Suicide Bombings
At least nine soldiers were killed and 20 others sustained injuries when a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle blew himself up on a military convoy in Mali Khel area of Jani Khel in Bannu District on August 31, reports The Khorasan Diary.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), among the nine soldiers included Naib Subedar Sanobar Ali, while five troops were injured in the attack added Geo TV.
The Hafiz Gul Bahadur faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), through its propaganda wing, Al Amar Media from North Waziristan, said that an affiliated cell of the group, identified as ‘Sufyan Karawan’ carried out the suicide attack, added The Khorasan Diary.
“This was revenge for the killing of one of our affiliate Abdur Razzaq the father of Maulana Shahbaz Janikhel” said the statement by a ‘spokesperson’ who identified himself as Toray Dawar. He identified the suicide bomber as Dewana Latakwal.
Bomb blasts/IEDs
A Police officer was unharmed on August 29 after a bomb went off near his vehicle at Judba area of Torghar District, reports Dawn. The blast targeted Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Gul Faraz of the Levies Police Department. However, SDPO remained unharmed because he drove away from his parking spot, where the bomb was planted. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility of the attack, adds The Khorasan Diary.
On September 11, a soldier of Pakistan Army, identified as Lance Naik Abdur Rehman, was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion targeting a vehicle of the Security Forces in Warsak area of Peshawar District, reports Daily Times.
Two people were injured in hand grenade attacks on Police vehicle in Sariab Road area in Quetta on September 12, reports Dawn.
Officials said unknown miscreants riding motorcycles hurled a grenade at a patrolling Police vehicle. However, it missed the target and exploded away from the vehicle.
A hand grenade attack took place in the Hazarganji area, in Quetta on September 12, in which motorcyclists threw hand grenades at a Police vehicle which exploded a few yards away from it, resultantly two Policemen, identified as Constables Jahanzeb and Mumtaz Hussain were injured.
Targetted Killings
A Policeman, identified as Akhtar Hussain, was killed in firing of unidentified assailants near Sariab Road Mill Colony of Quetta on August 30, reports Pakistan Today. Sariab Superintendent of Police (SP) Zia Mandokheil said that Akhtar Husain, deployed at the entrance of the Special Branch office in Sariab Mills Colony, was heading home after completing his night duty when armed men opened fire at him, adds Dawn.
Two Baloch persons, identified as Samiullah and Abdul Hafeez, were shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists in an incident of target killing on the Quetta-Karachi Highway near Khadkocha area of Mastung District on September 3, reports Dawn.
A Levies Force trooper, identified as Muhammad Hassan Lehri, was shot dead while his wife sustained bullet injuries when unidentified assailants barged into their house in the Johan area of Mangochar town of Kalat District on September 3, reports Dawn.
The Station House Officer (SHO) of City Police Station in Dera Murad Jamali town of Nasirabad District was critically injured after unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on him in an industrial area on the town’s outskirts on September 3, reports Dawn.
Officials said the attack happened when SHO Habibullah Lashari was on patrol in an industrial area. SHO Lashari was immediately shifted to the District hospital, officials said, adding that the assailants fled the scene after the shooting.
Unidentified armed assailants shot dead a schoolteacher, identified as Javed Ahmed Lehri, in Wadh Tehsil (revenue unit) in Khuzdar District on September 4, reports Dawn. The motive behind the killing remains unknown so far, however, the Police suspect it may be a targeted killing.
Two people were shot dead while one injured in a firing incident by terrorists in Inayat Kalay Bazar of Bajaur District on September 4, reports The Khorasan Diary. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility of the attack.
A prominent cleric, Ziaur Rehman, was shot dead by two assailants in Block 16 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar area in Karachi on September 12, reports The Express Tribune.
Rehman was reported to be the administrator of Jamia Abi Bakar, a seminary in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Police found 11 bullet casings from the site of the murder, of which four were of 9mm calibre and seven belonged to a .30 bore.
The bullet ridden body of Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader Advocate Arbab Ghulam Muhammad Kasi was found in Sheikh Jamal Atuzai village of Kuchlak, a suburb of Quetta on September 19, reports Samaa TV.
The body of the ANP leader sustained a gunshot wound on the right side of the temple and a bullet casing was also recovered at the scene.
Miscellaneous
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on August 28 arrested two terrorists of unspecified banned outfit Sharafi Goth area of Karachi, reports ARY News. According to CTD spokesman, two arrested terrorists were identified as Allah Rakhyo Mangi and Yasir Hassan Lashari. CTD spokesman further said two grenades, two pistols, motorcycles and funding boxes were recovered from the arrested terrorists.
The extortion money and pamphlets of the banned outfits were also recovered, the spokesperson added. The arrested terrorists revealed to have complete planning of five target killings, while on March 4, they injured a mechanic in Kambar.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) shot dead four Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists during a raid on terrorist hideout in Surkhab area of Pishin District on August 30, reports Dawn.
A statement issued by the CTD said the Quetta CTD received information from a credible source that “notorious TTP sharpshooter” Shakar Din alias Umar Khalid, along with his other associates, was “spotted at a hideout in Surkhab Muhajir Camp in Pishin, and he fully armed, in preparation of another terrorist attack”.
Seeing the CTD personnel, terrorists opened fire and in a retaliatory fire four of the terrorists were killed.
Two terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) by Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Model Town area of Peshawar on August 31, reports ARY News.
During the operation, six terrorists managed to escape from the crime scene, CTD spokesperson said. Four SMGs with ammunition, bandoliers, and various other items were recovered from the possession of the dead terrorists, the spokesperson added.
An Army Major, a soldier and one terrorist were killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) conducted by the Security Forces (SFs) in Miranshah area of North Waziristan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on September 1, reports Geo TV.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said when the SFs launched the operation a “party of terrorists was spotted and intercepted by Major Amir Aziz, who was leading the operation from the front”.
During the exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed while another was injured. However, 29-year-old Major Amir and 27-year-old Sepoy Muhammad Arif were killed during the heavy exchange of fire.
An Army soldier and a terrorist were killed during an exchange of fire in Tirah area of Khyber District on September 1, reports Geo TV. ISPR said that an exchange of fire took place between the Army troops and the terrorists in the general area of Tirah.
The troops effectively engaged at the terrorists’ location, resulting in the killing of one terrorist. During the exchange of fire, Havaldar Muntazir Shah (36) was killed.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on September 2 arrested five women terrorists during an Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) from Lahore and Sheikhupura Districts of Punjab, reports ARY News.
The arrested women were said to be a part of Islamic States (IS). The CTD personnel arrested three of the women belonged to Lahore and two to Sheikhupura.
Banned books, mobile phones, weapons and cash were recovered from the arrested terrorists.
At least 12 terrorists and four soldiers were killed in an operation to repulse terrorists from Chitral District on September 6, reports Dawn. Chitral District Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali told Dawn that seven soldiers and over 40 terrorists were injured in the skirmish. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attacks on the military posts.
Five Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan terrorists were killed during an operation by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in the Aghbarg area of Quetta on September 7, reports Dawn.
According to a statement released by the CTD, an operation was planned over information provided by a TTP terrorist, identified as Naseebullah, who was in custody.
The CTD added that during the course of an investigation, he revealed the presence of his associates in Quetta and divulged that they were “in advance planning of carrying out a terrorist activity in Quetta soon”.
Seven terrorists were killed and six critically injured during an exchange of fire with Security Forces (SFs) in Ursoon area of Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on September 9, reports Dawn.
The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said the skirmish took place in the district’s general area of Ursoon when “troops effectively engaged terrorists’ location”.
Police on September 9 repulsed an attack by terrorists on the City Police Station in Lakki Marwat town (Lakki Marwat District), reports Dawn. Police said a group of terrorists attacked the city police station with sophisticated weapons. However, the assailants could not breach the Police Station as the Policemen deployed there were fully alert and responded effectively.
It was the second attack on the City Police Station in the last over eight months.
A suspected militant was killed when an explosive device he was trying to plant along the roadside went off in Sultan Khel area of Lakki Marwat District on September 11, reports Dawn.
A ‘commander’ of the banned outfit Da’esh, identified as Ghulam Din alias Shoaib, was killed during an operation in an undisclosed location of Mastung District in Balochistan, the province’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said on September 13, reports Dawn.
CTD statements said he was suspected to be involved in several high-profile terrorist activities in Balochistan, including the attack on Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, the 2016 suicide attack on lawyers in Quetta, the suicide attack on Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, multiple suicide attacks on the Sibi Mela and Quetta Police, as well as the “slaughter” of Hazara coal miners in Mach. der way in the matter.
Three terrorists were killed while an Army soldier was killed and another soldier injured during an exchange of fire between Security Forces (SFs) and terrorists in Wali Tangi area of Quetta on September 14, reports Dawn.
PAKISTAN
TTP a serious threat to neighbouring states, says UN report
According to a United Nations (UN) report discussed at a Security Council meeting in New York on August 25, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups affiliated with the Taliban and Al Qaeda are providing NATO-calibre weapons to the militant Islamic State (IS), Dawn reported on August 27.
Two UN counter-terrorism officials told the Security Council that IS and its affiliates, such as TTP, now armed with NATO-calibre weapons, continue to pose a serious threat in conflict zones and neighbouring countries.
Vladimir Voronkov, head of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT), and Natalia Gherman, executive director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, briefed the 15-member UN Security Council, after presenting the 17th report of the secretary general on the threat posed by IS to international peace and security.
Pakistan registers 83 per cent rise in terror attacks in August as compared to July, says PICSS report
According to Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) report released on September 3 as compared to 54 terror attacks in Pakistan in July 2023, there were 99 attacks in August, an increase of 83.33 per cent.
The August tally is the highest in any single month since November 2014. These attacks in August have resulted in 112 deaths and 87 injuries.
Pakistan expects Kabul to respect its territorial integrity, says Foreign Office
The Foreign Office of Pakistan said on September 11 that Islamabad expected Kabul to respect its territorial integrity and ensure Afghan soil is not used to launch militant attacks in Pakistan, reports Daily Times. The statement was made in response to Afghan government’s statement on the closure of Torkham border gate in which the Afghan foreign ministry expressed concern over the closure of Torkham gate.
The Torkham border was closed on September 6 after at least two people, including a Frontier Corps (FC) official, were injured when a gun battle erupted between Pakistan and Afghan border forces. Officials in Pakistan blamed the other side for starting the midday firefight.
At the same time, blamed Pakistan for initiating the firing and said the Afghan forces were only carrying out repair work on an old security checkpost constructed several years ago.
On September 10, Pakistan vowed to respond firmly to resurgent terrorism following the terrorist attack on two military posts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Chitral District, reports Daily Times.
Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti urged the Afghanistan government to abide by the Doha Agreement, which ensures that Afghan soil will not be used against any country.
“The terrorists of TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan] entered from Afghanistan,” he said, vowing that Pakistan would act firmly against terrorism and would defend every inch of the country. Sarfaraz Bugti further said that it was their responsibility to defend every inch of the country, adding that Pakistan Army was giving a befitting response to terrorists.
Over 600,000 Afghans came to Pakistan since Taliban takeover, states UNHCR Spokesman Qaiser Khan Afridi
Over 600,000 Afghan have arrived in Pakistan in the two years since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Spokesman Qaiser Khan Afridi stated on September 13, reports The Express Tribune.
“In addition to the new arrival, Pakistan hosts 1.3 million Afghan refugees who are holding the Proof of Registration Cards issued by the government,” Afridi said.
However, over the last two years, over 16,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan through the UNHCR facilitated voluntary repatriation program, he added.
Afghanistan – Internal Dynamics
Taliban shuts down educational centres over female students’ presence in Ghazni Province.
Taliban shut down educational centres, including private schools, over the presence of female students in Ghazni Province, reports Hasht-e Subh Daily on September 4.
A source revealed that the gates of the educational centres were closed by the Taliban while several female students were actively participating in a classroom session.
OIC urges Taliban to ensure education for Afghan women
On September 7, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urged the Taliban to ensure education for Afghan women and said that education is an Islamic obligation for both men and women, reports The Khaama Press News Agency.
The OIC’s press release emphasized the consensus among Islamic scholars on the obligation of educating both women and men, with a focus on comprehensive efforts to empower and educate girls and boys in the country.
Al-Qaeda revival unlikely in Afghanistan, say US officials
On September 8, senior officials of the United States (US) stated that new US intelligence assessments suggest that it is unlikely that Al-Qaeda will revive in Afghanistan and that counterterrorism operations by the Taliban in Afghanistan have degraded the presence of Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP), reports Tolo News.
They further said, “IS-KP has been under increasing pressure from the Taliban, and many of its key leaders have fled the country in recent months,” and “the threat from Al-Qaeda, meanwhile, is at its lowest point in decades”. Despite the 2021 US military withdrawal, terrorists’ presence in Afghanistan has markedly declined, they added.
Unidentified assailants set a school on fire in Takhar Province
On September 11, unidentified assailants set fire to a co-ed school named Engineer Hamid Shaheed School, located in the centre of Dasht-e-Qala District in Takhar Province, reports Hasht-e Subh Daily. This school is situated approximately 200 metres from the Taliban security command in the district.
TTP ‘commander’ killed in a landmine explosion in Paktika Province
Badshah Khan, a ‘commander’ and close aide to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, was killed in a landmine blast in Paktika Province, ARY News reported on September 12.
Sources told that he was on the most-wanted list and was involved in terrorist operations against Pakistani security forces.
Afghanistan is among the nations with the worst educational conditions, says PEIC Executive Director Maleiha Malik
The Executive Director of Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC), Maleiha Malik, said that Afghanistan is among the nations with the worst educational conditions, reports Tolo News on September 15. She said,
“There are some persistent countries that come on that list—Afghanistan was on that list persistently. And in Afghanistan, attacks on education by all sides—not only state actors but also armed non-state actors were prevalent.
And I think what happened particularly with the media was that the armed non-state actors became more prominent, and it was sometimes hard to see that state parties were also causing massive destruction.
The new barriers to education in Afghanistan are still challenging.” Afghanistan has been damaged by the government and parties, she added
Bangladesh – Internal Dynamics
RAB arrests ARSA leader in Cox’s Bazar District
On August 24, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a top leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) identified as Maulana Mohammad Yunus along with arms and ammunition during a raid in the Palangkhali union of Ukhiya Upazila (Sub-District) in Cox’s Bazar District (Chittagong Division), reports Dhaka Tribune.
Recovered items include one foreign revolver, six rounds of bullets, and one smartphone.
RAB-15 chief Major Jamilul Haque said on August 25 that during interrogation, Yunus told RAB how ARSA receives roughly BDT 1–1.5 million from outside each month, including from sources in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Dubai, and the US.
He further said that there are at least 250 active ARSA operatives in the camp.
Rohingya man shot dead in Cox’s Bazar
On September 11, a Rohingya man, identified as Mohammad Salam, was shot dead by a group of masked gunmen at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya Upazila (Sub-District) in Cox’s Bazar District (Chittagong Division), reports The Daily Star.
India – Internal Dynamics
Latest edition of IS magazine ‘Voice of Khurasan’ incites Indian Muslims for jihad
Islamic State (IS), in the latest edition of its magazine ‘Voice of Khurasan’, has scathingly written about violence in Haryana’s Nuh and the Gyanvapi mosque survey in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, and in the process, has tried to incite Muslims in India for jihad (holy war), firstpost.com reports on August 28.
Through its articles, the terror group has also issued threats to Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij. According to reports, ‘Voice of Khurasan’ has also used abusive languages about Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
IS magazine which is circulated in India through various social media platforms, including Telegram, is in constant radar of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Security Forces seize 13,800 detonators, other weapons in Bihar
Security Forces (SFs) comprising the Bihar Police, Special Task Force (STF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) 159th battalion, and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) 205th battalion seized 13,800 detonators, thirteen Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), and other weapons during raids on alleged Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) hideouts in the Pandara Hills area under Lutua Police Station in Gaya District of Bihar on August 30, reports The Telegraph.
Seven civilians killed in separate incidents of violence in Manipur
On August 31, two Meiteis village volunteers, identified as Moirangthem Ropen Singh and Pebam Devan Singh, were killed and four others were injured in a bomb attack by suspected Kuki militants in Thamnapokpi Maning Leikai under Moirang Police station in Bishnupur District of Manipur, reports The Sangai Express.
One Meitei civilian, identified as Oinam Iboiyama, who was injured in a gunfight between Kuki militants and State Police and India Reserved Battalion (IRB) at Naranseina in Bishnupur District of Manipur succumbed to his injuries on August 30, reports The Hindu.
On August 31, two civilians from Kuki-Zomi community, identified as L S Mangboi and Richard Hemkholin Guite, who were injured in violence in Churachandpur District of Manipur on August 30, succumbed to their injuries, reports The Indian Express. Two more defence volunteers (civilians), identified as Paokam Kipgen (45) and Pausondam Vaiphei (32), were killed in Churachandpur District on August 31.
Maoists kill assistant constable after abducting him in Chhattisgarh
Suspected cadres of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) allegedly killed an assistant constable, identified as Budhram Avalam, by slitting his throat in Duvalipara village under Gangaloor Police Station limits in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh on August 31, reports etvbharat.com. The villagers recovered the body and informed the Gangaloor police.
Manipur Police trooper shot dead by sniper in Manipur
On September 13, a Sub-Inspector of Manipur Police identified as Onkhomang Haokip (35) was shot dead by a sniper at Chingphei Village in Churachandpur District of Manipur, reports The Sangai Express.
Police sources stated that two more persons sustained bullet wounds in the incident.
RAW ‘Hunts’ Mossad Style! Trudeau Accuses India of Assassinating Khalistani Leader On Canadian Soil
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on September 18 accused the government of India of involvement in the fatal shooting of a Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was brazenly shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C. on June 18.
Nijjar, a supporter of a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state, had been branded by the Indian government as a “terrorist” and accused of leading a militant separatist group something his supporters have denied.
Trudeau said that Canada’s national security apparatus has reason to believe that “agents of the Indian government” carried out the killing of this Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. He said there is “credible evidence” that India is behind the assassination. The PM added,
“Our top priorities have therefore been one that our law enforcement and security agencies ensure the continued safety of all Canadians. And two, that all steps be taken to hold perpetrators of this murder to account.”
Canada ordered the expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat, Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s foreign intelligence agency, in Canada. Hours later, in a tit for tat move, India expelled a Canadian diplomat with five days’ notice to leave the country.
Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Jody Thomas has informed the U.K. government that Canada’s relations with India were about to get worse now that Canada had credible evidence linking India’s government to Nijjar’s death.
| Monthly Fatalities The following casualties, related to ongoing insurgencies and acts of terrorism occurred during the period August 26, 2023 to September 25, 2023: |
| Civilian | Indian Secuirty Personal | Militants | Total | |
| Chhattisgarh | 04 | 00 | 02 | 06 |
| Arunchal P: | 01 | 00 | 01 | 02 |
| Jharkhand | 02 | 00 | 02 | 04 |
| Nagaland | 18 | 02 | 10 | 30 |
| Total | 25 | 02 | 15 | 42 |
INTERNATIONAL
Jihadists kill 11 Syrian soldiers in tunnel attack
Jihadists killed at least 11 Syrian soldiers in the war-torn country’s northwest Saturday, August 26 when they detonated explosives placed in tunnels dug underneath army positions before attacking them, a monitor said.
The attack involving jihadists from the Ansar al-Tawhid group and the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) took place in the south of Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The jihadists “detonated tunnels they had dug beneath army positions and simultaneously launched an assault from other tunnels”, said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Observatory.
The attack, which also wounded 20 soldiers, comes a day after Russia carried out air strikes on the Jisr al-Shughur region near Idlib, where TIP jihadists are present, the Observatory said.
Both groups involved in the attack are affiliated with the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which controls swathes of Idlib province as well as parts of the adjacent provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia. Seven HTS fighters were killed Friday in bombardments by government forces
At least 13 others in Russian air strikes Monday in northern Syria, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria for its reports. Two civilians were also reported to have been killed by Russian strikes near Idlib.
The war monitor said “two jihadists took their own lives” in Saturday’s attack and that the death toll was expected to rise as the “intense clashes are still ongoing”.
Huthi rebels kill 10 Yemen soldiers
Iran-backed Huthi rebels on Sunday, August 27 killed 10 Yemen army soldiers from a southern separatist faction in a “surprise attack” after more than a year of relative calm, military sources said.
12 others were wounded in the attack by the Huthis in the border area between the southern provinces of Lahj and Al-Bayda, the sources told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Four Huthi fighters were also killed and several were wounded, the sources said. There was no immediate comment from the rebels.
The attack targeted a site manned by the separatists, who aspire to create an independent state in southern Yemen such as the one that existed until 1990, the military sources said.
A flare-up of violence has rocked southern Yemen in recent months, with several fighters loyal to the secessionist Southern Transitional Council and soldiers killed in attacks attributed to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. AQAP is considered by the United States to be the jihadist group´s most dangerous offshoot.
West has failed to isolate Iran, says Raisi
Iran´s President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday, August 29 that the West had failed to isolate his country, while also holding out the prospect of resuming talks on reviving a nuclear deal.
“The enemy tried to follow two strategies: one was to isolate Iran from the world and the other was to discourage the Iranian nation,” Raisi said. “It failed with both strategies. It didn´t succeed in isolating Iran,” he told a news conference in Tehran.
Raisi was referring to sanctions imposed on Iran since the United States torpedoed the nuclear deal in 2018, as well as protests that erupted in September 2022 over a young woman´s death in custody.
The ultraconservative president said Iran was continuing to seek “the lifting of sanctions” through negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear accord. But he added “we are not tying the country´s economy to the wishes” of Western countries.
Four Armenian troops killed in clash with Azerbaijan
Four Armenian servicemen were killed and three Azerbaijani soldiers wounded on Friday, Sept 1 the two countries said, as they accused each other of engaging in a new round of clashes.
Tensions between Baku and Yerevan have escalated sharply in recent months, as both sides accuse the other of cross-border attacks. “As a result of an Azerbaijani provocation, four servicemen were killed and one wounded on the Armenian side,” Armenia´s defence ministry said, after earlier reporting two were killed.
The ministry said earlier that Azerbaijan had fired at Armenian positions near the town of Sotk, less than ten kilometres from the Azeri border.
Azerbaijan said two of its soldiers were injured by an Armenian drone strike in the region of Kalbajar, on the other side of the border, while another was injured in cross-border fire.
25 civilians killed in 48 hours in Sudan
Five civilians were killed by bombs that “fell on their homes” in Khartoum, a Sudanese medical source told AFP, a day after an air strike in the city´s south killed at least 20 civilians.
Residents of the war-torn capital reported the city was again pummelled by artillery and rocket fire Sunday, in the fifth month of war between the army and paramilitary fighters.
“The death toll from the aerial bombardment” in southern Khartoum late Saturday, Sept 2 “has risen to 20 civilian fatalities”, according to a statement from the neighbourhood´s resistance committee.
They are among many volunteer groups that used to organise pro-democracy demonstrations and now provide assistance to families caught in the line of fire.
In an earlier statement, they said the victims included two children, and warned that more fatalities went unrecorded, as “their bodies could not be moved to the hospital because they were severely burned or torn to pieces in the bombing”.
Air raid kills 46 in one of Sudan war’s worst attacks
Air strikes killed at least 46 people and injured dozens on Sunday, Sept 10 at a Khartoum market, local activists said, one of the deadliest single attacks in Sudan’s nearly five months of war.
A conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project says nearly 7,500 people have been killed in the war that began on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In early July, an air strike on a residential area of Omdurman, Khartoum’s sister city, killed around two dozen people and drew condemnation from the United Nations.
The armed forces control the skies over Khartoum, while RSF fighters continue to dominate the city’s streets.
The army has been accused of repeated indiscriminate shelling of the residential areas where the paramilitaries have embedded themselves, including by evicting families and taking over homes.
Positioning themselves in civilian occupied neighbourhoods and buildings is “a potential violation of the Geneva Conventions,” the US-supported Sudan Conflict Observatory has said.
It added that the Sudanese Armed Forces “would still be required to ensure that civilian harm is minimised regardless of whether a target has been made a legitimate military target.”
On Sunday, the RSF accused the military of the “air strikes against civilians in the south of Khartoum.” The armed forces denied attacking the market, saying it “directs its strikes against rebel gatherings, crowds and bases as legitimate military targets, and fully adheres to international humanitarian law.”
Paramilitaries kill 17 civilians in Khartoum
Sudanese paramilitaries killed at least 17 civilians on Tuesday, Sept 12 in northern Khartoum, a medical source said, as the United Nations warned the conflict between two rival generals has “broken the nation”.
Witnesses reported shelling by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the Karary district of Omdurman, a part of greater Khartoum that has seen fierce battles between the RSF and the regular army.
A medical source told AFP “17 civilians were killed” in the attack, five months into the conflict between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Nearly 7,500 people have been killed in Sudan since the conflict broke out on April 15, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.
Thousands rally against Czech government in Prague
Thousands of people rallied against the centre-right Czech government in Prague on Saturday, Sept 16 accusing it of caring more about war-hit Ukraine than its own citizens.
The small, non-parliamentary PRO party organising the protest estimated attendance at 101,662 people on its website, while the Czech news agency CTK put the number at around 10,000. Waving Czech flags and urging the government of right-wing Prime Minister Petr Fiala to resign, protesters also bemoaned the EU member’s economic slowdown. The Czech economy has been stagnant for a year, while inflation is only slowly retreating from record-high annual levels that peaked at 18 percent in September 2022. “I’m here for the children, because that’s our future, and I’m afraid of the future,” protester Hana Smolikova told AFP at the rally in Prague’s central Wenceslas Square, worried by the high prices “of everything”.
Three dead in drone strike on Iraqi Kurdistan airfield
Three members of Iraqi Kurdistan´s anti-terrorism forces were killed on Monday, Sept 25 in a drone strike that hit an airfield near Sulaimaniyah, the autonomous northern region´s anti-terrorism services said in a statement.
“Unfortunately the bombing killed three of our Peshmerga comrades from the anti-terrorist services” and wounded three others, the statement said, without identifying those behind the attack.
The drone strike targeted the Arbat airfield, south of Sulaimaniyah, from which planes used for pesticide spraying take off. A “thorough investigation” has been launched into this “terrorist crime committed by foreign servants and local spies”, the anti-terrorism services said.
“To protect the investigation, we will preserve the confidentiality of information. In the future we will reveal the truth to the people of Kurdistan,” it added. Attacks against Kurdistan´s security forces are rare. On Sunday, a Turkish drone strike in northern Iraq killed at least four members of the Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK), including a senior official, the Iraqi Kurdish authorities said.
| Current Threat Levels: |
| City/Region | Threat Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Islamab | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Karachi | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Lahore | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Punjab | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Lavel 3 | *** |
| Peshawar | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Quetta | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Upper Balochistan | Lavel 3 | *** |
| Lower Balochistan | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Uper / Rural Sindh | Lavel 2 | ** |
| Gilgit and Northren areas | Lavel 3 | *** |
| Tribal areas, close to Afghan border | Lavel 3 | *** |
| Index to Threat Level References: | |
| Threat Level 1 No threat to foreigners although there may be isolated incidents involving petty crime. No security precautions are required | * |
| Threat Level 2 No specific threat to foreigners, however because of the overall general law & order situation, some security precautions are advised, especially if traveling. | ** |
| Threat Level 3 Indicates that law and order situation is cause for concern and travel should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Foreigners should rehearse plans for evacuation. | *** |
| Threat Level 4 Indicates complete breakdown of civil administration and law and order leading to possible anarchy. All foreigners to remain indoors and confined to their own city. Families and staff not required to be evacuated retaining only a skeleton staff. | **** |
| Threat Level 5 Indicates complete breakdown of law and order, enemy action/hostilities, invasion/ occupation by enemy. | ***** |
