According to a latest estimate by government and intelligence agencies, nearly 400 to 500 Indians are reportedly attracted towards the ideology of the Islamic State (IS) caliphate and were being tracked.

This group includes youngsters who reportedly make regular efforts online to get in touch with someone from the IS, reported The Times of India. The report also says that apart from discussing the achievements of the Islamic State, they also seek information on how to travel to Irag and Syria. Many seemed to be shifting loyalties to the Islamic State after earlier being attracted to Jaish-e-Mohammad, Indian Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. Some of the youth have also been counselled and let off as no serious charges were found against them.

The men attracted to IS are spread across states like Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi, the report said quoting sources. Also, apart from Facebook and Twitter, they were said to be using web-based calling, messaging and chat apps like Trillion, Live, Tango, KIK, Nimbuzz, Voxer, Talkray, GroupMe, Viber, Hike, KaKao Talk, IM+ to interact.

Meanwhile, Islamic State (ISIS) has recently made a new threat to send its fighters from Pakistan and Bangladesh to carry out ‘guerrilla attacks’ in India.

In a recent interview carried by Dabiq magazine, the ‘amir’ of ISIS fighters in Bangladesh, Shaykh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif has vowed to wipe out Hindus and implement ‘sharia’ law in India and Bangladesh. al-Hanif also revealed the terror group is currently training fighters in Bangladesh and Pakistan to launch attacks on India and is seeking the help of the local mujahideen in the country.

dnaindia.com

The Taliban militants on Tuesday intercepted three long-distance buses along a main road in Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz, kidnapping over 180 passengers besides the drivers, the provincial police department said.

“Over 160 passengers were released. Ten passengers were killed by militants for several reasons while 18 persons still remain in Taliban custody,” it said in a statement issued here at around midday.

The incident occurred roughly at 3:30 a.m. local time in Ali Abad District, outside the provincial capital Kunduz city, according to the statement.

The statement said the police and the local elders have stepped up efforts to free the remaining 18 persons.

Earlier reports said that 16 to 17 persons were killed in the incident.

Taliban militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. They told local media that the killed people were members of Afghan security forces.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since early April when the militant group launched its annual offensive in different areas of the country.

The Taliban have urged civilians to stay away from official gatherings, military convoys and centers regarded as the legitimate targets by militants besides warning people not to support the government.

About 600 civilians were killed and more than 1,340 others wounded in conflict-related violence and Taliban-led militancy in the first quarter of the year, according to UN mission in Afghanistan.

xinhuanet.com

Six armed Taliban were killed and three others were injured in latest clashes by Daesh fighters in Nangarhar province.

The clashes occurred in suburb of Achen district bazaar, while Taliban wanted to attack on houses of Daesh affiliates.

A police commander in the east of the country told BNA, in the clashes, six armed insurgents lost their lives.

He added that Taliban wanted to attack on houses of Daesh affiliates which targeted by Daesh fighters and killed.

It is said that at the end of the conflict, both sides have burned each other’s homes.

bakhtarnews.com.af

China today said it will expand cooperation with India to combat terrorism at the UN and other international fora, a day after President Pranab Mukherjee raised the issue of Beijing blocking New Delhi’s move to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar blacklisted by the UN.

Describing Mukherjee’s four-day state visit as “very successful and fruitful”, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, the two sides have “agreed to carry forward our fine traditions, deepen practical cooperation and elevate bilateral relations.”

“The two sides will expand bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism. Terrorism is our common enemy. We will continue to enhance our counter-terrorism efforts under the UN, the BRICS and other frameworks to jointly maintain regional peace and stability,” Hua said when asked about the outcome of Mukherjee’s visit and whether China supports India’s move in the UN to ban JeM chief Azhar.

During his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday, Mukherjee sought China’s cooperation in international fora like the UN in the fight against terrorism stating that there was “no good or bad terrorists”.

“As for specific outcomes, the two sides agreed to maintain high-level exchanges to better top level design and put in place improved mechanisms,” Hua said.

Hua also said both sides will “properly manage and control our disputes, so that these disputes will not stand in the way of our practical cooperation”.

“We will continue to make full use of the special representatives meeting on border question to maintain border peace and tranquility,” she said.

India and China held 19th round of Special Representatives talks last month to resolve the disputes over 3488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC).

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet and India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during 1962 war.

Hua said China and India will support each other on regional and international occasions by joining their voices together on the international stage.

She spoke of more “balanced” bilateral trade as India has expressed serious concerns over USD 48 billion deficit in about USD 70 billion annual trade in China’s favour.

India is seeking big ticket investments from China in India to generate more trade to offset the trade deficit.

“In practical cooperation we will enhance our cooperation in industrial zones, construction and build more sister cities. The two sides will also enhance cooperation in investment, tourism and more. We will try to move forward our two way trade in more balanced way through cooperation,” she said.

Earlier, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying in his meeting with Mukherjee that “the two sides should appropriately address our differences” and consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communications between the top leaders.

newindianexpress.com

A top commander of the loyalists of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has likely been killed in airstrikes in eastern Nangarhar province.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the airstrikes were carried out in Kot and Achin districts of Nangarhar by the Afghan Air Force.

A statement by MoD said at least 8 militants were killed in the air raids and a top commander of the terror group identified as Mullah Bozorg has likely been killed as well.

The anti-government armed militant groups have not commented regarding the reports so far.

The loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group are actively operating in a number of the remote districts of Nangarhar province where they often launch terrorist attacks.

Achin and Kot districts are in particular the hotbed of the insurgents of ISIS terrorist groups where they initially launched their operations from.

In the meantime, the Afghan National Security Forces have stepped up attacks against the terrorists operating in Nangarhar, including the Taliban and ISIS groups to suppress their insurgency activities.

The US forces also increased their attacks against the loyalists of ISIS group during the recent months which followed amid concerns that the terror group is attempting to establish a regional operational base and consolidate operations with the terror group in Syria and Iraq.

khaama.com

The American airstrike in Baluchistan, Pakistan that targeted and killed Taliban emir Mullah Mansour was unprecedented as the US military and CIA have not launched an attack in the province since the drone program began in 2004. All but one of the 392 strikes recorded by The Long War Journal occurred in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (the other strike occurred on the border of the FATA). But Baluchistan province, which has been left alone until last weekend, has long been a major hub for the Afghan Taliban, replete with training camps, madrassa, mosques, and command and control centers.

The US focused its drone campaign in Pakistan’s FATA, primarily against al Qaeda, the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and allied groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. However the Haqqani Network, a dangerous Afghan Taliban subgroup that is closely allied with al Qaeda, was also the target of numerous drone strikes; 93, or nearly 24 percent of the strikes, hit Haqqani Network assets.

While the US honed in on jihadist groups operating in the FATA, the Taliban was left to operate in Baluchistan province without any repercussions. Baluchistan borders the Afghan provinces of Paktika, Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand, and Nimroz, all major areas of Taliban operations and its traditional strongholds.

While Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, is well known for its role as a Taliban haven — the Taliban’s Rahbari Shura, or central leadership council, is also called the Quetta Shura — a host of cities and towns such as Zhob, Killi Nalai, Qila Saifullah, Loralai, Chaman, Pishin, Kuchlak, Ahmad Wal, Dalbandin, Chagai, and Girdi Jangal host the Taliban and provide vital support for the group’s activities in Afghanistan.

Well-developed Taliban networks in these cities and towns play a vital role in ensuring the group can recruit, train, and arm new fighters; provide safe areas for existing Taliban units to regroup as well as give their fighters and commanders an opportunity to visit their families; and Taliban leaders a chance to regroup and organize new offensives. Taliban recruiters, fundraisers, financiers, training camp commanders, and ideologues operate unmolested, and often with the support of Pakistan’s military and Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.

After the US invasion of Afghanistan following al Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks in New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania, and the rout of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” the Taliban quickly regrouped and reestablished networks used by the Mujahideen during the Soviet occupation. Taliban training centers were immediately opened in Dalbadin, Chagai, Qila Saifullah, Kucklak, Loralai, and Quetta, Ahmed Rashid wrote in Descent into Chaos.

Towns such as Zhob and Killi Nalai became major centers for Taliban activity. In June 2007, after British special operations forces killed Mullah Dadullah Akhund, the Taliban’s military emir, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the pro-Taliban Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam political party organized the ‘Martyred Mullah Dadullah Conference’ at the Shamsul Uloom Madrassa in Killi Nalai. More than 10,000 Taliban supporters attended the conference. The audience chanted “Long live Mullah Omar, Long Live Osama bin Laden and the Taliban movement” during the conference. Mullah Mansour Dadullah, Lang’s brother, addressed the gathering via teleconference.

Mullah Mansour Dadullah was captured by Pakistani security forces during a raid in Zhob in early 2008. While this was hailed as Pakistani cooperation with the Taliban, Mansour Dadullah was ejected from the Taliban by his emir, Mullah Omar, in late 2007 because he “carried out activities which were against the rules of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” So in effect, the Pakistani military and intelligence removed a Taliban commander who no longer was part of the group from the playing field.

Zhob has been a key hub of Taliban support. In 2003, Imam Maulana Hayee ran a madrassa that trained what Der Spiegel described as a “soldiers of faith,” while at the home of Mauli Allah Dad Kahar, a “friend” of the founder and first emir of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, “the recruits of Allah are dispatched to the various fronts of Islam.”

“Islamabad looks the other way,” Der Spiegel noted.

The border towns of Chaman and Girdi Jangal serve as key forward command and control centers for the Taliban. Two of the Taliban’s four regional military shuras are named after the towns (three of the four regional military commands are based in Baluchistan, the third being based in Quetta, while the fourth is in Peshawar).

Chaman and Girdi Jangal also serve as transit points into Afghanistan. Additionally, Girdi Jangal hosts an Afghan refugee camp that is fertile recruiting ground, and borders the Afghan town of Baramchah, which is also known to host Taliban and al Qaeda training centers. The Taliban has run its shadow government for Kandahar province from Chaman while the town has served as an important finacial hub. The US Treasury Department has designated a Taliban hawala, or money exchange, and its owner as well as two financiers who operate from Chaman as terrorists or terrorist entities.

The city of Kuchlak “functions as a haven and command center for the Taliban,” CBS News reported in 2013. In 2007, the Taliban openly flew their white banner in the city. Senior Taliban leaders have been spotted in Kuchlak. In January 2016, Maulvi Muhammad Alam, a Taliban commander in Afghanistan’s Zabul province, was gunned down by rivals, while Mullah Mansour, the Taliban emir who was killed in the Baluchistan town of Ahmad Wal, is said to have been appointed by Taliban leaders who met in Kuchlak.

In addition to the Afghan Taliban, terrorist groups such as the Movement for the Taliban in Baluchistan, al Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi also operate in the province. The Pakistani military targets these groups as they wage war against the state. The Movement for the Taliban in Baluchistan, al Qaeda, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are sheltered and supported by the Afghan Taliban, which is ignored by Pakistan’s intelligence service and the military.

It is unclear if the US military will continue to target the Taliban’s top leaders in Baluchistan, or if the the May 21 strike that killed Mullah Mansour was a rare target of opportunity as well as a pointed message to the Taliban. President Obama has said he hopes Mansour’s death will bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. If the US does decide to step up attacks against the Taliban in Baluchistan, there will be no shortage of targets.

longwarjournal.org/

With the aim to spread its terror network deep in India, Janood-al-Khilafa-e-Hind (JKH) – the India wing of the Islamic State – had planned to target Bollywood stars for extortion.

According to a report in Indian Express, faced with the question of funding terror activities, ISIS discussed a plan to target Bollywood stars in a September 2015 meeting of members of the Lucknow module.

Two alleged top commanders of the module busted by security agencies earlier this year, Rizwan Nawazuddin alias Khalid and Muddabir Sheikh, have revealed this in an interrogation. Rizwan, who is just 19, is the ‘head of the operational wing’ of ISIS in India.

However, the plan to target Bollywood never came to fruition because security agencies which had been monitoring JKH’s online activities carried out mass arrests.

Rizwan and his associates had also planned to carry out lone-wolf attacks against top Sangh Parivar leaders like RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and VHP leaders Pravin Togadia and Ashok Singhal (since deceased).

The NIA had arrested 23 alleged IS sympathisers in a joint operation with six state counter-terrorism agencies earlier this year.

Rizwan’s two uncles are in the Indian army, but the 19-year-old revealed to intelligence agencies that he had been drawn to extremism after ‘surfing the internet to kill time’. He then planned to blow up some army bases in Meerut, but the plan never saw light of day.

The JKH module’s current handler, Shafi Armar alias Yusuf, routed Rs 6 lakhs through hawala channels in Mumbai to one Muddabir Sheikh, a techie who had been jobless since September last year. Muddabir reportedly got in touch with Yusuf through encrypted chatting apps Trillian and Sureshot. Yusuf allegedly made him the Amir (chief) of the Indian module, in October last year.

In the Lucknow meeting of JKH, training locations were also discussed. The module had considered the jungles of Panvel on the Mumbai outskirts, and the forests of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

deccanchronicle.com

Slain Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour used a Pakistani passport in a false name to make dozens of foreign trips over a 10-year period, mainly to the United Arab Emirates, officials told Agence France-Presse Tuesday.

The relevation casts further light on the degree of assistance likely given by Islamabad to him and other senior Taliban figures as they orchestrated a deadly insurgency against Afghan and US-led troops.

After years of denial, Pakistan in March openly admitted that it was providing shelter to Afghan Taliban forced to flee their own country after they were toppled from power in 2001.

Mansour, who was killed in a US drone strike deep inside Pakistani territory on Saturday along with a driver, was travelling with a passport and ID card bearing the name “Muhammad Wali.”

Three investigation officials said Mansour used the passport for extensive travel, mainly between the southern Pakistani city of Karachi and Dubai in the UAE but also to Iran.

He traveled 37 times, mostly to Dubai from Karachi, during the last 10 years, a senior investigating official told AFP.

The official said Mansour first used the passport to travel to Dubai from Karachi in March 2006.

A second official confirmed the trips, adding: “He also traveled to Dubai from Quetta (in southwest Pakistan) on July 16, 2015.”

The official said he last left for Iran on April 25 and returned on the morning of May 21, the day he fell victim to the drone strike.

An immigration official on Sunday told AFP that “Wali” had changed euros to Pakistani rupees after crossing the border to the town of Taftan.

Iran has denied Mansour entered and left on those dates.

“We are now trying to ascertain how he managed to secure a Pakistani identity card and passport and who he was visiting in Dubai,” a third investigating official said.

The Taliban maintain a “political office” in Qatar and have also been known to host meetings in Dubai.

Mansour was appointed head of the Taliban in July 2015. His death has been confirmed by US President Barack Obama.

The group have not publicly confirmed the killing but since Sunday have been trying to find a successor, according to Taliban sources.

manilatimes.net

At least five navy officers were given death sentences by a Pakistani Navy court for planning to hijack a warship and attack one of the US Navy’s refuel ships in 2014.

Sub-Lieutenant Hammad Ahmed and four other officials were convicted of the naval dockyard attack that took place on September 6, 2014, Pakistani news outlet Dawn online quoted retired Major Saeed Ahmed, father of Ahmed, as saying.

They were charged with having links with the Islamic State (IS) group, mutiny, hatching a conspiracy and carrying weapons to the Karachi dockyard, Saeed said.

Saeed claimed that the naval authorities did not provide his son the right to a fair trial.

“I wrote a letter to the Judge Advocate General (JAG) of the navy on August 15, 2015, asking him to provide the opportunity of a defence counsel to my son,” Saeed said.

“The navy JAG on September 21 replied that the option of defence counsel would be available at the time of trial.”

Saeed was waiting for the commencement of the trial but was recently informed that his son was shifted to the Karachi Central Prison.

He came to know about the capital punishment when he met his son and the other four officials — Irfanullah, Muhammad Hammad, Arsalan Nazeer and Hashim Naseer — in the prison.

There was no official word by the Pakistan Navy, he said.

“My son told me that a naval court had awarded death penalty to them after a secret trial,” Saeed claimed.

He claimed that the five were made scapegoats as this was not the first time when such security lapses came to light.

hindustantimes.com

Senior Afghan Taliban figures were meeting on Monday to agree on a successor to Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the leader of the militant movement who U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed had been killed in an American air strike at the weekend

The Taliban have so far made no official statement on the fate of Mansour, who assumed the leadership only last year.

But senior members have confirmed that their main shura, or leadership council, has been meeting to discuss the succession in a bid to prevent factional splits from fragmenting the movement.

Obama, on a three-day visit to Vietnam, reiterated support for the Western-backed government in Kabul and Afghan security forces, and called on the Taliban to join stalled peace talks.

The president authorized the drone strike that killed Mansour in a remote region just on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan on Saturday, and Afghan authorities have said the mission was successful.

But U.S. officials held back from confirming that the Taliban leader had been killed in the attack until intelligence had been fully assessed.

huffingtonpost.com