Pakistan asks Afghan authorities to ensure border security

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan here on Thursday called on Afghan authorities to ensure their border security so that attacks emanating from their soil are stopped. Speaking during her weekly press briefing, the Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam has said that that Pakistan condemns all forms of terrorism.

Militants kill 44 people praying at a mosque in Nigeria

MAIDUGURI: Suspected Islamic militants wearing army fatigues gunned down 44 people praying at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, while another 12 civilians died in an apparently simultaneous attack, security agents said on Monday.

Sunday's attacks were the latest in a slew of violence blamed on religious extremists in this west African oil producer, where the radical Boko Haram group, which wants to oust the government and impose Islamic law, poses the greatest security threat in years.

Govt ignores TTP threat, to execute three militants

ISLAMABAD: Despite threats by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the government has decided to carry out the execution of condemned prisoners and the death penalty for the first batch of terrorists belonging to outlawed groups will be implemented next week.

While the TTP has issued a ‘warning’ to the government to refrain from implementing the death penalties of its members, the interior minister says the new government is determined to establish the writ of law.

LoC attack: Kamal Nath defends Antony amid opposition attack on his statement

NEW DELHI: Under attack for his statement on the killing of five Indian soldiers on LoC, defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday maintained that his contention about the involvement of terrorists in the assault was based on "whatever information" he had.

He told Rajya Sabha that he will get back to the House if he got more details about Tuesday's incident in Poonch after the visit of Army chief Gen Bikram Singh to Jammu on Wednesday.

Small bomb hits Buddhist temple in Indonesia; one injured

JAKARTA: Police and government officials on Monday condemned an attack on a Buddhist temple in Indonesia's capital after a small bomb detonated as devotees inside prayed, injuring one person. Two other devices failed to go off.

The explosion happened Sunday night at the Ekayana Grha Buddhist temple in West Jakarta.

The blast went off near the front door of the building, slightly damaging the structure, chief of National Police Detective Lt. Gen. Sutarman told reporters at the scene.

Pro-Assad militia kills Syrian reconciliation team in Homs village

At least six mediators have been killed by pro-government militiamen in the Syrian province of Homs, reports say.

The men were reportedly trying to broker talks between Sunni Muslims and members of the minority Alawite sect in the area when they were shot dead.

Bodh Gaya blasts: Police release CCTV footage; suspect detained

Bodh Gaya:  The Bihar Police have detained a man who they say is a suspect in the multiple blasts at the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar's Bodh Gaya on Sunday morning. Two monks were injured in the terror attack.

The police are analysing footage of the last 48 hours from about 15 CCTV cameras that are installed inside the temple. They are questioning Vinod Mistry, the man they have detained.

Pakistan could end Afghan war in weeks: army chief

Pakistan could end the Afghan war "in weeks" if it were serious about peace, and is complicit in US drone strikes despite its denunciations of the anti-militant campaign, Afghanistan's army chief says.

In a BBC interview broadcast Wednesday, General Sher Mohammad Karimi laid bare the mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad as US-led troops wind down more than a decade of war against Taliban and other insurgents.

By closing down madrassa schools that serve as incubators of Islamist extremism, Pakistan had "unleashed" the Taliban on Afghanistan today, the chief of staff of the Afghan National Army said.

Afghan talks must not undermine legitimacy of state: Khurshid

India on Tuesday supported Afghanistan's reconciliation process with the Taliban, but warned that it must not undermine the legitimacy of the Afghan government and should be within the internationally accepted "red lines".

"We support the efforts made by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to establish a peaceful dialogue with all armed opposition groups," External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said in his Intervention at 20th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting here today.

SC adjourns Musharraf treason case indefinitely

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the treason case against former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf for an indefinite period to hold consultations over setting up of a special court to hear the case against the ex-army strongman.

Moreover, the apex court also rejected a plea to order the formal arrest of Musharraf citing that no formal charges against the former president had been put before the court.

Son of Belgian Wahhabi cleric 'Bassam Ayachi' a FSA Terror Commander Killed in Syria

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A Syrian Arab Army unit killed a notorious foreign terrorist from the FSA called Abdul Rahman Ayachi, the son of a Wahhabi cleric Bassam Ayachi, in Sinjar, near Maarat Noman in Idleb countryside north of Syria in what Nusra Front terrorist organization called ‘Fatah Mubeen’ battles, or ‘Clear Opening!’.

Army to stay in Waziristan till peace restored: Kayani

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Pakistan Army will stay in Waziristan till complete peace is restored, said Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani on Thursday.

According to a Radio Pakistan report, Kayani said “the army is engaged in the area to bring peace and provide protection to the people so that they could live peacefully.”

Kayani was speaking during the inauguration ceremony of 50-kilometre-long road from Wana to Angoor Aadda.

Lebanon: 1 Dead as Shells Hit Hizbullah Stronghold

Cross-border mortar shells from Syria killed one person and wounded another near the eastern Lebanese town of Hermel on Monday.

AFP reported that three mortar shells hit residential neighborhoods on the outskirts of the town in the Bekaa region, a stronghold of the Hizbullah terror group.

A security official told the news agency that a 17-year old girl was killed and another woman was wounded by the shells.

NIA team reaches Chhattisgarh, begins probe into Naxal attack

New Delhi: A high-level team of officials of anti-terror agency NIA on Monday reached the deadly Naxal attack site in Chhattisgarh and began its probe to find out possible lapses on the part of the central forces or the state government.

Ahead of its arrival, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh told reporters, “Action will be taken if anyone is found guilty.”

Terror attacks on election candidates continue

SHIKARPUR/QUETTA: At least two people were injured in a suicide attack which occurred near the Shikarpur toll plaza on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

The blast took place near the convoy of National Peoples Party’s candidate Dr Ibrahim Jatoi in Shikarpur who remained unhurt.

In another incident, three people were reported injured when a bomb exploded in Balochistan’s Dera Murad Jamali region.

Three car bomb blasts kill 11 in Iraq Shia provinces

BAGHDAD: At least 11 people were killed and dozens wounded when three car bombs tore through public markets in Shia provinces in southern Iraq early on Monday, medics and police sources said.

Sectarian tensions are at their highest since US troops left Iraq more than a year ago and militant attacks have increased as the country's fragile intercommunal balance comes under growing strain from the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

More than 180 people have been killed since Tuesday, when security forces stormed a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk, triggering clashes that quickly spread to other Sunni areas in western and northern provinces.

Afghan bus crash kills 30, Taliban blamed

KABUL: An official says a bus in southern Afghanistan has collided with the burning wreckage of a truck that was attacked by Taliban insurgents, killing 30 bus passengers.

Omar Zawak, the governor’s spokesman in Helmand province, said the truck was set on fire by Taliban attackers and left burning in the middle of a road, and the bus could not stop in time to avoid smashing into it.

The fiery crash happened about 55 kilometers outside the capital of Helmand province.

Zawak said Friday’s crash also left 11 passengers injured. He said the casualties included men, women and children.

Russia considers returning to Afghanistan

The Soviet Union's 10-year occupation of Afghanistan cost the country more than 15,000 lives, and an additional 50,000 were wounded.

Follow up:

Before the USSR withdrew its forces in 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev described the Soviet efforts to fight the insurgency there as "a bleeding wound." And yet -- just over two decades after leaving what came to be considered the Soviet version of the Vietnam War -- Russia is now eager to return to Afghanistan.

Russian defense officials are exploring the possibility of establishing military bases on Afghan soil after the U.S. drawdown in 2014, according to Russian press reports. Sergey Koshelev, of the Russian Defense Ministry's Department of Cooperation, told Russia Today that the military "will look into various options of creating repair bases" to maintain the Afghan National Security Forces's Russian-made equipment. Further cooperation is also being considered, according to Russia's NATO envoy Aleksandr Grushko.

45pc ‘home-grown’ UK Jihadis have visited Pakistan: seminar

LONDON: According to various academics and experts, 45% of those involved in terrorism or radicalism from the UK have travelled to Pakistan or Afghanistan for training in violent Jihadi camps.

Although, the threat of terrorism has reduced overall in the world, the overwhelming feeling is that it could still explode any time in a single event, experts on radicalisation and counter-terrorism stated at the Democracy Forum’s seminar on home-grown terrorism at the Commonwealth Club, London.

The seminar was inaugurated by Peter Luff, MP, and chaired by Dr William Crawley. Dr Paul Gill of the Department of Security and Crime Science at the University College London, Dr Lindsay Clutterbuck of RAND Europe, Vidhya Ramalingam from the Strategic Dialogue, and Scott Kleinmann of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) presented their arguments.

Ajit Sat-Bhambra, the Democracy Forum director, said the aim of the study is to find the causes of radicalisation and take steps to deal with threats as well to address the core issues that provide fodder to extremist groups and their masterminds who go on to radicalise the youth.

Blast at Jalozai camp; 12 killed

PESHAWAR: At least 12 people were killed and 25 others were injured in an explosion at the Jalozai camp in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.

The deceased included a women and a child.

At least 12 people died in the attack and 20 others were injured, according to DPO Mohammad Hussain who added that the bomb was planted in a car.