Army and police are getting prepared for the winter operations, with the interior ministry saying that the operations would begin in January, a new chapter of war that is called to cleanse areas under Taliban control, like reported by afghanistantimes.af.

“A delegation has started visiting some provinces to evaluate what the security forces need for their winter operations. We will start the winter operations in January once the delegation delivers its reports,” Najib Danesh, interior ministry spokesman said Monday.

Taliban militants have reportedly captured more areas in the recent weeks.

Security bodies are criticized for not doing enough in the winter operations. They claimed last year that the districts of Wardooj and Yomgan in the mountainous province of Badakshan in the northeast were taken back from Taliban during winter operations, while the militants are still active in these districts.

Meanwhile, defense ministry says that army had increased offensive operations against the insurgents due to an order from the National Security Council.

“We have increased offensive operations that had significant results. These operations will help reduce in soldier casualties and also we can destroy the centers that the armed opposition groups are planning,” said Ghafoor Javed, defense ministry spokesman.

He added that nearly 1,000 militants were killed or injured during the 161 operations launched by army in the past two weeks, who also destroyed 35 hideouts of the insurgents.

The Afghan Military in the East claims that several anti-government armed militants have been killed during the operations in northeastern Kapisa province, like reported by khaama.com.

The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East in a statement said the Afghan army, Afghan police, Local Police, Public Order Police, and Afghan intelligence forces conducted joint operations in Badrab village of Tagab district.

The statement further added at least 13 militants were killed during the operations and 19 various types of improvised explosive devices were discovered and defused.

The anti-government armed militant groups including Taliban militants have not commented regarding the operations so far.

Kapisa is among the relatively calm provinces in Northeastern parts of the country but the security situation of the province has started to deteriorate recently amid ongoing efforts by the militants to expand their insurgency.

Dozens of Taliban militants were killed or wounded during the clashes among the two factions of the Taliban in western Herat province of Afghanistan, like reported by khaama.com.

Provincial governor’s spokesman Jilani Farhad confirmed the incident and said at least 28 militants have been killed during the latest clashes among the Taliban fighters in Shindand district.

Farhad further added that the loyalists of Mullah Hebatullah and Mullah Rasool clashed with each other, leaving at least 28 militants dead.

According to Farhad, at least 17 militants belonging to Mullah Hebatullah group were killed and at least 8 others sustained injuries during the clashes.

He said at least 11 militants belonging to Mullah Rasool group were killed and at least 9 others sustained injuries.

Herat is among the relatively calm provinces in West of Afghanistan but the security situation in some of its districts has deteriorated during the recent years.

At least twenty eight militants were killed during the separate operations conducted by the Afghan and U.S. forces in eastern Nangarhar and northeastern Kapisa provinces of the country, like reported by khaama.com.

The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East in a statement said the Afghan and U.S. forces jointly conducted a Special Operation in Achin district on Monday, leaving at least 19 ISIS militants dead.

The statement further added that the 02 unit ofthe Afghan forces in Nangarhar airport conducted a Special Operation in Sherzad district, leaving at least 8 Taliban militants dead.

One of the commanders of the Taliban identified as Mansoor was among those killed, the statement said.

In the meantime, the U.S. force carried out an airstrike using unmanned aerial vehicle targeting a Taliban militant Amanullahin Tagab district of Kapisa province, the 201st Silab Corps said, adding that the militant was killed in the raid.

At least sixteen militants were killed or wounded during a raid conducted by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces in northern Balkh province of Afghanistan, like reported by khaama.com.

The 209th Shaheen Corps of the Afghan Military in the North in a statement said the raid was conducted in Chahar Bolak district as part of the ongoing Nawid-25 operations.

The statement further added at least six militants were killed and ten others were wounded during the raid in Zekzek and Nawarid Zekzek villages of the district.

According to 209th Shaheen Corps, the Afghan forces also discovered a BM-1 warhead and a landmine during the raid which were later defused.

The anti-government armed militants including Taliban have not commented regarding the raid so far.

Balkh was among the relatively calm provinces in North of Afghanistan but the security situation in some of its districts has started to deteriorate during the recent years.

The anti-government armed militants are active in some remote districts of Balkh where they occasionally conduct terrorist related activities.

Islamic terrorism trends in Central Asia suggest that the region is shifting from primarily an exporter of foreign fighters to one where domestic and regional terrorist attacks may become increasingly more common, like reported by thecipherbrief.com.

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are two of the countries that have produced the largest number of foreign fighters per capita: 1,500 and 1,300, respectively. Yet, the region has mostly been spared from terrorist attacks and, instead, religious extremists travel elsewhere. The diaspora has produced several attacks with deadly consequences: the Stockholm and New York truck attacks, the St. Petersburg Metro bombing, and the New Year’s Istanbul night club shooting are but a few examples of attacks perpetrated by foreign fighters from Central Asia. Authorities and security services worldwide are fearful of similar attacks in the future.

The days of the region being somewhat immune from terrorist attacks may, however, be numbered. The re-capturing of territory in Iraq and Syria from the so-called Islamic State, the recent terrorist attack in Tajikistan that claimed the lives of four foreign nationals (including two Americans), and the increasing level of violence in neighboring Afghanistan are all factors that, taken together, could signal a re-focusing by Salafi-jihadist groups on Central Asia, long home to a broad patchwork of militants with regional and global connections. Analysts have observed that IS is re-locating much of its operational space to Afghanistan, through its affiliate ISKP, or the Islamic State Khorasan Province. The IS franchise is already proving attractive for many of the Central Asian foreign fighters, especially given the presence of groups including Jamaat Ansarullah and Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), predominantly or exclusively made up of Central Asian nationals. In addition, the porous border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, which is already used for drug trafficking and other types of illicit smuggling, coupled with the ability to easily obtain false identity documents and arms in the region, increases the likelihood of foreign fighters returning to set up operational cells inside Central Asian states, especially in the ungoverned Fergana Valley portion of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Central Asian states’ blueprint for eradicating domestic terrorism is also the main driver of radicalization. Strict state control of religious practices, poor socio-economic forecasts, discrimination against minority populations, and curbing political opposition in the name of terrorism have long been significant factors driving radicalization and extremism in Central Asia. The trends have coalesced to produce the large numbers of foreign fighters from the region. By building a close relationship with China, Central Asian states are trying to solve the issue of providing more socio-economic opportunities for their domestic populations. Thousands of Central Asians travel abroad in search of work and become radicalized while living elsewhere, including in Russia, where they lead lives of isolation and hardship while toiling as economic migrants. Through investments from Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, the hope is that the region will undergo a much-needed economic revival. Beijing’s own track-record of using the threats of terrorism, religious extremism, and separatism in order to silence political opposition could prove counterproductive to the Sino-Central Asian relationship.

As the Central Asian states are growing closer to China, increasingly draconian practices are being adopted and diffused, exemplified by the recent extradition treaty between Beijing and states in the region, which must be careful not to adopt similar widespread practices as China has with its Uighur population. In northwest China, untold numbers of Muslims have been sent to detention camps for ‘re-education,’ while many others have simply disappeared. The remaining population has been subjected to intense surveillance by the Chinese security services. Instead, states should focus their efforts on building resilience in vulnerable communities to mitigate the possibility that returning foreign fighters will find safe-havens in the region. Otherwise, it may only be a matter of time before the Central Asian states find themselves with a terrorism threat they have never experienced before and an inability to prevent spillover violence or control the spread of terrorism throughout the broader region.

At least 31 people were killed and 50 wounded when a bomb hidden in a carton of vegetables ripped through a crowded marketplace in Pakistan’s restive northwestern tribal region Friday, officials said.

The attack took place during the regular Friday bazaar in Kalaya, a town in a Shiite-dominated area of Orakzai tribal district, senior local official Khalid Iqbal told AFP.

“According to our initial investigation, it was an improvised explosive device hidden in a carton of vegetables,” he said.

Another senior official, Ameen Ullah, said 31 people had been killed, including 22 Shiites.

Four commanders were among 54 Taliban militants who surrendered their weapons in eastern Nangarhar province, local officials said on Thursday, like reported by pajhwok.com.

They said the surrendering militants were previously fighting against the government in six districts of the province, but they were forced by Afghan forces operations to shun insurgency.

Attaullah Khogyani, the Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, told a press conference here today that the former rebels had been engaged in terrorist activities in Moman Dara, Sherzad, Ghanikhel, Khogyani, Achin and Nazian districts.

He said the 54 insurgents included four commanders and they surrendered all their weapons to the National Directorate of Security (NDS) department.

Afghan security forces have recently intensified their operations in many districts of Nangarhar, forcing many rebels to join peace, Khogyani said.

Nabiullah, one of the surrendering insurgents, said they were encouraged by Pakistan’s intelligence agency to fight against the Afghan government but he was discouraged to continue the insurgency after a recent Ulema’s fatwa.

Mohammad Islam, another former rebel, said he had been fighting against the government for the last six years but he recently realized that the war was against the interests of Afghanistan and only foreigners benefited from it and that was the reason he laid down his weapon.

Mualvi Mohammad Daud Mujahid, an Islamic cleric in Nangarhar, said that fighting against Muslims was against Islamic rules and voiced on rebels to join peace.

He termed recent peace efforts as effective and asked the Taliban to abandon the war and join the peace process.

The Afghan Military in the East claims at least 51 militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group have been killed in Haska Mina district of Nangarhar province, like reported by khaama.com.

The 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan Military in the East in a statement said the Afghan security forces and Special Forces conducted operations in Awghaz village in Haska Mina district.

The statement further added that 51 militants of ISIS terrorist group were killed during the operations.

According to 201st Silab Corps, some compounds of the terrorist group were also demolished along with a cache of weapons and munitions.

The anti-government armed militant and terrorist groups including ISIS loyalists have not commented regarding the operations so far.

Nangarhar has been among the relatively calm provinces in East of Afghanistan but the security situation in some of its remote districts has deteriorated during the recent years.

The Punjab Police are on alert after receiving information that Zakir Moosa, the commander of a militant group affiliated to al-Qaeda, may be hiding in the state, like reported by scroll.in. The police have put up posters of Moosa across the state.

“We had inputs about his [Moosa] movements near Amritsar,” Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Swarandeep Singh told ANI. “So we have released wanted posters of him to make public aware and have requested public to tell us if they have any information.”

Moosa was part of the Hizbul Mujahideen until May 2017, when he left to start the al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind.

The police have received inputs that some Jaish-e-Mohammed militants have entered India through Ferozpur in Punjab. “So have taken precautionary measures,” Singh said. “Extra forces have been deployed. Checking is underway.”