A premature Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion killed or wounded at least 7 Pakistani militants in Kunar province of Afghanistan, like reported by khaama.com.

The 201st Silab Corps in a statement said an Improvised Explosive Device went off prematurely in Khas Kunar district of Kunar province.

The statement further added that explosion killed 4 Pakistani militants and wounded 3 others.

Furthermore, the 201st Silab Corps said preliminary reports indicate the explosion killed or wounded Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) militants.

The anti-government armed elements including Taliban have not commented regarding the incident so far.

The Afghan Special Forces stormed three Taliban compounds in southern Helmand province, the Special Operations Corps said according to khaama.com.

According to a statement released by Special Operations Corps, the Special Forces stormed the Taliban compounds in Kajaki district late on Tuesday night.

The statement further added that the Special Forces destroyed the three compounds during the operation.

Furthermore, the Special Forces confiscated 2 weapons, 3 radio sets, 3 computers, a Pakistani national identity card, a stamp, 4 motorycles, 2 printers, a photocopy machine and some other materials.

The Special Forces also arrested 4 suspected militants during the same operation, the Special Operations Corps added.

The Taliban group has not commented regarding the operation so far.

Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has, in a video released by the global terror group, called for “Mujahideen in Kashmir” to inflict “unrelenting blows” on the Indian Army and the government in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Foundation for Defence of Democracies” (FDD) Long War Journal.

Zawahiri has also brought to light Pakistan’s involvement in fuellng cross-border terrorism in Kashmir in his message titled “Don’t Forget Kashmir,” released by As Shabab.

Thomas Joscelyn, in his article for the journal, wrote that Al Qaeda has been grooming an upstart group to wage jihad against the Indian forces in Kashmir.

“(I am)of the view that the Mujahideen in Kashmir – at this stage at least- should single-mindedly focus on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian Army and government, so as to bleed the Indian economy and make India suffer sustained losses in manpower and equipment,” Zawahiri, dressed in white, says.

While Zawahiri does not mention Zakir Musa, the terrorist killed in May by security forces in Kashmir, his photo flashes on the screen as Zawahiri speaks on Kashmir. Zakir Musa was the founder of the Indian cell of the Al Qaeda, titled “Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind”.

Zawahiri called both the Pakistani Army and government as “toadies of America” in his message.

With an assault rifle on his right and a Quran to his left, Zawahiri compares the policy of Pakistan on Kashmir to that of the Taliban and migrant terrorists.

He claimed that Pakistan prevented the “Arab Mujahideen” from “heading to Kashmir after expelling the Russians from Afghanistan.”

“All the Pakistani Army and government are interested in is exploiting the mujahideen for specific political objectives, only to dump or persecute them later,” Zawahiri claimed.

Pakistan’s “conflict with India is essentially a secular rivalry over borders managed by the American intelligence,” said the Qaeda chief.

Zawahiri also claimed that the “fight in Kashmir” is not a separate conflict but instead is part of the worldwide Muslim community’s “jihad against a vast array of forces”. He called on “unnamed” scholars to spread this point.

“You (the scholars) must clearly state that supporting the jihad in Kashmir, the Philippines, Chechnya, Central Asia, Iraq, Syria, the Arabian Peninsula, Somalia, the Islamic Maghreb and Turkistan is an individual obligation on all Muslims, until sufficient strength is achieved to expel the disbelieving occupier from Muslim lands,” he said.

Zawahiri also told terrorists not to target “mosques, markets, and gathering places of Muslims” in Kashmir.

Intelligence agencies believe the Qaeda video is prompted by the government’s success in checking terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir and isolating separatists.

“There has been a fall in terror attacks and a rise in the killing of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. The video is an attempt to motivate terror cadre,” a home ministry official said.

The Afghan Special Forces killed 5 Taliban militants including an Uzbek national in northern Faryab province, like reported by khaama.com.

The 209th Shaheen Corps in a statement said the Special Forces conducted the raid in Tukli area of Khwaja Namoosi district.

The statement further added that the Special Forces killed 5 Taliban militants including an Uzbek national who was sighting in Taliban ranks.

Furthermore, the 209th Shaheen Corps said the Special Forces also arrested a key Taliban commander Nabiullah during the same operation.

The Special Forces confiscated three weapons during the operation, the 209th Shaheen Corps added.

The Taliban group has not commented regarding the operation so far.

The Taliban militants shelled a local market in northern Faryab province killing or wounding at least 40 civilians, like reported by khaama.com.

The 209th Shaheen Corps in a statement said the Taliban militants shelled Khwaja Shabz Posh market earlier today.

The statement further added that the Taliban militants fired multiple rounds of mortars and rockets on market.

Furthermore, the 209th Shaheen Corps said the shelling killed 4 civilians and wounded 36 others including children.

The 209th Shaheen Corps also added that the shelling started at 6:30 am local time when the residents of the district had visited the market make purchases from ‘Friday Bazar’.

China’s Ministry of Transport has increased the security alert level for Chinese ships sailing through the Malacca Strait to level three, effective from July 2.

The level three ship navigation security alert is the highest level of its kind, and it is usually activated when there is the highest risk of attack.

The ministry only raised a level two security alert in the Middle East after several tankers were attacked off Fujairah in May.

A source in a state-run shipping company told that the alert was issued as the ministry believes an Indonesian Islamic armed group is planning attacks on Chinese ships.

“We do not currently believe this is a necessary requirement for other vessels and do not have any evidence of a specified threat to Chinese vessels,” Maritime security risk management specialist Dryad Global said in an update.

The ministry has requested all the relevant shipping companies to increase their security levels and will provide security information to Chinese ships in the region.

The U.S. forces carried out a series of airstrikes in Wardak and Ghazni provinces killing at least 28 Taliban militants, like reported by khaama.com.

The 203rd Thunder Corps in a statement said Wednesday the U.S. forces conducted airstrikes in Maidan Shar, Jalrez adn Nerkh districts of Maidan Wardak province in the past 24 hours.

The statement further added that the airstrikes killed 28 Taliban militants in the three districts.

Furthermore, the U.S. forces conducted airstrikes in Andar district of Ghani province and killed 7 Taliban militants.

The 203rd Thunder Corps also added that the airstrikes were carried out in Rahim Khel area of Andar district.

Meanwhile, the 203rd Thunder Corps said the airstrikes also destroyed a vehicle belonging to Taliban militants.

The Afghan Special Forces killed the shadow district Chief of Taliban for Andkhoi district of Faryab province, like reported by khaama.com.

The 209th Shaheen Corps said in a statement that the Special Forces killed Mullah Raz Mohammad, the shadow district Chief of Taliban for Andkhoi district.

The statement further added that the Special Forces killed Mullah Raz Mohammad during an operation in Jat Kok Village.

Furthermore, the Special Forces killed 9 fighters of Raz Mohammad during the same operation.

The Afghan forces killed 31 Taliban militants including 8 key commanders of the group during the operations in Faryab province, like reported by khaama.com.

The 209th Shaheen Corps in a statement said the security forces killed the militants in Nazirabad and Hazar Qala villages of Pashtun Kot district.

Furthermore, the security forces wounded 19 Taliban militants during the same operations.

The Air Forces also supported the ground troops during the operations and carried out multiple airstrikes targeting the Taliban fighting positions and their hideouts.

Meanwhile, the 209th Shaheen Corps said airstrikes also destroyed a weapons depot of the militants, 15 motorcycles and various heavy and small arms.

According to 209th Shaheen Corps, a soldier of the Afghan National Police also his life in the operation and 3 others sustained injuries.

A powerful bomb blast rocked the Afghan capital early Monday, rattling windows, sending smoke billowing from Kabul’s downtown area and wounding at least 65 people, including nine children hurt by flying glass, officials and a medic said according to stripes.com.

The explosion occurred as the streets in the capital were packed with morning commuters. Officials and police were at the scene of the blast and few details were available. Ambulance sirens screamed throughout the downtown area as they rushed to the scene.

Mohammad Karim, a police official in the area of the attack, said a car bomb exploded outside a Defense Ministry building. Militants then ran into a nearby high-rise located in a crowded market and began firing down on the ministry. Police and special Afghan security forces were swarming the area and cordoned it off.

A restaurant owner in the area, Mohammad Farooq, said the explosion blew out the windows of a nearby private school, wounding several students.

Kabul’s chief police spokesman, Firdous Faramaz, confirmed the explosion but did not provide details on the target or the type of explosive device. Health Ministry official Wahid Mayer said at least 65 were wounded. He said it is difficult to reach the area because of the ongoing gunbattle between police and militants.

The capital has been relatively quiet in recent months following a spate of bombings, many claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate. The Taliban, who have also carried out attacks in Kabul, said they had no claim of responsibility for Monday’s blast. In recent months most Taliban attacks have targeted Afghan and U.S. military installations or convoys.

The explosion came as the latest round of talks between the United States and the Taliban moves into a third day in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar, where the militant group maintains a political office.

The Taliban said their focus during the talks is on getting an announcement of a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan. The announcement is likely to be accompanied by a Taliban promise to hold intra-Afghan talks and agree to an eventual cease-fire.

Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, told The Associated Press on Monday that “our main concern is to make sure a timeline for troop pullout is announced.”

Taliban officials have previously told the AP they want all foreign troops withdrawn within six months, while Washington has pushed for a longer timeline of a year to 18 months.

The Taliban have refused to hold talks with the Afghan government, calling it a U.S. puppet. They say Washington is the final arbiter on the troop withdrawal, which the insurgents see as the central issue.

Washington accelerated attempts to find a negotiated end to America’s longest war with the appointment last September of Afghan-born American Zalmay Khalilzad, who was a special presidential representative to Afghanistan and later U.S. ambassador in Kabul in the years immediately following the ouster of the Taliban.

During a visit last week to the Afghan capital, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would like to see an agreement before Sept. 1, considered an ambitious deadline by analysts but likely linked to Afghan presidential polls scheduled for later that month. Washington has expressed concern the elections could hamper a peace deal and has quietly advocated for an interim administration for up to two years following an agreement.