Ghani said on Thursday, in his Ramazan message to the nation, that the Afghan government wants peace but that the Taliban’s war on the country will be responded to with war.

Ghani also called on security forces to ramp up efforts to secure the country so that the public can engage in their daily prayers and routines in peace.

Ghani’s statement appears to be in response to the Taliban’s rejection of a ceasefire request.

However, Ghani continues to call for peace and called on insurgents to join the process. “They don’t have any way to escape the prayers of upset mothers and orphans, and they cannot get rid of the anger of our devoted and patriotic soldiers who are ever ready for tackling insurgents,” said Ghani.

Ghani reiterated that war has been inflicted on Afghanistan and its continuation will increase poverty in the country.

He hinted at a charity fund for bereaved families of Afghan security forces and said it will collect donations during Ramazan. “At least Afs90 million has been prepared to kick-start the process of collecting funds for bereaved families of security troops. This will come into effect during Ramazan,” he said.
Critics believe that the move by the president is crucial in supporting the morale of the security forces.

Assadullah Walwaji, who participated in talks with the Taliban in Dubai, said this is war; the government should find those who don’t want peace, and it should turn against them and tackle them.

Civil servants, students and teachers prevented from fasting and restaurants ordered to remain open in Xinjiang region. China has banned civil servants, students and teachers in its mainly Muslim Xinjiang region from fasting during Ramadan and ordered restaurants to stay open.

Most Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk during the holy month, which began on Thursday, but China’s ruling Communist party is officially atheist and for years has restricted the practice in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uighur minority.

“Food service workplaces will operate normal hours during Ramadan,” said a notice posted last week on the website of the state Food and Drug Administration in Xinjiang’s Jinghe county.

Officials in the region’s Bole county were told: “During Ramadan do not engage in fasting, vigils or other religious activities,” according to a local government website report of a meeting this week.

Each year, the authority’s attempt to ban fasting among Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang receives widespread criticism from rights groups. Uighur rights groups say China’s restrictions on Islam in Xinjiang have added to ethnic tensions in the region, where clashes have killed hundreds in recent years.

China says it faces a “terrorist threat” in Xinjiang, with officials blaming “religious extremism” for the growing violence.

“China’s goal in prohibiting fasting is to forcibly move Uighurs away from their Muslim culture during Ramadan,” said Dilxat Rexit, a spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress.

“Policies that prohibit religious fasting is a provocation and will only lead to instability and conflict.”

As in previous years, school children were included in directives limiting Ramadan fasting and other religious observances.

The education bureau of Tarbaghatay city, known as Tacheng in Chinese, this month ordered schools to communicate to students that “during Ramadan, ethnic minority students do not fast, do not enter mosques … and do not attend religious activities”.Similar orders were posted on the websites of other Xinjiang education bureaus and schools.

Officials in the region’s Qiemo county this week met local religious leaders to inform them there would be increased inspections during Ramadan in order to “maintain social stability”, the county’s official website said.

Ahead of the holy month, one village in Yili, near the border with Kazakhstan, said mosques must check the identification cards of anyone who comes to pray during Ramadan, according to a notice on the government’s website.

The Bole county government said that Mehmet Talip, a 90-year-old Uighur Communist Party member, had promised to avoid fasting and vowed to “not enter a mosque in order to consciously resist religious and superstitious ideas”.

The Intelligence Bureau has reportedly warned of a possible strike in India by extremist group Islamist State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The attack is specifically targeting the Turkish nationals and interests in the national capital, reports said.

NewsX has accessed the Intelligence Bureau alert to the Delhi Police which states, “According to information, consequent upon the recent developments in Syria, it is anticipated there may be an increased threat to Turkish Missions/interests in Delhi by terrorist organization ISIL.”

IB in its warning to the security agencies including those of securing the airports have said that the security agencies need to take all precautionary steps to spoil any such attempts.

Issued on June 1, the warning has come in the backdrop of statistics that show only a small number of youths from the minority community have been radicalized by ISIS and there is no influence of the group directly in India.

While some reports suggest that this is the first time that the Indian Intelligence Agencies have indicated that ISIS has capability to hit in India, the IB in a recent report disclosed that apart from four Kalyan boys, there were seven others from India who were in the war zone fighting for the jihadi group in Iraq and Syria. It also identified five Indians who have been killed at the time of fighting the ‘holy war’ to establish a Caliphate.

Speaking on the latest waning issued by IB regarding ISIS threat to India, former Home Secretary and now a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member said, “ISIS is not only a threat to Turkish interests but also to India and Indian interests,” adding that the government must take ISIS threat very seriously.

Chief Executive Officer Dr. Abdullah Abdullah warned on Wednesday that the Afghan national security forces will continue to target senior leaders of the anti-government armed militants.

During a meeting with the commander of the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission, Gen. John Campbell, Abdullah said targeting the top commanders and leaders of the anti-government armed militants will have a positive impact over security situation.

Abdullah also added that the Afghan security forces will continue to boost operations to target the senior militant leaders, according to a statement by the office of the CEO.

He also added that the intelligence sharing among the Afghan security institutions have increased and efforts have been put in place to further improve the intelligence sharing so that the terrorist plots by the militants are thwarted on time.

Abdullah also urged Gen. Campbell to assist Afghan forces in gathering intelligence information and boost the capabilities of the Afghan Air Force.

In the meantime, Gen. Campbell said NATO is engaged in a number of advisory and training programs with the Afghan security forces.

Gen. Campbell also added that the Afghan security forces have thwarted several attack plots by the militants are currently leading military operations across the country.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group is likely to continue looking for ways to expand their activities in Afghanistan.

According to a new report by Pentagon, evidence of limited recruiting efforts by the ISIS have been seen by the US forces in Afghanistan.

The report released on Tuesday further added that the US forces have noted a few militants re-branding themselves, likely in an attempt to draw media attention, greater resources and more recruits.

“ISIL’s presence and influence in Afghanistan remains in the initial exploratory phase,” the report said.

It also added that “The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has publicly expressed support for ISIL as the leader of the global jihad; however, the Taliban has declared that it will not allow ISIL in Afghanistan.”

The report by Pentagon was released on the same day the Taliban leadership released a letter which was sent to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The group in its letter to al-Baghdadi, warned that if Islamic State militants want to fight in Afghanistan, it must be under the Taliban. Fighting broke out this week in the eastern province Nangahar between Taliban fighters and militants affiliated with the Islamic State.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from a brotherhood point of religion wants your goodness and has no intention of interfering in your affairs,” the letter reads.

It also added “Reciprocally, we hope and expect the same from you.”

This comes as the Minister of Interior Noor-ul-Haq Ulomi said Saturday that the militants who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group, are seeking financial support to maintain their operations in the country.

The Afghan national security advisor Hanif Atmar also said last month that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group is looking to have access to drugs market by starting operations in Afghanistan.

Speaking to lawmakers in the upper house of the parliament – Meshrano Jirga, Atmar, said the terror group wants to finance the group’s activities by having access to drugs market.

Atmar also warned that the terror group wants to expand its operations not only in Afghanistan but the whole region and wants infiltrate in Central Asian countries.

He said the ISIS group is led by a Pakistani militant and the group recognizes no boundaries since they have already declared the regional countries in their map as Khurasan province.

In spite of the mounting resistance from the Iraqi Armed forces and a series of over 2,500 US-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) since August 2014, one year on from their inception, the group does not appear to be losing momentum. To date, IS controls over one third of Syria, and they threaten to usurp its largest city, Aleppo.

As for their activity in Iraq, IS’ victory in the Battle of Ramadi has increased the legitimacy of their claim as the next Islamic Caliphate in the eyes of their supporters. Thus far, IS has managed to attract over 20,000 foreign fighters from over 90 different countries, including 17-year-old West Yorkshireman and suicide bomber Talha Asmal – the latest victim in a long line of radicalised Muslim youths to give his life for the creation of the Islamic State.

Nonetheless, IS’ presence in Iraq and the Levant should not overshadow the implications of their expansion into South Asia.

As Quilliam illustrate in our latest report, in addition to Iraq and the Levant, it has been made quite clear that Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of Western India are also targets of IS’ proclaimed Caliphate. In January 2015, a group of former Pakistani Taliban Commanders pledged allegiance to Islamic State and they established IS’ leadership council in Khorasan Province (ISKP): an historic region that encompasses much of Iran, Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan. Since then, ISKP has claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks within the region, including the bombing of a bank in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, that killed 35 civilians in April of this year.

However, in order to fully understand the magnitude of the threat that IS poses to the stability of this region, it is important to look beyond the actions that are carried out by IS themselves, and to appreciate the consequences of their role as an ideological destabiliser in South Asia.

IS’ takfiri ideology has not only appealed to disaffected members of traditionally sectarian groups such as Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, but it has also inspired civilians to pledge allegiance to the group, despite their Deobandi origins. Evidence of the support that IS has received from the aforementioned sectarian groups is made clear in a letter that was written by a leader from the Afghan Taliban, Alhaj Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, to IS’ spiritual leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Interestingly, this wave of support has been motivated by their highly successful social media campaigns, the $400 per month salary that IS offers its fighters, and the establishment of terrorist training camps and recruitment centres for the war in Syria. Quilliam has identified three noteworthy implications for the stability of South Asia that are likely to materialise if IS continue to assert themselves within this region.

The first, and perhaps most obvious implication of IS’ ideological success within the region, is that they will be able to establish a platform of loyal Jihadis and proxy forces to form the basis of a more sophisticated fighting force. This force can then be mobilised when IS shift their focus away from Iraq and the Levant, and toward the annexation of Khorasan and the wider South Asian landscape into their Islamic Caliphate.

The second major implication is derived from the response of other incumbent militant organisations to IS’ encroachment into the region. It is important to remember that Jihadist organisations are not monolithic, and that there are subtle theological, political, and strategic differences between each one of the 69 militant Islamist groups that operate within South Asia. As such, IS’ growing presence has elicited a strong backlash from many of these organisations, and in May of this year, 15 IS fighters and 12 Taliban militants may have been killed over declarations of allegiance to al-Baghdadi.

Although this infighting could be framed as beneficial to the citizens of the affected regions because it turns the extremists attention onto one another, and away from the public; infrastructural damage, extortion, humanitarian costs, and a plethora of associated incidences of collateral damage undermine this point.

The third and final implication of IS as an ideological destabiliser is related to the way that IS has motivated existing militant groups to enhance their presence through either expansion, or the decision to engage in, increasingly violent attacks. In 2014, Al Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al Zawahiri, established a new branch of the organisation in response to IS’ growing influence. This branch is called Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), and in May 2015, they claimed responsibility for the vicious murders of secular bloggers in both Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In conclusion, although the group has not yet established a coordinated fighting force within the region, as IS continue to pursue their strategy of ‘expansion and consolidation’ within South Asia it is important that the implications of their role as an ideological destabiliser do not go overlooked.

Police at a train station in the northwestern Chinese city of Xian shot and wounded an ethnic Uighur man who had charged into a ticket line holding a brick, police said on Wednesday, adding the man later died of his injuries.

Public sensitivity to security at China’s railway stations has heightened following a series of incidents including a mass stabbing at a train station last year in the southwestern city of Kunming that left 31 dead.

Authorities said that was carried out by separatist militants from the far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people.

In a brief statement on its official microblog, the Xian railway police said that at about 6 a.m. a Uighur man holding a brick “charged into” a line of people waiting to buy tickets.

“On duty police quickly got to the scene to stop [him], and after repeated warnings were ignored opened fire and injured [him],” it said.

The man died of his wounds in hospital, police said, adding the situation had already returned to normal at the station.

The statement provided no other details.