The Indian Panorama

Tag: Terror Attacks – Bomb Blasts – Terrorism

  • The deadly #URI Ambush | India blames Pakistan

    The deadly #URI Ambush | India blames Pakistan

    At least 17 troops were killed in a pre-dawn ambush by militants in Kashmir on Sep 18.

    An attack of a suicidal nature, sponsored and launched from across the LoC was expected any time before the Pakistan prime minister’s speech at the UN General Assembly.

    Heavily armed militants crossed the “line of control” with Pakistan before launching an early Sunday raid on the Indian army’s 12th brigade infantry base housing hundreds of soldiers in Uri, west of the region’s main city of Srinagar.

    Indian General Ranbir Singh said all four gunmen were “foreign terrorists” and that initial information suggested they were part of militants group Jaish-e-Mohammed, which is based in Pakistan. He added that the gunmen were carrying “some items that had Pakistani markings.”

    The assailants were killed, but there were more casualties on the Indian side. “We salute the sacrifice of 17 soldiers who were martyred in the operation,” the army said in a statement. It said 25 troops were injured, some of them airlifted for medical treatment.
    The garrison was hosting more troops than usual, as one battalion was in the process of handing over field duties to another one. As a result, a large number of soldiers were accommodated in tents and temporary shelters. Most of the victims of the Sunday raid died when their tents caught fire.
    Pakistan’s Role Evident: Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called an emergency meeting of top defense officials and blamed Pakistan for the attack.

    “I am deeply disappointed with Pakistan’s continued and direct support to terrorism and terrorist groups,” he said.

    The minister also canceled a diplomatic trip to Russia and the United States that was due to start on Monday.

    “Pakistan is a terrorist state, and it should be identified and isolated as such,” Singh said on Twitter.

    Islamabad denied involvement in the attacks.

    “India immediately puts blame on Pakistan without doing any investigation. We reject this,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told the Reuters news agency.

  • #URIATTACK – World Reacts

    #URIATTACK – World Reacts

    Sep 18, The United Kingdom in strong words today condemned the terrorist attack on J&K’s Uri which claimed the lives of 20 soldiers and injured 27 and came out in support of India.

    “I offer my deepest condolences to the victims and their families and friends. The UK condemns all forms of terrorism, and stands shoulder to shoulder with India in the fight against terrorism, and in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” stated Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary in a statement.

    US strongly condemns terrorist attack

    The United States condemned the terrorist attack at the Army administrative base in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri which killed 17 soldiers.

    “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack on an Indian army base in Kashmir during the early morning of September 18,” read the statement.

    The US came out in support of India stating, “The United States is committed to our strong partnership with the Indian government to combat terrorism”.

    “We extend our condolences to the victims and their families,” the State Department Spokesman John Kirby said.

    Meanwhile, the US Ambassador to India Richard Verma also tweeted condemning the attack.

    Heavily armed terrorists today stormed a battalion headquarters of the Army in North Kashmir’s Uri town, killing 17 jawans and injuring 19 others. Four terrorists were killed by the security forces. Combing operations are underway at the base.

  • UN Secy Gen Ban Ki-moon condemns Uri attack

    UN Secy Gen Ban Ki-moon condemns Uri attack

    United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the terrorist attack on Uri in Jammu & Kashmir.

    The response comes in the middle of the 71st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters in New York.

    A statement issued by the United Nations stated, “The Secretary-General condemns today’s militant attack in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir. He expresses his deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives and to the Government of India. He wishes a speedy recovery to those injured. The Secretary-General hopes that the perpetrators of this crime will be identified and brought to justice.”

    smoke-rises-from-the-uri-brigade-camp-during-the-september-18-2016-terror-attackuri-attack-uri-terror-attack-uri-jawans-killed-uri-jawans-uri-jawansThe attack has claimed the lives of 18 soldiers and injured 19 others.

    The attack stared at 4:30 am September 18.

     

  • #Uri attack:Punjab traders talk of severing trade ties with Pak

    #Uri attack:Punjab traders talk of severing trade ties with Pak

    Chandigarh, Sep 19 (TIP) Punjab traders dealing in import and export of goods with Pakistan today sought a fitting reply in the aftermath of Uri attack, threatening to end Rs 3,000 crore worth of trade with the neighbouring country for the “heinous act”.

    “Time has come for India to take strict and swift action against Pakistan which is responsible for the Uri terror attack that left our several soldiers dead,” Amritsar-based trader and President of Federation of Dry Fruit and Haryana Commercial Association, Anil Mehra, told PTI today.

    “The Modi government should suspend all sorts of ties with Pakistan in response to the terror attack unleashed on Indian soil,” Mehra suggested.

    Noting that there is a great amount of anger against this terror attack, which left 18 soldiers dead, Mehra said traders in Punjab are ready to end trade ties with Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah land route.

    “We urge the Centre to even stop trade with Pakistan through Attar-Wagah land route. We are ready for ending trade ties with the neighbouring country, which is responsible for such an attack. For us, the country comes first and then comes trade. We will do something else for our livelihood,” said Mehra.

    Traders asserted that it is Pakistan which is the most dependent on India for import of goods like vegetables, including tomatoes, ginger, garlic and spices, cotton yarn and the like.

    Pakistan exports cement, gypsum and dry fruits to the country via the Attari-Wagah land route.

    “If we today stop sending tomatoes which has been the major export item to Pakistan, they will face immense shortage of this perishable commodity. Moreover, if we do not import dates from Pakistan, they will not find buyers for this,” he added.

    Traders further said Pakistan had not even allowed export of onions to India last year when the country was facing shortage. India then imported onions from Afghanistan.

    Pakistan allows import of 137 items from India through Attari-Wagah.

    As per estimates, the total volume of trade between the two nations via Attari-Wagah is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore per annum.

    India and Pakistan had resumed cross-border movement of trucks in October 2007 after a gap of sixty years from Attari check post at Amritsar in India to Wagah border in Pakistan.

    An integrated check-post was set up on the Attari-Wagah border in 2012 at an estimated cost of Rs 150 crore for smooth movement of traffic.

  • Explosion rattles #Chelsea neighborhood of #Manhattan, NYC

    Explosion rattles #Chelsea neighborhood of #Manhattan, NYC

    A loud explosion has shaken the busy Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, injuring 29 people on Sep 17.

    “Explosion happened at roughly 8.30pm on 23rd street between 6th and 7th avenues,” in Manhattan, police spokesman J. Peter Donald tweeted. “Several injured transported to area hospitals.”

    Speaking to the press late Saturday evening following an explosion on 23rd Street in Manhattan’s Chelsea district, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the “serious” incident had left a “significant” number of injuries.

    “Tonight, New York City experienced a very bad incident,” de Blasio told reporters near the scene in Chelsea. “We have no credible and specific threat at this moment.”

    De Blasio said the blast was an intentional act, but added that at the moment there was no evidence of a connection to terrorism or to a pipe bomb explosion in New Jersey earlier in the day.

    New York Police Commissioner Jimmy O’Neill said the exact cause of the explosion – which left 29 people injured – had not yet been determined and that officers are investigating a second device found a few blocks away.

    The New York Fire Department said that 24 people were taken to hospital. One person is reportedly in critical condition after suffering a puncture wound. The other injuries are said to be just scrapes and bruises.

    An unnamed law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the second device appeared to be a pressure cooker wired to a mobile phone. The officer could not confirm whether the devices are related.

    New York City Police advised motorists in the area that they should “expect extensive traffic delays and emergency personnel in the area of 23rd Street and 7th Avenue” due to police activity there. They also asked the public to avoid the area.

    The blast is believed to have come from a large plastic trash bin on 23rd Street, a major east-west route in the fashionable downtown neighborhood of Chelsea. A gas explosion has been ruled out.

    Earlier in the day the Semper Five charity run in the US state of New Jersey was called off after a pipe bomb exploded close to the route.

    As a precaution, New York Police Department said it had increased security across some parts of the city.

    Police responded to the explosions

    The US presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, responded to news of the explosion.

    “Boy we are living in a time – we better get very tough, folks,” said Trump. “It’s a terrible thing that’s going on in our world, in our country and we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant.”

    Clinton stressed that it is was important to wait for more information on the explosion before making conclusions. “I think it is important to know the facts about any incidents like this,” the democratic candidate said. “That is why it is critical to support the first responders, the investigators who are looking into it, trying to determine what happened.”

  • Uri attack: India to declare Pakistan state sponsor of terror, may launch punitive strikes

    Uri attack: India to declare Pakistan state sponsor of terror, may launch punitive strikes

    Hardening its stance on terrorism in the wake of Sunday’s attack on an Indian Army base in Uri, India is actively considering imposition of material damage on Pakistan. There may even be a punitive strike in response to ceasefire violations and infiltration.

    Based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instructions, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, NSA Ajit Doval and Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh sat down together in South Block to discuss the ground operations that can be launched by the Army Special Forces.

    Highly placed sources in the national security apparatus confirmed that very soon results on ground would be seen and felt but no loud announcements would be made.

    The PM held several meetings in the morning today with the Cabinet Committee for Security attended by all top ministers including home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley and NSA which discussed all diplomatic and offensive options.

    Talking about the measures deliberated upon at the meeting, top sources in the government told India Today that diplomatic talks with Pakistan may now be off the table. There may not be any dossier diplomacy.

    Sources also said PM Modi has given his nod to diplomatically isolate Pakistan at every international grouping in the wake of the Uri attack.

    MoS Defence Subhash Bhamre has attacked Pakistan army and said that it is to be blamed for Uri attacks. He said, “Jaish-e-Mohammad couldn’t have operated without Pakistan army’s support.”

    He said, “We will call for diplomatic isolation of Pakistan on international stage.”

    The action plan is as follows:

    1. Declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terror

    2. Scale down diplomatic ties with Pakistan

    3. Scale down economic ties with Pakistan

    4. Punish Pakistan along the LoC for infiltration and ceasefire violation

    5. There is likely to be bombing of Pakistani posts along the LoC, but not immediately

    The government feels all political parties are united on teaching Pakistan a lesson. Hence, executing the plan to make Pakistan bleed may not be a hindrance, the sources said.

    “DEFENCE, INTERNAL SECURITY TOP PRIORITY”

    Defence and internal security will be top priority of the government. The Pakistani posts that aid infiltration will be punished.

    The Ministry of Home Affairs will strengthen internal security grid across Jammu and Kashmir for operations to be carried out. In fact, the government will launch a simultaneous diplomatic and economic offensive against Pakistan.

    Deliberations also took place on India declaring Pakistan a terror sponsor state. India will work on UN and other world bodies to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terror.

    These options are at a discussion stage. A final decision is likely to be taken very shortly, the sources said.

  • BRICS members to jointly counter IS threat, cyber fraud

    BRICS members to jointly counter IS threat, cyber fraud

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The growing threat from Islamic State and its spread has made the BRICS to work. The member nations have decided to pool in efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism sprouting from the West Asia and North Africa region, exchange best practices in counter-terrorism and join hands on cyber-security and energy security.

    These three issues figured prominently during the meeting of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa high representatives responsible for security in their respective countries. The sixth meeting of this group was chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval who hosted the event.

    “While highlighting the need for resolution of outstanding disputes in the WANA region through dialogue peaceful means and in accordance with international law and the principles of the UN charter, BRICS High Representatives also agreed to pool BRICS’ efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism emanating from the region,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said here. The focus appears to be to work together in battling the ISIS that breeds in Syria and Iraq.

    In the area of cyber security/information security, the representatives agreed to strengthen joint efforts on enhancing cyber security by sharing of information and best practices, combating cybercrimes, improving cooperation between technical and law enforcement agencies, including joint cyber security R&D and capacity building. They encouraged cooperation and exchanging of best practices, expertise, information and knowledge on counterterrorism issues. In this context, they welcomed the first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Counter Terrorism that was held a day before.

    Agreeing to expand BRICS Counter Terrorism cooperation further, they said this would include measures for denying terrorists access to finance and terror-hardware such as equipment, arms and ammunition. They underscored the need for a global legal regime to deal with the global menace of terrorism.

  • Obama talks about American Values on 9/11 anniversary

    Obama talks about American Values on 9/11 anniversary

    WASHINGTON: On the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, US President Barack Obama paid tribute to the victims of 9/11 at the Pentagon in Washington. He called on Americans to protect the ideals that made their country the diverse nation that it is, and said America would never give in to fear.

    “Our diversity, our patchwork heritage, is not a weakness. It is still and always will be one of our greatest strengths,” Obama said at a remembrance service at the Pentagon, one of the sites attacked on 9/11.

    “This is the America that was attacked that September morning. This is the America that we must remain true to.”

    President Barack Obama urged Americans to remain united in the face of terrorist attacks, in a barely-veiled jab at Republican White House nominee Donald Trump 15 years after 9/11.

    “In the face of terrorism, how we respond matters,” Obama said in his weekly radio and online address, delivered on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks in the United States.

    “We cannot give in to those who would divide us. We cannot react in ways that erode the fabric of our society,” he added.

    “Because it’s our diversity, our welcoming of all talent, our treating of everybody fairly no matter their race, gender, ethnicity, or faith, that’s part of what makes our country great. It’s what makes us resilient,” Obama said.

    “And if we stay true to those values, we’ll uphold the legacy of those we?ve lost, and keep our nation strong and free.”

    On several occasions Obama has denounced Trump’s bombastic rhetoric towards Muslims.

    Following the December shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California for example, Trump called for a temporary ban on the entry to the United States of all Muslims.

    Obama was speaking two months before the presidential election in which real estate magnate Trump will face Democrat Hillary Clinton.

    The al-Qaida hijackings of September 11, 2001 – the first foreign attack on the US mainland in nearly two centuries – ruptured a sense of safety and plunged the West into wars still being fought today.

    More than 2,750 people were killed when two passenger jets destroyed the Twin Towers, the symbol of New York’s financial wealth and confidence. Another jet slammed into the Pentagon, and a fourth jet crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after those on board tried to overpower the hijackers.

    Evoking “one of the darkest (days) in our nation’s history,” Obama noted that much had changed over the past 15 years since the attacks.

    “We delivered justice to (al-Qaida leader) Osama bin Laden. We’ve strengthened our homeland security. We’ve prevented attacks. We’ve saved lives,” Obama said.

    But at the same time, he said, referring to attacks in Boston, San Bernardino, and Orlando, Florida, “the terrorist threat has evolved.”

    “So in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and beyond, we’ll stay relentless against terrorists like al-Qaida and [the Islamic State group] ISIS.

    “We will destroy them. And we’ll keep doing everything in our power to protect our homeland,” Obama said.

    Here are ten key points from his speech:

    1. 3,000 beautiful lives

    We will never forget the nearly 3,000 beautiful lives taken from us so cruelly. We honour the courage of those who put themselves in harm’s way to save people we never new.

    2. Families lost a piece of their heart

    15 years may seem like a long time, but for the families that lost a piece of their heart, I understand that it can seem like yesterday.

    3. 9/11 survivors and their kin an inspiration

    The survivors and families of 9/11—your steadfast love and faithfulness has been an inspiration to me and for our entire country.

    4. Justice delivered to Osama bin Laden

    Thanks to our security forces, we gave an appropriate response to al-Qaida. We have dealt devastating blows to al-Qaida. We delivered justice to Osama Bin Laden.

    5. Protecting America

    We resolve to continue doing everything in our power to protect this country that we love.

    6. Defending ideals

    We stay true to the spirit of this day by defending not just our country, but our ideals.

    7. Hateful ideologies leading to violence

    Fifteen years into this fight, the threat has evolved. With our stronger defenses, terrorists often attempt attacks on a smaller but still deadly scale. Hateful ideologies urge people in their own country to commit unspeakable violence. We’ve mourned the loss of innocents from Boston to San Bernandino to Orlando.

    8. Al-Qaida and ISIS can’t defeat us, so they try to stoke fear

    Groups like al-Qaida, like ISIS, know that they will never be able to defeat a nation as great and strong as America. So, instead they try to terrorize, in the hope that they can stoke enough fear that we turn on each other, that we change who we are, how we live.

    9. Our diversity is a strength

    And that’s why it is so important today that we re-affirm our character as a nation: a people drawn from every corner of the world, every colour, every religion, every background – bound by a creed as old a our founders – E Pluribus Unum. Out of many we are one. We know that our diversity, our patchwork heritage, is not a weakness. It is still and always will be one of our greatest strengths. This is the America that was attacked that September morning. This is the America we must stay true to.

    10. An enduring memorial

    The most enduring memorial to those we lost is ensuring the America we continue to be.

  • Pakistan drops charges against 26/11 accused, says no proof

    Pakistan drops charges against 26/11 accused, says no proof

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has dropped charges against an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attack case citing a lack of evidence.

    Local media reported on Thursday that FIA submitted a chargesheet before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) and placed the suspect, Sufiyan Zafar+ , in the second column, which means that no evidence was found against him. But the prosecution told the court that Zafar, a suspected financier of the Mumbai attack, is still being investigated and ordered FIA to submit a separate challan to the court on September 22.

    Zafar was arrested last month on a charge of financing the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in November, 2008. FIA documents revealed that Zafar, a former activist of the now banned Lashkar-e-Taiba+ , had provided financial assistance to other suspects in the case.

    The chargesheet against him mentioned that he had transferred Rs 14,800 into a suspect’s account.

    He was declared a proclaimed offender in 2011 when the ATC indicted seven people, including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a key planner, facilitator and executor of the Mumbai attacks.

    Waseem Ranjha, FIA’s deputy director (legal), informed the court that they were interrogating Zafar in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. (AP)

  • AT LEAST 12 KILLED, 52 WOUNDED IN BLASTS IN PAKISTAN

    AT LEAST 12 KILLED, 52 WOUNDED IN BLASTS IN PAKISTAN

    PESHAWAR (TIP): At least 12 people were killed and 52 wounded when two bomb blasts were detonated outside a district court in northwestern Pakistan on September 2, a rescue official said.

    “So far we recovered 12 bodies of the lawyers, police personnel and civilians. Besides this, we rescued 52 injured, including lawyers, police personnel and civilians from the spot,” Haris Habib, chief rescue officer in the city of Mardan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the blasts took place, told Reuters.

    Earlier, At least one civilian and four suspected militants were killed in a Christian neighbourhood in Pakistan’s Peshawar.

    The Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ur-Ahrar on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Christian neighbourhood in northwestern Pakistan where at least one security guard was killed.

    Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said there were “several deaths” in the attack on the neighbourhood near Warsak Dam, in the Khyber tribal region, 20 km (12 miles) northwest of the city of Peshawar.

    The military said four attackers wearing suicide vests and carrying firearms were killed. (Reuters)

  • Gunmen attack beach restaurant in Somalia’s Mogadishu

    Gunmen attack beach restaurant in Somalia’s Mogadishu

    MOGADISHU (TIP): At least seven people were killed in a bomb and gun attack on a beach restaurant in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, police said on August 25.Shabaab jihadists attacked the Banadir Beach Restaurant in Mogadishu on Thursday, setting off a car bomb before exchanging fire with security forces, an AFP correspondent said. Security forces said they killed two attackers and arrested another after a six-hour operation overnight.

    The al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack through the website of their Andalus radio station. The Banadir Beach Restaurant near Lido beach is a popular eatery frequented by young people and Somali officials.

    As in other recent Shabaab attacks, the violence began with the militants setting off a nearby car bomb before storming the building and engaging in a gunfight with security forces.

  • American University attacked In Kabul, Over 12 Dead, 21 Hurt

    American University attacked In Kabul, Over 12 Dead, 21 Hurt

    Twelve people were killed in an attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, a spokesman for the Chief of Kabul Police told CNN on Thursday, August 25.

    Seven students, three policemen and two security guards were killed in the attack and Thirty-five students and nine police were injured and about 750 students and staff were rescued, Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told the BBC.

    Police searched the American University of Afghanistan early Thursday about 10 hours after the assault began and killed two of the attackers who stormed the campus with guns and explosives.

    The gunmen detonated explosives and fired guns, witnesses said, causing some students and faculty to flee. Others hid inside buildings, a senior State Department official told CNN.

    Police described the attack, which began at about 7 p.m., as “complex”. Special forces were on the scene along with American military advisers, the BBC said.

    One of those trapped inside the university for several hours was Massoud Hossaini, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist, who tweeted his experience and pleaded for help.

    The attack comes two weeks after two university staff – one American, one Australian – were kidnapped by unknown gunmen. Their whereabouts still remain unknown.

    The school opened in 2006. It’s the only private, nonprofit coed university in the country and has about 1,700 full- and part-time students, CNN reported.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, August 25, condemned the bomb attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul that left a security guard dead while injuring over 20 people.

    “We strongly condemn the attack on American University in Kabul,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

    “Condolences to the bereaved families and prayers with the injured.”

  • India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh talks tough at Saarc Home Ministers’ Meeting in Pakistan

    India’s Home Minister Rajnath Singh talks tough at Saarc Home Ministers’ Meeting in Pakistan

    ISLAMABAD (TIP): India’s Home minister Rajnath Singh used the Saarc Home Ministers’ meeting in Pakistan on August 4 to seek the “strongest” action against countries that back terrorism and pilloried those who eulogize terrorists, delivering a terse message that was not covered by the Pakistani media.

    “It also needs to be ensured that terrorism is not glorified and is not patronized by any state. One country’s terrorist cannot be a martyr or freedom fighter for anyone. I also speak for the entire humanity – not just for India or other Saarc members – in urging that under no circumstances should terrorists be eulogized as martyrs. Those who provide support, encouragement, sanctuary, safe haven or any assistance to terrorism or terrorists must be isolated. The strongest possible steps need to be taken not only against terrorists and terrorist organizations, but also those individuals, institutions, organizations or nations that support them. Only this will ensure that the forces engaged in promoting the heinous crime of terrorism against humanity are effectively countered”

    Singh did not name any countries or individuals in his speech at the meeting of Saarc interior ministers but there was little doubt he was referring to Pakistan.

    The remarks were an apparent reference to the stance adopted by Pakistan on slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and the subsequent unrest in Kashmir that left about 50 people dead last month. Islamabad angered New Delhi by referring to Wani as a “Kashmiri leader” and a “martyr” besides describing his death as an “extrajudicial killing”.

    “If we are to rid ourselves of terrorism, we will have to genuinely believe that attempts to distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorists are misleading, and thus, no type of terrorism or support to it can be justified on any grounds whatsoever,” Singh said in his speech.

    “Strongest possible steps need to be taken not only against terrorists and terrorist organizations but also those individuals, institutions, organizations or nations that support them.”

    Singh said mere condemnation of terrorism was not enough and that terrorists must not be eulogized or glorified as “martyrs”. Singh, who returned to India late Thursday afternoon, said he would speak in Parliament about his visit to Pakistan.

    As the Saarc meeting began at Serena Hotel in Islamabad, the frost permeating bilateral ties was plain for all to see. Pakistan’s interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was receiving participants at the entrance of the venue and shaking their hands.

    When Singh and a grim-looking Khan came face-to-face, their hands barely touched before the Indian minister moved into the hall, witnesses said.

    Khan brought up Kashmir in his speech and criticized what he said was the use of “excessive force” to suppress protests in Jammu and Kashmir. He also said there was a difference between fighting for freedom and terrorism.

    “Using torture against innocent children and violence against civilians qualifies as terrorism,” Khan was quoted as saying by the Dawn. Visiting Indian journalists were not allowed to capture the moment as they were kept at a distance by Pakistani officials. This led to an angry exchange between an Indian official and a Pakistani official.

    Both Singh and Khan stayed away from a lunch hosted for the Saarc ministers.

    Pakistani media, including the vibrant private TV news channels, did not cover Singh’s speech. Pakistani officials said there was great anger in the country against the Indian government over the violence in Jammu and Kashmir, and that was why the media “blacked out” Singh.

    “We are respecting public sentiments,” one official said. TV news channel directors said on condition of anonymity they were advised by official quarters not to cover Singh’s speech.

    Pakistan tried to downplay the Saarc meet and only state-run Pakistan Television covered the introductory speeches by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and interior minister Khan.

    But India dismissed the “blackout” controversy over Singh’s speech as “misleading”, suggesting only host country ministers’ remarks are aired.

    “It is the standard Saarc practice that the opening statement by the host country is public and open to the media while the rest of the proceedings are in camera, which allows for a full and frank discussion of issues,” a government source said.

    During his speech, Singh also said terrorism had been greatly amplified by the misuse of digital technology. He asked governments to look at all aspects of cybercrime and called for immediate ratification of the Saarc convention on mutual assistance in criminal matters.

    Prime Minister Sharif also touched on terrorism in his opening address but from a different point of view. Sharif said Pakistan had registered “remarkable gains” against terrorists at the national level through the army’s operation Zarb-e-Azb and the implementation of a National Action Plan.

    “This reflects our government’s determination to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from our soil for good,” he said.

    “Let me reaffirm that Pakistan remains committed to jointly working with the Saarc member states in fighting terrorism, corruption and organized crime among others.”

    Singh’s arrival in Pakistan has coincided with protests at several places by radical organizations and extremist leaders such as Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen head Syed Salahuddin. Some protesters gathered at a distance of about 10 km from the National Assembly, located close to the venue of the Saarc meet.

    Security was high for Singh, who was transported to the hotel in a helicopter.

    Singh also called on the Pakistani premier with other Saarc ministers. The ministers were with Sharif for about 20 minutes and exchanged pleasantries. There were no formal discussions.

  • Pakistani campaign looks to drag Indian celebs into Kashmir row

    Pakistani campaign looks to drag Indian celebs into Kashmir row

    NEW DELHI (TIP): A Pakistani organization has launched a graphic online campaign on the Kashmir issue, attempting to drag Indian celebrities into the controversy by using their morphed images. The campaign comes at a time when senior figures of the Pakistan government continue to spark controversy with their comments on the tension in Kashmir over the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani.

    The campaign claims to be aimed at raising attention to the use of pellet guns against violent protestors by security forces in Kashmir. It portrays a number of Indian celebrities with battered faces, and carries a message questioning their silence on the Kashmir issue.

    Those dragged into the controversy by the campaign include cricketer Virat Kohli and film personalities Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Alia Bhatt, Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan. It also takes a shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cricketer Virat Kohli and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg. The campaign, by the organization called Never Forget Pakistan, however made no bones of its intentions, demanding a plebiscite in Kashmir. (PTI)

  • 15-hour mega jam in UK as France ups border checks

    15-hour mega jam in UK as France ups border checks

    DOVER (TIP): British holidaymakers spent hours sweating in their cars as 15-hour queues snaked back from the port of Dover on July 23 due to heightened entry checks by French border police.

    Stationary vehicles tailed back up to 12 miles (19 kilometres) inland from Dover, on England’s southeastern tip.

    The peak summer holiday getaway season and what Dover port officials said was a lack of French border control staff combined with the increased security to create the mammoth queues.

    Dover is Britain’s main ferry port to continental Europe, with Calais in northeastern France 21 miles (33 kilometres) away across the Channel.

    A multiple sclerosis sufferer travelling to Germany for stem cell treatment was among those forced to spend the night in their vehicles.

    What should have been a straightforward journey to Dover turned into a 20-hour ordeal for 50-year-old Tanya Cudworth, who was travelling to a Frankfurt clinic.

    She told the Press Association news agency that her experience was “absolutely horrendous”.

    “Nineteen hours in the car has obviously aggravated my symptoms,” she said.

    “During the day it was so hot and there was nowhere near enough water and at night… you couldn’t sleep because you had to keep moving forward.

    “We didn’t get any water until 3am and I saw women with babies, young families and people with pets with no water. It’s shocking that more wasn’t done to get it to people.”

    People were advised to bring food and drink supplies, while Sikh humanitarian organisation Khalsa Aid delivered bottles of water and snacks.

    “We met a lot of young families with children, mostly people going on holidays,” said founder Ravi Singh, 46.

    “People didn’t know what was going on. “People were very, very frustrated and pulling their hair out.

    “It was a very miserable day for many people.”

    Dover port authorities said French border control booths had been “seriously understaffed overnight”.

    British border officials were drafted in to help their French colleagues.

    “We recognise the security pressures that French law enforcement organisations are under at Dover,” said a British government spokeswoman.

    “There has been extraordinary disruption in the Dover area today but safety is paramount.”

    Highways England, which runs the road network, said the delays were due to “heightened security checks to keep the travelling public safe following the recent attacks in France”.

    By 5 pm (1600 GMT) Sunday, the local Kent Police force said traffic had returned to normal levels, with delays down to around 30 minutes.

    Xavier Czerwinski, a senior official from the Pas-de-Calais area, said: “The situation is exceptional because it’s the weekend when Britons make the great getaway to the continent.

    “Given the European context and the prolonged state of emergency, officers are obliged to check every vehicle rigorously.” (AP)

  • BSF, PAKISTAN RANGERS HOLD TALKS IN LAHORE TO DISCUSS BORDER ISSUES

    BSF, PAKISTAN RANGERS HOLD TALKS IN LAHORE TO DISCUSS BORDER ISSUES

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Ahead of home minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Pakistan for SAARC interior minister and home minister conference, the Border Security Force and Pak Rangers met in Lahore for three days — from July 25 to July 28 — to discuss several issues related to ceasefire violations, infiltration and drugs smuggling.

    The BSF delegation was led by Director General K K Sharma and the Pakistan delegation was led by Director General Pakistan Rangers (Punjab), Major General Umar Farooq Burki.

    A BSF statement said that “the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and with a spirit of cooperation. It was agreed that since the last such meeting in Delhi in September 2015, there has been a greater adherence to ceasefire along the International border.”

    K K Sharma stressed during the meeting the importance of vigilance against cross border infiltration to prevent terrorist activities and check smuggling in narcotics.

    Both sides discussed ways to strengthen measures to coordinate border patrolling on their respective sides of the border and address each other’s concerns in a time bound manner.

    The Joint Record of Discussion charting a future route map of cooperation between the two border guarding forces was also signed on Thursday.

    BSF has invited DG Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) to visit India for the next round of the bi-annual talks.

    “The talks ended on an optimistic note with both sides agreeing on constant endeavor to maintain peaceful and tranquil borders,” said a BSF statement.

  • France: Truck attacker had accomplices, planned for months

    France: Truck attacker had accomplices, planned for months

    PARIS (TIP): The truck driver who killed 84 people on a Nice beachfront had accomplices and appears to have been plotting his attack for months, the Paris prosecutor said on July 21.

    Prosecutor Francois Molins said five suspects currently in custody are facing preliminary terrorism charges for their alleged roles in helping 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel in the July 14 attack in the southern French city. Molins’ office, which oversees terrorism investigations, opened a judicial inquiry Thursday into a battery of charges for the suspects, including complicity to murder and possessing weapons tied to a terrorist enterprise.

    The suspects are four men — two Franco-Tunisians, a Tunisian and an Albanian — and one woman of dual French-Albanian nationality, Molins said. The driver was a Tunisian man who had been living in Nice for several years.

    People close to Bouhlel said he had shown no signs of radicalization until very recently. But Molins said information from Bouhlel’s phone showed searches and photos that suggested he could have been preparing an attack as far back as 2015.

    The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack, though authorities have said they had not found signs that the extremist group directed it.

    Earlier Thursday, French officials defended the government’s security measures in Nice on the night of the Bastille Day attack, even as the interior minister acknowledged that national police were not, as he had claimed before, stationed at the entrance to closed-off boulevard during the attack.

    Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve’s clarification comes after a newspaper accused French authorities of lacking transparency in their handling of the massacre.

    Cazeneuve said Thursday that only local police, who are more lightly armed, were guarding the entrance to the Promenade des Anglais when Bouhlel drove a 19-metric ton (20-ton) truck onto the sidewalk in Nice before mowing down pedestrians who had gathered to watch a holiday fireworks show.

    Cazeneuve then launched an internal police investigation Thursday into the handling of the Nice attack.

    President Francois Hollande said the conclusions of that investigation will be known next week. He said any police “shortcomings” will be carefully addressed but defended French authorities’ actions.

    “There’s no room for polemics, there’s only room for transparency,” he said. “The necessary, serious preparations had been made for the July 14 festivities.”

    Earlier, the French newspaper Liberation said Cazeneuve lied about the whereabouts of the national police officers and cars in Nice that day and accused authorities of lacking transparency. Using witness statements and photos, Liberation showed Thursday that only one local police car was stationed at the entrance to the Nice boulevard on July 14.

    The paper quoted Nice police officer Yves Bergerat, who said local police forces’ guns and bullets aren’t even equipped “to puncture the tires” let alone shatter the windshield of a truck that size.

    Cazeneuve accused the paper of conspiracy theories and said several “heroic” national police — who killed the attacker after an exchange of fire —were stationed further down the promenade.

    The criticism comes as the National Assembly extended France’s state of emergency for six month. The security measure had been in place since the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 victims and were claimed by the Islamic State group.

  • Truck attacker kills 84 in Nice, France: Drives into Bastille Day crowd, opens fire; shot down by police

    Truck attacker kills 84 in Nice, France: Drives into Bastille Day crowd, opens fire; shot down by police

    NICE (TIP): France was hit again with a “monstrous” terror attack. Scores of people were killed Thursday, July 14 night when a large truck ploughed through a Bastille Day crowd in Nice, France, in what President Francois Hollande called a terror attack. Incidentally, it is the day of the end of the French Revolution in 1789.

    The death toll grew through the night and at the time of writing this report the number of dead had gone up to 84.

    The driver first shot a gun into the crowd before driving two kilometers along the Promenade des Anglais, the main street in Nice, mowing down people who had gathered to watch fireworks, reports say.

    Police shot and killed the driver, said Pierre-Henry Brandet, a spokesman for the French Interior Ministry. Police found firearms, explosives and grenades in the truck, Estrosi said.

    “We cannot deny that it was a terror attack,” Hollande said in a national television address. He added that the choice of the day — Bastille Day, when France celebrates its post-French Revolution republic — was particularly poignant.

    He said that the day is a “symbol of liberty,” and that “human rights are denied by fanatics and France is quite clearly their target.”

    So far, no group has claimed responsibility. Anti-terror prosecutors have taken over the investigation, according to BFMTV, citing the prosecutor’s office.

    Leaders around the world have condemned the brutal incident.

    U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement saying, “We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack.”

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: “Canadians are shocked by tonight’s attack in Nice. Our sympathy is with the victims, and our solidarity with the French people.” Brazilian President Michel Temer tweeted: “It is regrettable that on the day [that] eternalized fraternity as the motto of the French people, an attack destroyed the lives of so many citizens.”

    The United Nations condemned what it termed a “barbaric and cowardly” terror attack in Nice.

    As Asia woke up to the horrific news, India, China and South Korea’s leaders added their voices to the chorus of condemnation.

    “India shares the pain (and) stands firmly with our French sisters (and) brothers in this hour of immense sadness,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

  • ‘Crown Prince of Terror’ – Hamza bin Laden son of Osama bin Laden enters Terrorism

    ‘Crown Prince of Terror’ – Hamza bin Laden son of Osama bin Laden enters Terrorism

    One of the sons of Osama Bin laden, 23-year-old Hamza, is calling for terrorist attacks to avenge his father’s death, according to an audio released by al-Qaida’s media arm.

    In the audio message posted online, The Crown Prince of Terror has threatened revenge against the United States for assassinating his father, the slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and promises to continue the global militant group’s fight against the United States and its allies in the 21-minute speech entitled “We Are All Osama,” according to the SITE Intelligence Group.

    Hamza’s whereabouts are unknown and is thought to have been groomed by his 9/11 mastermind father.

    This is not the first time that Hamza calls for terrorist attacks. Previously, he hashad incited attacks on on London, Washington, Paris and Tel Aviv in an audio message released by al-Qaida.

    Hamza says al-Qaida will continue waging jihad, or holy war, against the US in response to its ‘oppression’ of Muslims.

    ‘If you think that your sinful crime that you committed in Abbottabad has passed without punishment, then you thought wrong,’ he says, referring to his father’s May 2011 death during a US raid at his compound in Afghanistan.

    “We will continue striking you and targeting you in your country and abroad in response to your oppression of the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and the rest of the Muslim lands that did not survive your oppression,” Hamza said.

    “As for the revenge by the Islamic nation for Sheikh Osama, may Allah have mercy on him, it is not revenge for Osama the person but it is revenge for those who defended Islam.”

    Osama bin Laden was killed at his Pakistani hideout by U.S. commandos in 2011 in a major blow to the militant group which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

    Documents recovered from bin Laden’s compound and published by the United States last year alleged that his aides tried to reunite the militant leader with Hamza, who had been held under house arrest in Iran.

    hamzaHamza, now in his mid-twenties, was at his father’s side in Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks and spent time with him in Pakistan after the U.S.-led invasion pushed much of al Qaeda’s senior leadership there, according to the Brookings Institution.

    Introduced by the organization’s new chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in an audio message last year, Hamza provides a younger voice for the group whose aging leaders have struggled to inspire militants around the world galvanized by Islamic State.

  • Bangladeshi dentist, singer and MBA student shown in latest Islamic State video

    Bangladeshi dentist, singer and MBA student shown in latest Islamic State video

    DHAKA (TIP): The three Bangladeshi youths who appeared in the latest ISIS video threatening of more terror attacks around the world have been identified as a dentist, an aspiring singer and an MBA student, officials said here on July 7.

    Model Naila Nayem’s former husband Tushar is one of the three youths who appeared in a so-called Islamic State video released on Wednesday, days after Islamist gunmen stormed a popular restaurant in Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave late on Friday and killed 22 people, most of them foreigners from Italy, Japan, India and the US, officials said.

    Bangladesh army’s late Major Washikur Azad’s son Tushar (with longer beards in the video) married Nayem in 2011 but later they separated, bdnews24.com reported.

    A dentist by profession, Tushar was missing for around two years. He completed secondary education at Adamjee Cantonment Public School and higher secondary at RAJUK Uttara Model College. He lived in Dhaka, the report said.

    The youth appearing in the video with his face covered with Arabic-styled headdress has been identified by the sources as Tawsif Hossain, a former student of the Institute of Business Administration at the Dhaka University, it said. He was a student of the 18th batch of the institute but left the university without completing the course.

    Hossain had been arrested before on charges of his involvement with Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). His family sent him to Austria later on, but his friends there said he was not there, the report said.

    The other youth in the video was identified as Tahmid Rahman Shafi, one of the top 10 finalists of NTV’s reality music show in 1995, it said.

    Shafi, who resigned from Grameenphone in 2011, is a son of late election commissioner Shafiur Rahman, his former colleagues and classmates in Notre Dame College have said.

    He completed BBA at BRAC University and MBA at IBA, sources in the government said. They said he had once requested his father to join Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), but he refused. He had then left with his wife for war-torn Syria, the report said.

    All the three youths spoke in Bangla. Only Shafi translated his speech to English.

    The ISIS video released in a SITE Intelligence site on Tuesday. The message containing threats has gone viral on social media among Bangladeshis still recovering from the shock from the slaughter of 20 hostages and two police officers in Dhaka

    (PTI)

  • One-armed Chechen warlord Akhmed Chataev reportedly behind Ataturk massacre

    One-armed Chechen warlord Akhmed Chataev reportedly behind Ataturk massacre

    ISTANBUL (TIP): Turkish media have named a one-armed Chechen warlord as the mastermind behind the Istanbul Ataturk Airport massacre. The shocking triple suicide bombing on Tuesday, 28th June, claimed the lives of 43 people – 19 of them foreigners – and injuring more than 300.

    The Turkish authorities have pointed the finger at Sunni terrorist group Islamic State (Isis). The attackers have been identified as being Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals.

    No terror group claimed responsibility for the attack so far, as pictures emerged of the bombers wheeling baggage into the airport before they began shooting innocent civilians. Some reports have named one of the men as Osman Vadinov, and he is said to have crossed into Turkey from Syria last year.

    Following the deadly attack, police carried out raids on 16 separate locations in Istanbul and rounded up 13 people suspected of having links to IS (Daesh). According to reports, the manhunt spanned three neighborhoods on the city’s Asian and European sides.

    Turkish police are hoping to track down Akhmed Chataev, an IS commander with at least 130 militants at his disposal as a matter of priority, according to the BBC. Chataev, who is also known by his nom de guerre “Akhmed the one-armed”, is accused by security sources of creating terror cells that can be sent into Russia.

    Istanbul Airport attack
    Istanbul Airport attack

    Chataev, who claims that his right arm was chopped off in prison, is thought to target young men who hold European Union passports for jihad. The Chechen is believed to have fled Russia 12 years ago, and was granted refugee status in Austria.

    He is accused of sending military equipment to the Northern Caucuses for terrorists to use and in 2008, he was arrested in Sweden and spent a year in jail for illegal possession of Kalashnikov guns, explosives and bullets, which were found in his car, the Daily Mail reported. Chataev insisted that he was trapped in a sting operation.

    After relocating again to Ukraine he is then said to have narrowly avoided deportation to Russia because of his Austrian citizenship. A year later he was injured in a battle in the Lopota mountain valley, in Georgia.

  • Police shoot dead masked man who took hostages in German cinema

    Police shoot dead masked man who took hostages in German cinema

    VIERNHEIM, GERMANY (TIP): A masked man took hostages at a cinema in western Germany on June 23 before police stormed the complex and shot him dead, police said.

    No other people were injured, a police spokesman said. The attacker, who carried a rifle or “long gun”, acted alone and appeared to have been a “disturbed man”, the interior minister of Hesse state, Peter Beuth, told the regional parliament.

    Police had not identified the man or established his motive, spokesman Bernd Hochstaedter said, adding that nothing immediately pointed to him having a militant background.

    German television showed pictures of heavily-armed police, wearing helmets and body armour, storming the Kinopolis complex in VIERNHEIM, south of Frankfurt, and a couple fleeing the building. Cinema employee Guri Blakaj said the gunman, who appeared to be aged between 18 and 25 and was about 1.7 metres tall, entered the cinema at around 3pm and told workers to get into an office.

    He then went into a cinema theatre. Blakaj, who said there were about six workers and 30 cinemagoers in the building, then heard shots fired. Police special forces stormed the building and shot him. There was still a heavy police presence at the scene into the late afternoon, and a helicopter circled overhead.

    (Reuters)

  • Five Nepalese injured in Kabul attack brought to Apollo hospital

    Five Nepalese injured in Kabul attack brought to Apollo hospital

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Five Nepalese guards, injured in a suicide attack in Kabul two days ago, are under treatment at the city-based Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, hospital authorities confirmed on June 23.

    “We have received five Nepalese patients who were working as private security guards in Kabul. They are being treated for blast related injuries,” a senior authority of Apollo told IANS.

    The injured Nepalese worked for private security company Sabre International to guard the Canadian embassy in Kabul.

    On Monday, 12 Nepalese security guards were killed in a suicide blast targeting their minibus in Kabul. Nine other people were wounded, including five Nepalese and four Afghans.

    The bodies of the 12 Nepalese guards killed were on Wednesday flown to Nepal in a special chartered flight.

  • Death of a Singer – Guest Comment OP/ED

    Death of a Singer – Guest Comment OP/ED

    Amjad Sabri, a celebrated qawwali singer, is the latest victim of the Taliban’s war on plurality in Pakistan. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has claimed responsibility for Sabri’s murder in Karachi on Wednesday, has said the group considers his music blasphemous. The reason lies in the Taliban’s own ideological moorings. Qawwali is part of a Sufi tradition that binds not only Muslims across South Asia, but people of other faiths too. It is indeed the most vibrant iteration of the subcontinent’s syncretism. The TTP, steeped in an extremist, fundamentalist approach to religion and society, has long made known its displeasure against both music and the Sufis. Being part of the well-known Sabri family tradition, Amjad clearly was a target. His murder is also in line with the new tactical use of violence by the TTP. Of late, the group has turned its focus from large-scale attacks in public places to targeted killings. A day before Sabri was shot, an Ahmadi doctor was killed in Karachi. Last month, a rights activist who was critical of Islamist extremism met the same fate.

    Be it large-scale attacks or targeted killings, the goal remains the same. The TTP wants to inflame sectarian passions that it could exploit to find recruits among the radicalised sections. Such attacks could also trigger fear among the public, particularly among critics of the Taliban brand of Islam, and create security challenges to the authorities. Unlike major attacks in public places, targeted killings are unlikely to attract a massive security crackdown on militants. The TTP may have learnt this lesson after the 2014 Peshawar school massacre, which forced the Pakistani security establishment to turn against the militants. In the ensuing battle the TTP was badly weakened, though its capacity to strike is still formidable. It remains a threat to both the Pakistani state and society. The question is whether the authorities have an effective counter-strategy to stop them. Fighting radicalisation is key to this. But the increasing use of the controversial blasphemy law under the watch of the state betrays reticence, or fear, on the part of politicians and institutions in fighting radicalisation. Even Sabri had faced a blasphemy case two years ago over his songs. Second, Karachi is known for violent crimes. Though there was a government sweep in 2013, militant groups are clearly still active in the city. Third, the Pakistan army’s approach towards the Taliban is complicated. It is fighting the TTP on the Pakistani side, but maintains good ties with the Afghan Taliban on the other side of the border.

    This dual approach is self-defeating in any meaningful fight against extremism.

  • Jaish handler who directed Pathankot attack flees to Afghanistan

    Jaish handler who directed Pathankot attack flees to Afghanistan

    LAHORE (TIP): The Jaish-e-Mohammed leader who gave directions over phone to the terrorists during the attack on the Pathankot airbase has reportedly managed to flee to Afghanistan from Pakistan, an official said.

    “The alleged JeM handler who communicated by telephone more than two-dozen times with the terrorists in Pathankot before they carried out the attack on the airbase on January 2 has managed to cross into Afghan border,” a member of the joint investigation team probing the attack said on Thursday.

    He said the JeM handler, who is in late 20s, was in the tribal area of Pakistan when he communicated about 18 times with the terrorists.

    “The law enforcement agencies tried to trace him (in the tribal belt) but there are reports that he managed to escape to Afghanistan,” he said, without disclosing the JeM leader’s identity.

    Interestingly, during interrogation JeM chief Masood Azhar claimed that the handler of the Pathanokot operation had quit the organisation sometimes ago.

    “Azhar disowns the JeM handler (to prove his innocence),” another source privy to the development told PTI.

    He said the investigation agencies have been under “immense pressure” from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to thoroughly probe the matter and come up with “true facts” of the Pathankot incident.

    Although the counter-terrorism department (CTD) of the Punjab police had registered an FIR against the alleged attackers of the Pathankot airbase and their abettors, not a single person has been charged in this regard.

    The FIR was registered in the CTD police station Gujranwala under sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and sections 7 and 21-I of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

    The FIR says Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval informed authorities that the four attackers had come from Pakistan and had “probably crossed the border adjacent to the Pathankot general area”. The NSA says the terrorists made phone calls to cell phones and belonged to a proscribed organisation.

    Five terrorists and seven Indian army personnel were killed in a gun battle at the Pathankot airbase.

    The attack occurred just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a ‘surprise’ visit to Sharif on his birthday on December 25 and the occasion of his granddaughter’s wedding – a move that appeared to promise better ties between the two countries in future.

    Adviser to the Prime Minister on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz also confirmed that one of the mobile phone numbers linked to those who attacked the airbase had been traced to the JeM headquarters in Bahawalpur, some 400km from Lahore.

    JeM chief Azhar, who has been named by India as the mastermind of the airbase attack, had been under protective custody since January 14.

    Aziz said that Azhar, along with a few other operatives of JeM, had been kept under protective custody and that some of the JeMs premises had been sealed.

    He said action would follow against Azhar and others the moment evidence became available.

    However, despite the Pathankot visit of five-member JIT team of Pak Punjab government headed by CTD additional inspector General of Police (IGP) Tahir Rai, no progress has been made in the investigation so far.

    (PTI)