on the accusation of spreading rumors about Islami Bank through social media campaigns by Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in Dhaka, reports Dhaka Tribune. Harun-or-Rashid the Deputy Director of Bangladesh Bank said that “When the bank was later freed from the occupation of the anti-liberation forces, the JeI-ICS gang started spreading rumors about the management of the bank. The main objective of this gang was to destabilize the country's financial sector and bring the government into disrepair.” He further added that Urging people not to be influenced by these propagandas, and currently Bangladesh has sufficient foreign exchange reserves. The bankruptcy of banks and financial institutions is a rumor. “Do not panic and withdraw your deposits from banks.” Read less...

On January 9, three operatives of new militant outfit Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya, identified as Kabir Ahmad, Md Alam Prakash Alimya Dakat and Nurul Abshar, were arrested by Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, reports Dhaka Tribune. Kabir Ahmed was arrested from Naikhongchhari Sub-District of Bandarban District in Chittagong division of Bangladesh and the rest were arrested from Dhaka District in Bangladesh based on information given by an identified source Kabir Ahmad. Three locally made arms, six guns, 11 bullets, lead, acid, gun powder, octane and other chemicals were recovered from their possession. Read less...

On January 9, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland pointed to the devastating consequences of the ban on women’s work on Twitter, reports Hasht-e Subh. “I tell the responsible ministers in Afghanistan that NRC is ready to restart our aid operations tomorrow. But we can only do so when we gain unimpeded access for both our female and male staff members to reach all the affected population in need,” Jan Egeland tweeted. He said the devastating consequences of a continued Taliban ban on female Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) staff in Afghanistan would make 6 million people vulnerable to famine, adding that 600,000 children will be deprived of access to education. The NRC Secretary General further said that 13.5 million people will be cut off from access to clean water and 14.1 million people will be deprived of protective services if women continue to be deprived of working for NGOs. Read less...

Sheikh Mohammad Khalid, Minister of Taliban Vice and Virtue, met with Markus Potzel, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) envoy for Afghanistan, reports bakhtarnews.af on January 10. Markus Potzel said that there should be a working environment for women in the organizations, so that the lives of those people who are at risk can be saved and said that current situations concerned those organizations. Minister Sheikh Mohammad Khalid responded, “despite the fact that the past system was recognized by all the countries of the world, but there is no commitment to the cultures aspects of the countries, he reminded saying that now there are many positive aspects based on cultural values, and with the creation of the environment, everything will be better.” Read less...

The Emir (supreme leader) of Taliban Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada said that our relations with the world are only in the light of Sharia rules and Islam, reports bakhtarnews.af on January 10. According to the Ministry of Defence’s statement, while visiting Al-Badr Military orps, the Supreme Leader of Taliban met some commanders, officials and Mujahidin, where he said, “Our relations with the world are based on the Sharia rules and no other factor is acceptable to us. You should prepare yourselves, discipline your training, and follow the Sharia rules in your bases.” Read less...

A Court in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka on January 10, extended till January 16 the Gujarat Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) custody of three of 10 Pakistani nationals arrested on December 26, with a boat for smuggling heroin worth Rs 300 crore along with arms and ammunition, reports PTI News. SATP had earlier reported the news of this arrest on December 27, 2022. The court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, KR Yadav, remanded the seven other crew members in judicial custody in the Jamnagar jail in Gujarat. The ATS, Gujarat had requested the extension of custody of the three crew members of the boat after the 12-day remand of all the ten Pakistani nationals expired on January 10. Read less...

A special NIA court in Kerala on January 10, sentenced an Islamic State (IS) terrorist, identified as Muhammad Polakanni, a resident of Kozhikode in Kerala, who was arrested on September 18, 2020 at the Delhi airport on his arrival from Georgia, to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for planning to carry out attacks on various targets including foreigners in the country, reports siasat.com. An NIA spokesperson stated that Muhammad Polakanni was the ninth accused convicted in a case relating to the conspiracy and consequent formation of the IS/Daesh-inspired terrorist module Ansarul Khilafa-Kerala in early 2016 by some youths which was registered suo motu by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on October 1, 2016. Read less...

On January 10, the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) arrested a terrorist, identified as Farzan Farooz of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), along with proceeds of terror worth INR 9,95,000; 450 grams of Heroin (narcotics); letter pads of LeT and Matrix sheets; from Srinagar District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports Daily Excelsior. Read less...

On January 10, the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) reported that more than 50 suspects have been detained so far for questioning in connection with the Dhangri attack on January 1, 2023, reports Daily Excelsior. A joint Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) by the Indian Army, JKP and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is in progress, adding special operational teams deployed at designated locations. Read less...

Police arrested a Communist Party of India (CPI-Maoist) cadre identified as Lalu Yadav who was an expert in making and planting bombs from his village Gere in the Kunda Block (administrative division) in Chatra District of Jharkhand on January 10, reports lagatar24.com. Superintendent of Police (SP), Rakesh Ranjan confirmed his arrest and said the Police was behind him since 2015. Notably, Lalu was known as a bomb planner as well as a courier of the Maoists. He was part of the explosive team of the outfit, and was also known as an expert in making bombs for the outfit. He was also an expert in planting bombs and targeting Police parties. In 2015, he planted bombs on the Hesatu-Dundu Road which was to be used by Security Forces (SFs). But timely information had made the Police diffuse bombs foiling the plan of Maoists. Read less...

The Assam Rifles Phundrei Battalion arrested a militant of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at Wangoo Nurathel Leikai in Kakching District of Manipur on January 10, twitted @official_dgar on January 15. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) brought four co-accused of Jamessha Mubin (prime accused in the Coimbatore blast case), identified as Mohammed Riyas, Mohammed Nawaz Ismail, Sanofar Ali and Mohammed Thoufeek, from NIA custody at Chennai to Coimbatore for investigating the case, canindia.com reports on January 11. The accused were taken to the deceased Jameesha Mubin’s residence where he stayed with his family. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 10 arrested two suspected operatives of the Islamic State (IS), identified as Mazin Abdul Rahman and Nadeem Ahmed, both belonging to Karnataka, from an unspecified location in Karnataka, reports The Hindu. They were arrested in the Shivamogga conspiracy case. With this, the total number of arrests in the case have reached to six. Read less...

The Phundrei Battalion of the Assam Rifles in a joint operation with the Commandos of Waikhong Police arrested one militant of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) from Umathel Bazaar in Waikhong subdivision at Kakching District of Manipur on January 10, reports Northeast Now. The arrested militant was identified as the self-styled ‘Sergeant Major’ Hemam Nungshiba alias Maniton from Umathel Bazaar of Kakching District. Read less...

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 10 revealed that his Government had planned to resettle Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with the help of the Afghan Taliban, but the plan hit a snag owing to non-cooperation of provinces, reports Dawn. Speaking during a seminar organised by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government on terrorism in the Federal Capital Islamabad, the PTI chairman said that the Government had planned to relocate at least 5,000 TTP fighters and their family members which amount to about 35,000. But the plan did not materialise as provinces refused to foot the bill, he added. Initially, Sindh and Balochistan refused to give 3 per cent share from National Finance Commission (NFC) for the uplift of FATA and then the Federal Government stopped its cooperation after the PTI’s ouster, he claimed. Read less...

Imran Khan stated the fall of Kabul and rise of the Afghan Taliban to power provided Pakistan with a golden opportunity to deal with the TTP threat. “The Afghan Taliban pressurised the TTP, which had over 5,000 fighters among its 40,000-strong group, to go back to Pakistan and we took a number of steps to deal with it,” he said. Imran Khan said that there was an anti-merger group in tribal areas and the PTI wanted to launch uplift projects to satisfy the anti-merger group, but the lack of funds didn’t lead to anything significant in this regard. Read less...

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda garnered a total 268 votes out of the 270 members present in the vote of confidence held in House of Representatives (HoR), the Lower House of Parliament on January 10, reports The Himalayan Times. All political parties except People's Front Nepal (PFN) and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) voted in support of Prime Minister Dahal. This is the highest number of votes a prime minister had ever received in vote of confidence in Parliament. Only two votes- Chitra Bahadur KC of PFN and Prem Suwal of NWPP - voted against PM Dahal. There are a total of 275 members in the HoR. Read less...

On January 10, Shariful Islam, Public Relations Officer of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) headquarter said that Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) seized smuggled goods, arms and drugs including 12,778,100 Yaba pills, 77.69 kilograms of crystal meth, 46 pistols, nine rifles, five revolvers, 79 different types of guns, 25 magazines, 24 mortar shells, 5,345 rounds of bullets, one rocket bomb, 51 empty shells and 999.6 kilograms of explosive-like materials, worth over BDT 15.65 billion in various drives across the country in 2022, reports Dhaka Tribune. According to BGB, smuggled goods and drugs worth BDT 10.73 billion were seized in year 2021. Read less...

A Sri Lankan gemstone company that was key to sanctioned terrorist facilitator Ahmed Luqman Talib’s revenue generation in support of Al-Qaeda, continued doing business even after Talib was sanctioned and arrested by Australian Police in 2021, reports Colombo Gazette on January 10. An elite research and data analytics company, Kharon, stated that the trading company shared an address in the south-west coast of Sri Lanka with Mohammed Haris Nizar, who was one of Talib’s relatives and business partners most recently sanctioned by the United States government on November 9, 2022. The international trail of Talib’s Al-Qaeda facilitation network extended into South America. Al-Qaeda facilitator Ahmed Talib was also a managing partner of the Brazil-based company Ottoman Trade Caravan Importacao e Exportacao Ltda. in 2020, Kharon also stated. Read less...

The Koppay Police excavated a private land in Kokuvil in Jaffna District in the Northern Province, after they received a warning that weapons belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were buried in that place, reports The Tamil Guardian on January 10. The Police obtained permission from Jaffna Magistrate Court to carry out the excavations. Despite excavating four different sites, no weapons were recovered. Read less...

On January 10, Hasht-e Subh reported that the Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue agents warned land owners and dealers to refrain from issuing rent premises to women’s hairdressing salons in Baghlan Province. Taliban’s supporters in Baghlan Province called the existence of women’s hair salons seditious and against Sharia principles. Taliban have already closed women’s hair salons in Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan Provinces. Read less...

On January 10, Taliban fighters beheaded and then shot at a civilian, identified as Ali Ahmad, in Darabad area of Farah Province, reports Hasht-e Subh. The assailants took away seven sheeps that the victim had raised for sale. Read less...

A Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre was killed in an encounter on Telangana-Chhattisgarh border in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh on January 11, reports The New Indian Express. There were reports that top Maoist leader Madvi Hidma (42), was reportedly killed in the encounter, however, CPI-Maoist Bhadradri-Kothagudem- Alluri Sitarama Raju Division Committee (BK-ASR) ‘secretary’ Azad on January 12 rejected reports that Maoist leader Madvi Hidma was killed in an alleged encounter. Though the Police are yet to confirm the death, the office of Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chhattisgarh Sector, released a communique saying CRPF’s Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) Battalion personnel were undertaking operations against the militants. Read less...

On January 11, the Indian Army provided training in handling weapons and their maintenance to Village Defence Guards (VDGs) in Makhidhar and Batsiyala in Reasi District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports Tribune India. While Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) are being provided to the trained ex-servicemen, other VDGs are trained in the use of the automatic weapons by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Read less...

Six Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast during a search and encounter with Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in Chaibasa town in West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand on January 11, reports ptcnews.tv. "Six personnel of CRPF's elite COBRA [Commando Battalion for Resolute Action] battalion were injured on Wednesday in a bomb blast after an encounter with the outlawed CPI(Maoist) at Tumbahaka forest in Jharkhand's Naxal-affected West Singhbhum district," a senior Police official said. According to the Police, when the Security Forces (SFs) approached, the Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) opened fire. "This prompted the security forces to retaliate and the Naxals were forced to retreat triggering the blast. A massive search operation is on to track down the extremists," the Police added. Read less...

The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in a statement have alleged that security personnel had carried out aerial strikes on villages in Sukma and Bijapur Districts of Chhattisgarh on January 11, reports Hindustan Times. The purported statement was circulated on social media on Wednesday (January 11) night following an encounter between Security Forces (SFs) and Maoists on Wednesday morning. The statement issued in the name of Ganga, ‘secretary’ of South Bastar Division Committee of Maoists, accused the SFs of conducting airstrikes in several villages of South Bastar on Wednesday. It claimed that Madkanguda, Mettaguda, Bottetong, Sakiler, Madpadulade, Kannemarka, Pottemangum, Bottalanka, Rasapalli, and Errapad villages and forest hills of South Bastar were targeted by drones and helicopters in the border areas of Pamed, Kistaram, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Certainly, a CPI-Maoist cadre was killed in an encounter on Telangana-Chhattisgarh border in Bijapur District on January 11, the incident has been documented by SATP. Read less...

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 11 conducted raids at over four locations in Karnataka, including at a building in Thirthahalli taluk (administrative division) of Shivamogga District, owned by a person with suspected links to Mohammed Shariq, main accused in the Mangaluru blast case, reports The Print. The raids were conducted to probe “terror financing” in connection to the Mangaluru blast case of November 19, 2022. According to sources, the ED had registered a fresh case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to probe “money generated for terror activities” and where it had been spent. Read less...

An improvised explosive device (IED) exploded at a private clinic at Lunda Sharif bus stand in the limits of Gomal University Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on January 11, reports Dawn. Police said unknown persons had planted an explosive device outside the private clinic of Dr Rehmatullah Baloch at Lunda Sharif in which the clinic was destroyed while nearby shops were partially damaged. However, there was no loss of life. Read less...

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on January 11 arrested 26 suspects during various combing operations across Punjab, reports Samaa TV. CTD officials reported launching raids at 40 locations of Punjab, including Mandi Bahauddin, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Khushab. During these raids, CTD interrogated around 1,929 suspected people and held 26 of them. A cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the suspects’ hideouts. Read less...

All the seven provinces in Nepal, namely Madhes, Lumbini, Karnali, Sudurpaschim, Province 1, Bagmati and Gandaki elected their respective Chief Ministers, The Kathmandu Post reports on January 12. The seven Chief Ministers are: Province 1 - Hikmat Karki, Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML); Madhes - Saroj Kumar Yadav, Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal (JSP-N); Bagmati - Shalikram Jamkattel, Communist Party of Nepal–Maoist Centre (CPN-MC); Gandaki - Khagaraj Adhikari, CPN-UML; Lumbini - Leela Giri, CPN-UML; Karnali - Rajkumar Sharma, CPN-MC; and Sudurpaschim - Rajendra Rawal, CPN-UML. Read less...

On January 11, Police arrested the nephew of executed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, identified as Waliullah Oli from Golabari Bandar area of Gabtoli Sub-District in Bogra District for his alleged link to militancy, reports Dhaka Tribune. Oli confessed to his involvement with JMB's militant activities during primary interrogation, Police said. And during the raid, 23 books written on extremism were also seized. Read less...

On January 11, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested five operatives of Jama'atul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya (JAFHS) during in Bandarban District in Chattogram Division, reports The Business Standard. The arrestees were identified as Nizamuddin Hiron alias Yusuf, Saleh Ahmed alias Saiha, Bayezid Islam alias Muas alias Bairu, Imran bin Rahman Shithil alias Billal and Sadiqur Rahman Sumon alias Farkun. Khandaker Al Moin. On January 12, Director of RAB said that 12 operatives of JAFHS and 14 operatives of Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) have been arrested so far in the ongoing anti-militancy drive that started in Chattogram Division on October 10, 2022. Read less...

On January 11, five people died in a suicide blast, which occurred outside the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Kabul, the capital city of Kabul Province, reports Hasht-e Subh. Amaq News Agency, a news outlet linked to the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), issued a newsletter on January 11, claiming responsibility for this attack. By publishing a picture of a masked person, IS-KP claimed that this attack was carried out by a member of this group, named Khaibar al-Kunduzi. Some other reports claimed that more than 20 people were killed in the attack. Later on January 16, a Taliban official confirmed that 20 people were killed and a nearby hospital confirmed that they received over 40 injured civilians following the attack, reports Actions On Armed Violence. Read less...

On January 11, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that religious scholar’s councils have been established in 13 Provinces based on the order of the Amir (supreme leader) Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, reports tolonews.com. He added that the councils will work for addressing the rights and needs of the people as well as the voice of people. Based on the decree, the councils will provide consultations to public officials and this process will continue. “The issue is that if they really perform their obligations, there will be no problem, but if it is the same as it was over the past 20 years when there was corruption in government organizations, the (council) will be an extra weight on the government,” said Mohammad Edris, who is an university instructor. Read less...

Two civilians, identified as Pahlwan Yasin and Farid were shot dead by Taliban in Khost District of Baghlan Province, Bakhtar News Agency reported on January 12. An unidentified source confirmed that Taliban raided their houses on January 11, and detained them on the suspicion of collaborating with the National Resistance Front (NRF). Read less...

A gunfight broke out between Security Forces (SFs) and Naxals [Left Wing Extremists, LWEs] on the outskirts of Ranchi city on January 12, reports Business Standard. Acting on a tip-off that five members of the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), were in a forest in the Budmu Police Station area, a search operation was started around 3.30 pm, and seeing the SFs, a gunfight broke out between the Naxals and the forces. "However, the extremists escaped taking advantage of the forest," Superintendent of Police (Ranchi-Rural) Naushad Alam said. A rifle and live bullets were seized from the area, he added. Read less...

India and other member nations of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping on January 12, explored ways to cooperate in dealing with various security challenges, including threat of terrorism, in a meeting held in New Delhi, reports Business Standard. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the delegates discussed traditional and emerging non-traditional security threats in the BIMSTEC region, different aspects of implementation of the BIMSTEC Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking, which entered into force on March 16, 2021. Read less...

India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj in the UN Security Council on January 12 stated that countries that use cross-border terror to serve their own narrow political purposes must be held accountable, reports Outlook India. Referring to Pakistan, she underlined the need for nations to stand together against the common threat of terrorism and not engage in double standards for political convenience. Kamboj stated, “The application of rule of law at the international level should protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states from aggression, including terrorism, and including cross border terrorism.” Read less...

On January 12, a Village Defence Guard (VDG), identified as Yashpal, fired a few rounds in the air from his gun after two suspicious persons came to his house in Androla village in Rajauri tehsil (revenue unit) of Rajouri District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India, reports Daily Excelsior. The suspects escaped taking the advantage of darkness, sources said. Read less...

On January 12, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande stated following the Dhangri incident on January 1, 2023 that Pakistan has tried to target minorities ‘to cover up their failure in the Kashmir valley’, reports Daily Excelsior. He added that the Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have increased their presence in the area. He further stressed the need to ‘remain alert’, saying the ceasefire has held well on the Pakistan border but the neighbour’s support to terror infrastructure and terror groups is still persistent. Read less...

On January 12, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir in Melbourne, Australia was vandalised by unidentified Khalistan supporters by painting the walls with "Hindu-stan Murdabad" (down with India), reports Australia Today. The Khalistan group also praised Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a militant leader of the Sikh organization Damdami Taksal and wrote ‘Martyr’ on the temple’s walls. Read less...

On January 12, the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) has recovered a live, rusted grenade in a ground near District Police Lines (DPL) in Poonch District in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), reports Kashmir images. Read less...

The Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) on January 12 arrested a suspect, identified as Altaf Ahmad Rather, from Palhallan in Pattan tehsil (revenue unit) of Baramulla District in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), India involved in issuing threats to non-locals besides condemning Government’s decision of opening wine shop in Pahalgam in Anantnag District, reports Daily Excelsior. The threats were issued by a terror group called ‘Lone Wolf Warrior’, at Tantray Pora village in Shahoora Tehsil (revenue unit) of Pulwama District in J&K, officials said. The authorities further stated that the accused was in touch with Pakistan-based terrorist handlers on social media and was working with them on their instructions to paste posters in order to create an atmosphere of fear among the public and hatred against India. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 12 filed a charge sheet against six Lashkar-e- Toiba (LeT) operatives, identified as Sheikh Sajjad Gul, Faisal Muneer, Mian Sohail, Muni Mohd (deceased), Habib, and Rashid in a case of recovery of a drone along with several rounds of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) and magnetic bombs near the International Border (IB) in Rajbagh area of Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India in 2022, reports Daily Excelsior. LeT operative Sheikh Sajjad Gul, who has been designated as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), is absconding. “Investigations revealed that on directions of Gul, the Pakistani handler, the accused used to collect, receive and transport the weapons, dropped over drones, to the militants active in the Kashmir Valley for the commission of terror activities in J&K, as part of the conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India (GOI)," NIA spokesperson stated. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 12 filed a charge sheet in a NIA Special Court in Jammu, against a top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative identified as Sheikh Sajjad Gul, a resident of Srinagar and five other namely, Faisal Muneer of Jammu and Habib, Mian Sohail, Muni Mohd (deceased) and Rashid, all residents of Kathua District in Jammu and Kashmir, reports Daily Excelsior. An NIA spokesperson stated that the case pertains to the interception and recovery of a drone along with several rounds of Under Barrel Grenade Launcher and magnetic bombs from Dhalli near the International Border in Rajbagh area of Kathua district in 2022. They were charge sheeted under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), UAPA, Arms Act and the Explosive Substances Act. The NIA spokesperson also asserted “Investigations revealed that on directions of Gul, the Pakistani handler, the accused used to collect, receive and transport the weapons, dropped over drones, to the militants active in the Kashmir valley for the commission of terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, as part of the conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India.” Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 12, raided total nine places, four places each in Jaipur and Kota, and one in Sawai Madhopur Districts in Rajasthan in a case related to the conspiracy of the Popular Front of India (PFI) to promote hatred between different religious groups and carry out terrorist acts in the country, reports latestly.com. NIA stated that the case is related to secret information received from reliable sources that Sadiq Sarraf, a resident of Shyopuriyon Ki Masjid in Baran District of Rajasthan, and Mohammed Asif, a resident of Retipada in Kota, of PFI along with officer bearers and members of the PFI are indulging in unlawful activities. NIA revealed that digital devices (mobile phones, SIM cards), sharp-edged knives, and incriminating material, literature and posters were recovered during the search operation. Read less...

The Special Cell of Delhi Police on January 12, arrested two persons from Jahangirpuri in Delhi, identified as Jagjit Singh alias Jagga, a resident of Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand, and Naushad, a resident of Jahangirpuri in Delhi, over their suspected links with terror organisations and involvement in heinous crimes, reports The Print. Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa revealed that Jagga had suspected links with a Canada-based Khalistani terrorist and is a member of the notorious 'Bambiha' gang and had been getting instructions from anti-national elements based abroad while Naushad had suspected links with terror organisation 'Harkat ul-Ansar'. Three pistols and 22 live cartridges were recovered during the arrest. Read less...

Three personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)’s elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were injured in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast triggered by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) in Sarjan Buru Forest area under Tonto Police Station in Chaibasa in West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand on January 12, reports The New Indian Express. “Same operation was being continued on Thursday following the blast on Wednesday, during which, an IED triggered by the Maoists injured three of our CoBRA jawans,” said Chaibasa Superintendent of Police (SP), Ashutosh Shekhar, adding that all the three were airlifted to Ranchi and admitted to Medica Hospital for better treatment. Notably, six personnel of the CoBRA battalion were also injured on January 11, in an IED blast triggered by the Maoists at the same Forest area when a joint team of CRPF’s elite CoBRA battalion, Jharkhand Jaguar of the State Police and the District Armed Police were conducting anti-Maoist operation in the forests. The incident was reported by SATP on January 12. Read less...

A report released on January 12 by Punjab Police revealed that the Police have killed 612 suspects in encounters during the past five years, reports Samaa TV. The report stated that 67 suspects were killed in shootouts in 2018, 69 in 2019, 166 in 2020, 186 in 2021, and 124 until September 2022. The number of Police officers killed in the line of duty during this time period is 57. The Police have registered 544 cases related to encounters during this time period. Read less...

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on January 12 that terrorism posed a common threat to both Pakistan and Afghanistan, as Islamabad battles rising insurgency, reports Geo TV. “Both, people of Pakistan and Afghanistan, are victims of terrorism," Foreign Minister Bilawal said during a telephonic conversation with Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Stressing the need for joint efforts to eliminate terrorism from the region, the foreign minister said that the authorities of both countries "must do all we can to defeat this menace.” During the conversation, the Foreign Minister also condemned the terrorist attack outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul, which took place January 11, and offered his condolences. Read less...

Four Army personnel were killed and many others injured when Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) cadres ambushed the Army with rockets and heavy weapons at Nokain Rah area of Kech District in Balochistan on January 12, reports Radio Zrumbesh. BLF ‘spokesperson’ Major Gwahram Baloch claimed responsibility for attack. Read less...

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel on January 12 arrested two terrorists, identified as Ehsan and Osama, from Multan city (Multan District) of Punjab, reports ARY News. Explosives and cash were recovered from the possession of terrorists. Read less...

The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) on January 12 released its report for December 2022 which said 41 persons disappeared and 20 others killed in December in Balochistan, reports The Balochistan Post. In the report, the HRCB has covered the human rights violations that occurred across Balochistan. The report reads: The human rights situation during the month of December remains worrisome. Enforced disappearance, extrajudicial execution and honor killing continued unabated. Human Rights Council of Balochistan received reports of the enforced disappearance of at least 41 people including eight students, abducted by Frontier Corps and the extra-judicial execution of 20 people including two women during the month. Moreover, a massive crackdown was carried out against the leaders of Haq Do Tehreek in the Gwadar District resulting in the arrest of more than a hundred people and imposition of section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1898, a colonial times law that prohibits large gatherings and social occurrences and curtail constitutional rights of peaceful assembly and association. Read less...

The Supreme Court on January 12, ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to pay a compensation amount of SLR 100 million as damages to the victims of Easter Sunday attacks, reports Daily Mirror. Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara and former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Nilantha Jayawardhane were ordered to pay SLR 75 million each as compensation. Former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando was ordered to pay SLR 50 million and former Chief National Intelligence Sisira Mendis was ordered to pay SLR 10 million. The Supreme Court pronounced this judgement while announcing the decision on 12 petitions filed by the victims claiming that their basic human rights were violated by not taking steps to prevent the Easter attack despite receiving the intelligence information prior to the attack. Read less...

On January 12, United States Department of State Spokesman Ned Price said that that "the Taliban’s actions are inconsistent with what they have pledged” to the international community and the people of Afghanistan, reports Tolo News. Read less...

A special NIA Court in Bengaluru on January 13, awarded seven-year rigorous imprisonment to four members of the proscribed outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), identified as Kador Kazi alias Mijanur Rahaman, Mustafizur Rahman alias Tuhin, Adil Sheikh alias Asadullah, and Abdul Karim alias Korim, in a case pertaining to the seizure of large quantities of electrical and electronics items, tools, chemical apparatus, containers used for fabrication of bombs and Improvised Explosive Device IEDs from the hideout of the JMB operatives, reports daijiworld.com. The case was initially registered by Karnataka Police in Bengaluru in 2019 and registered by NIA later. The NIA stated, "Our investigations established that the accused had raised funds by committing dacoity at various places in Bengaluru with the intention of furthering the activities of JMB in India. They had also collected explosive materials and test fired a rocket launcher for commission of terror acts. The proceeds of crime in the form of gold was sold by the accused for raising funds for carrying out terror activities. Eleven accused have been arrested and chargesheeted so far, while three of them were convicted earlier.” Read less...

Four Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres, including three with a cumulative bounty of INR 1.2 million on their heads, surrendered in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh on January 13, reports Devdiscourse. Police identified them as Madded ‘area committee member, (ACM)’ Rakesh Mandvi alias Joga (33), Dula Punem (34) of the PLGA platoon 2 under National Park Area Committee, Bhopalpatnam Local Organising Squad (LOS) 'commander' Somaru alias Kishore Karam (26) and 'militia' (people's army of the Maoists) platoon 'section commander' of Gangaloor Area Committee Suresh Madvi alias Sukka (24). Rakesh and Somaru were carrying a cash reward of INR 500,000 each, while Dula had a reward of INR 200,000 against his name. Rakesh was associated with the Maoists since 2005 and was allegedly involved in the murders of security personnel, firing on the camp of forces, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts, encounters, looting of weapons, and arson between 2009 and 2022. Somaru, who joined the outlawed organization in 2006 as Bal Sangham, was allegedly involved in the murder of three security personnel, attack on Bhadrakali Police Station in 2010, and an encounter in which 11 personnel were killed in 2011. Dula and Suresh were also involved in several incidents that took place in the district. Read less...

Jamui Police arrested a woman Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadre identified as Renuka Koda alias Renu Koda, carrying a reward of INR 50,000, in Jamui District of Bihar on January 13, reports livehindustan.com. More than half a dozen cases are registered against Renu in Munger, and Superintendent of Police (SP), Jagunathreddy Jalareddy said that soon Renu will be taken on remand in Munger cases. Renu, a resident of Saradhi village under Ladaitand Police Station area of Munger District, used to provide food and water to Maoists first and later joined the Naxalites' [Left Wing Extremist, LWE] ‘Marak’ (killing) Squad and was carrying out Naxal activities by staying with wanted Maoist Parvez. Read less...

On January 13, Union Home Minister (UHM) Amit Shah stated that all security agencies agreed "to cast a 360-degree net to wipe out militancy from Jammu region and strengthen Security Grid within three months, and that the Dhangri terror strike case has been handed over to National Investigation Agency (NIA) for investigation (along with the J&K Police in Jammu)”, reports Daily Excelsior. The UHM reiterated that the security agencies in Jammu are alert and "committed to wipe-out terror, its ecosystem, Over Ground Workers’ (OGW) network and zero-in on those who are providing logistic support to terrorism”. He added that strengthening Village Defence Guards (VDGs) has “nothing to do with the twin terror attacks in Dhangri on January 1 and 2, 2023 and that the decision to empower those volunteers was taken in August 2022”. The Minister further stated that “following the revocation of Article 370, violence level in the past three years has reduced. While the killing of terrorists has gone up, the deaths of civilians have come down considerably”. Read less...

The Assam Rifles Keithelmanbi Battalion in a joint operation with Thoubal Police arrested one militant of the People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) from Heirok in Thoubal District of Manipur on January 13, reports India Today NE. The arrested militant has been identified as Manglem Meiteis Budhi a resident of Heirok Part-III Ngarouthen Khuman Leikai of Thoubal District Manipur. He was arrested with a.32-caliber pistol, a magazine, and two rounds of ammunition Read less...

The Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) triggered three Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts in West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand on January 13, when Security Forces (SFs) were carrying out search operations but nobody was injured in the explosions, reports Outlook India. Superintendent of Police (SP), Ashutosh Shekhar said the SFs were carrying out search operations in Tumbahaka Forest when the IEDs exploded, however, all the personnel of law enforcing agencies were safe and no injury was reported in the incident. Read less...

The Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) ‘Chief’ Jeevan Singha alias Jeevan Koch Timir Das, surrendered before Assam Rifles in the Longwa area in Mon District along Indo-Myanmar in Nagaland on January 13, reports East Mojo. Sources stated that “Singha has been involved in several KLO operations in Assam and West Bengal and had reported imparted arms training to hundreds of youths who joined the outfit.” The development came within five months after two top KLO militants – Kailash Koch, the second most important leader of the outfit and his wife Jugli – surrendered before the DGP of West Bengal Police in Kolkata and days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had invited the outfit for “peace talks”. Read less...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 13 filed a supplementary charge sheet against an accused, identified as Ali Asgar alias Abdullah Bihari, a resident of Bihar, involved in terror activities of the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), in a special court in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, reports newsdrum.in. The case pertains to the arrest of 10 active cadres of the proscribed terrorist organisation, including 6 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which was registered at the Special Task Force (STF) Police Station in Bhopal in March 2022 and taken over by the NIA in April 2022. An NIA spokesperson stated, “Investigations have established that Asgar had been deeply influenced by the ideology of various proscribed terrorist organisations such as JMB and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent with an intention to further their activities in India. He entered into a criminal conspiracy with his associates to influence, radicalize and motivate Indian Muslims to prepare for violent jihad against the Indian State. In pursuance of the criminal conspiracy, Asgar translated jihadi literature from Urdu and Arabic to Hindi and uploaded it on social media groups for its circulation amongst impressionable Muslims." Read less...

The Police arrested Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) ‘commander’ Krishna Hansda aka Avinash aka Saurabh, who was carrying a bounty of INR 1.5 million on his head, and was wanted in several cases in Giridih District of Jharkhand on January 13, reports newsroomodisha.com. Hansda, who hails from Pirtand block, was arrested during a joint operation by the paramilitary forces and the Police at Fatehpur under Dumri Police Station limits in the district, Police said, adding that many weapons were recovered from Hansda. Read less...

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on January 13 arrested three Sindh Revolutionary Army (SRA) cadres during a raid in Mochko area on Northern Bypass in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, reports ARY News. The CTD spokesperson said that a raid was conducted on a tip-off in Mochko area in which three SRA cadres were arrested while two other cadres managed to escape. Explosive material and arms were recovered from the possession of the arrested cadres. According to the spokesperson, the arrested cadres confessed of their involvement in bomb blasts and murders in Sindh. They also revealed that they received orders regarding the target and other items for the terror activities from a senior SRA cadre namely Inam Abbasi. Read less...

A claymore bomb, which was hidden under a banana bush at Welikanda in Ahungalla, Galle District in Southern Province, was been recovered by the Police on January 13, reports Daily Mirror. The bomb was recovered according to the information received by Tangalle Headquarters Inspector (HQI) in Hambantota District, Southern Province. Police suspected that the bomb belonged to an individual in Bentota in Galle who is currently overseas and had also revealed that the suspect is a close associate of an organized criminal Kosgoda Suji. No arrest has been made so far with regard to the case. Read less...

Eleven members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at a meeting held on January 13, urged the Taliban to end its repressive treatment of women in Afghanistan, as the group continued to impose restrictive policies on their education and work, reports Al Jazeera. Ever since the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan in August 2021 after the US troop withdrawal squeezed women out of almost all areas of public life, banning them from secondary and higher education, public sector work and visiting parks. Japanese Ambassador Ishikane Kimihiro, speaking on behalf of 11 members of the UNSC stated, “We urge the Taliban to immediately reverse all oppressive measures against women and girls.” The 11 members – Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Japan, Malta, Switzerland, the UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States – called on the Taliban to “respect the rights of women and girls, and their full, equal and meaningful participation and inclusion across all aspects of society in Afghanistan, from political and economic, to education and public space”. They also called on the authorities in Afghanistan to reverse bans on women working for aid groups or attending universities and high school. Read less...

A combined team of National Investigation Agency (NIA), Imphal Branch, along with the 5 Assam Rifles arrested four persons along with INR 30 lakhs during a raid in Moreh town at Tengnoupal District of Manipur on January 14, reports the Imphal Free Press. The arrested persons were identified as Suraj Jaiswal, Vishal Jaiswal, Nepollian Bahadur and Santosh Gupte. All the arrested individuals hail from Morning Bazar Moreh ward No 3 under Moreh Police Station. The Police further added that the recovered money could be a part of the funding module for underground outfits. Read less...

A trooper of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) sustained critical injuries in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast near Pegdapalli camp under Tarem Police Station limits in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh on January 14, reports The Indian Express. The injured trooper was identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Muhammad Aslam (51) of the CRPF 153 battalion. Aslam along with his troops was out from the Pegdapalli CRPF camp on a Road Security and Area Domination Operation, when he inadvertently stepped on a pressure IED (victim operated mechanism) planted by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) and the blast hit his right leg, which got critically injured. “He was treated at the Basaguda field hospital and later, air evacuated to a better medical facility in Raipur. His condition is stable,” said Sundarraj P, Inspector general of Police (IGP), Bastar range. Read less...

The Delhi Police on January 14, recovered two hand grenades and a man’s dismembered body following the interrogation of two terror suspects, identified as Jagjit Singh alias Jagga, and Naushad who were arrested on January 12, reports Hindustan Times. The two persons led the Police to their rented accommodation in North-West Delhi on January 13, with a team recovering two grenades and “traces of blood” from the house. The recovery of hand grenades, arms, and ammunition, and decomposed parts of a human body in Delhi at the instance of the two suspects prompted Delhi Police to tighten security arrangements ahead of Republic Day celebrations as Police suspect a possible terror strike plan. Read less...

Two terror suspects arrested by Delhi Police on January 12, identified as Jagjit Singh alias Jagga and Naushad for their suspected links to terror organisations, revealed on January 14, that being inspired by Islamic State, they beheaded a 21-year-old man in Delhi on December 14-15, 2022, and made a 37-second video of the killing which they sent to their Pakistan-based handler, Sohail, reports The Indian Express. Police stated that the act and the video were meant to prove their allegiance to Sohail, who used to be associated with the Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT) and is currently linked to Pakistan’s the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Police further revealed that the arrested men confessed that they took the man to Naushad's house in Bhalswa Dairy in North East Delhi on December 14-15, 2022, strangulated the man before beheading him and then chopped his body into eight pieces. Police recovered six pieces of what they believe is the man’s body and a few clothes from Delhi’s Bhalswa Dairy area. SATP earlier reported the arrests on January 13. Read less...

A Policeman and a civilian were killed, and one Policeman injured in a drive-by attack by two motorcyclists at the Jhangi Police checkpoint in Vehowa tehsil of Taunsa Sharif District of Punjab on January 14, reports Dawn. Police said unidentified terrorists attacked the Punjab Police off-road border checkpoint and killed Police official Mazar and one unidentified passer-by. Another Policeman Ramzan, sustained injuries. Read less...

Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on January 14 strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Police Station in Sarband area of Peshawar and expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of a Deputy Superintendent of Police and two other personnel in the attack. He said the sacrifices of police and law enforcement agencies are unforgettable. PM said the condemnable conspiracies of terrorists to weaken morale of the nation would not succeed. He said the nation along with law enforcement agencies is determined to root out the evil of terrorism. Read less...

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) killed the two terrorists who were involved in the attack, identified as Gul Hayyee and Hazrat Umar, both residents of Bara area of Khyber District and Mohmand Hal Yeka Tut in Peshawar, while two to three others terrorists managed to escape, adds The Express Tribune. A CTD spokesperson revealed that a cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from the possession of the terrorists. Read less...

Three Policemen, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Badaber, Sardar Hussain and his two Police guards, identified as Irshad and Jehanzeb, were killed in a terrorist attack on the Sarband Police Station in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), on January 14, reports Dawn. KP Inspector General of Police (IGP) Moazzam Jah Ansari said that sniper weapons were used by terrorists for the first time in Peshawar. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the responsibility of the attack. Read less...

Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya (JAFHS) cadres killed a fellow operative due to an internal dispute, Bd News 24 reported on January 15. Hitherto, Police have not revealed the identity of the killed militant. Earlier, on January 12, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested five suspected members of JAFHS from the forests of Roangchhari and Thanchi Sub-District in Bandarban. They were identified as Nizamuddin Hiron alias Yusuf, Sadikur Rahman Sumon alias Farkun, Saleh Ahmed alias Saiha, Bayezid Islam alias Bairu, and an unnamed 17-year-old boy. A fight ensued between the five arrestees and one of them was killed. Read less...

Police arrested three operatives of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) along with cocktails and a number of extremist books from Haji Manjil housing complex of Barisal District in Barisal Division, reports Dhaka Tribune on January 15. The arrestees were identified as Ibrahim Khalil Bahari, who is from Baufal Sub-District of Patuakhali District, and the rest two Raihan Howladar and Mehdi Hasan, from Mathbaria Sub-District of Pirojpur District. Barisal Police Station Officer-in-Charge, Azimul Karim stated, “The operation is still going on to arrest their cohorts.” Read less...

Officials of the Ministry of Counter Narcotics discovered and destroyed 62 drug factories across Ghor Province, Bakhtar News Agency reported on January 15. Abdul Rahman Badri, the police spokesman of Ghor said that 69 people have been arrested in this connection. Read less...

On January 14, Mursal Nabizada, a member National Assembly during the former republic regime, was killed by unidentified gunmen in her own house at Arzan Qimat in the 12th Police District of Kabul, the capital city, reports Hasht-e Sub. Mursal Nabizada’s brother was also injured in the attack. Read less...

The union of private universities said that more than 40 private universities will be closed if the ban on female students will continue, Tolo News reported on January 15. Based on the statistics of the union of private universities, 140 private universities are active in 24 provinces of the country. More than 25,000 people, including academic figures, are employed in the centers. And, now more than 5,000 employees of private universities have lost their jobs after the ban on female students that happened in December 2022. “More than 40 owners of universities have told us that they will not have the financial capacity to continue their activities if the temporary decision of banning female students from attending universities continues for a long time. In this case they said they will be forced to close the doors of their universities,” said Mohammad Karim Nasiri, who is a press director of the union. Read less...

A group of Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres opened fire at Police team when the special Police were carrying out their anti-Naxal [Left Wing Extremism, LWE] operation in Vedampalli Forest in Aheri Tehsil (revenue unit) in Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra on January 15, reports UNI. About 25 outlaws started firing at the security personnel. After a heavy exchange of fire between the two sides, the Naxalites fled into the forest, a press release said, however, no casualties reported from either side. The Police later conducted search and recovered weapons and other Naxal material from the spot, the release said adding that Naxal plan to carry out sabotage during "Bhumkal Week" has been spoiled. Read less...

A large quantity of explosives suspected to have been kept hidden by the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) were seized by security personnel in Dumka District of Jharkhand on January 15, reports The Print. Superintendent of Police (SP), Ambar Lakra said acting on a tip-off a massive search operation was jointly conducted by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and District Armed Police (DAP) on January 15 and the explosives hidden underneath the soil in Karkatta pahad was seized. The seized explosives included 200 gelatine pieces, 411 pieces of detonators, codex wire, 18 pieces of People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) badges, 31 pieces Mao badges, and 27 number ‘Naya Prabhat’ (naxal book), SP said. Police have registered a case under relevant sections of IPC, UPA Act, and Explosive Substances Act, the SP added. Read less...

Assam Rifles in a joint operation with the Mizoram Police arrested two Myanmar nationals along with 100 detonators and eight rolls of detonating cord from Champhai District of Mizoram near the Indo-Myanmar border on January 15, reports The Mizoram Post. Read less...

Chief of the Army Staff (CoAS) General Manoj Pande stated on January 15 that “though ceasefire violations saw a dip along the western border, still there is a terror infrastructure on the other side and several proxy outfits have resorted to targeted killings to gain visibility”, reports Hindustan Times. He stressed the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have rejected violence and are welcoming positive changes. CoAs further stated that counter-drone jammers and spoofers are being used to defeat efforts to smuggle in arms and drugs through the International Border (IB) sectors in Jammu and Punjab. On the security situation in north-eastern region, General Pande said Indian Army has played an important role in bringing down level of violence and making insurgents leave the path of violence. Asked on readiness for future warfare, he said, "The utility of disruptive and dual-use technologies, information warfare in the form of cyber and space variants, and grey zone warfare have made wars more complex and lethal. Read less...

Four cadres of the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC), a splinter group of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), were arrested from Tandwa block under Simaria subdivision in Chatra District of Jharkhand on January 15, reports newsnationtv.com. The arrested militants identified as Santosh Ram from Simaria, Shiv Shankar Bharti from Tandwa, Nandlal Bharti from Simaria and Mohammad Noman from Badhar, are residents of Rajpur Police Station area, were trying to collect ‘levy’ (extortion money) by spreading terror in Koyalanchal area in Chatra and Hazaribagh District. A few days ago, the arrested cadres had demanded a ‘levy’ of INR 10 million over the phone from the LNT company operating in Hazaribagh, and the company officials were warned of dire consequences for not paying the ‘levy’. Apart from this, an attempt was also made by these extremists to spread terror by pasting posters of extremist organization TSPC in other areas including Tandwa and Simaria of Chatra and Keredari Police Station area of Hazaribagh District. Superintendent of Police (SP) Rakesh Ranjan had formed a special team launched a special campaign against the militants and arrested them red-handed while pasting the poster of the organization. Two motorcycles of the Naxalites used for pasting posters, nine mobile phones of different companies used for demanding ‘levy’, 525 posters of TSPC and laptop of printing press used for designing posters have been recovered from their possession. Read less...