News Story: Two Children Killed In Cross Durand Line Shelling By Pakistan

Pakistan Army A100 Rocket Launcher

At least two children were killed and three others were wounded in fresh rocket shelling from Pakistan on Thursday. 

The rockets landed in Nazian district in Nangarhar province – which lies along the Durand Line, the de facto border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Nangarhar governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said Pakistani military has restarted the cross Durand Line incursions and has fired off dozens of rockets into Afghanistan recently. 

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Story: N.K.'s low-intensity provocation prompts expectation for dialogue

North Korean Rocket Artillery vehicle 

SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's presidential office said Sunday that North Korea's latest low-intensity provocation may indicate its intent not to aggravate the security situation, voicing hope for future dialogue with Pyongyang.

The assessment came after North Korea fired what's seen as three short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday, the first provocative act in a month after its tests of two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last month.

Cheong Wa Dae is viewing the North's latest test as a widely expected move as North Korea made provocative acts before or during joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.

"It is clear that the current situation has nothing to do with strategic provocations," a senior official at the presidential office told reporters.

The office said that Seoul thinks the projectiles were artillery rockets fired from a multiple-rocket launcher, while the U.S. military reaffirmed its assessment characterizing those as short-range ballistic missiles.

A government source said that they may be artillery rockets from a new multiple-rocket launcher, given that their altitude is far lower than that of a ballistic missile.

Cheong Wa Dae refrained from issuing a statement condemning the North's act, which experts say reflects South Korea's hope that the current situation could set the tone for dialogue with the North.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Story: Rocket fired into central Kabul

KABUL, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- A rocket was fired onto a diplomatic district in central Kabul Monday night, sources and witnesses said.

"The attack occurred at around 10:10 p.m. local time, and the rocket struck the Wazir Akbar Khan locality in Police District 10 of the city," witness Farouq Shah told Xinhua.

Casualty was unknown yet.

He said the foreign embassies' sirens were heard shortly after the rocket landed at the fortified area.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: American, Afghan Forces Intensify Anti-IS Fight in Afghanistan

Noor Zahid, Zia-U-Rahman Hasrat

WASHINGTON/NANGARHAR, AFGHANISTAN — As the Islamic State terror group loses ground in Iraq and Syria, U.S. and Afghan forces are stepping up their attacks on the group's offshoot in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.

The U.S. military, in coordination with Afghan security forces, are pounding IS hideouts in Achin, Haskamena and Kot districts with rockets being fired from Jalalabad airfield where U.S. troops are stationed.

The terror group has been active in the eastern region of the country for almost two years.

U.S and Afghan security forces have been conducting ground and air operations against IS militants in the Nangarhar for some time now. The rocket attacks, however, indicate an intensification in the war against IS in the country.

Attaullah Khogyani, Nangarhar provincial government spokesperson told VOA that the rocket attacks on IS hideouts are conducted based on intelligence provided by the Afghan security agencies.

He added that the rocket attacks have targeted key IS members, killing several of them.

News Report: Test Imminent? Activity at North Korean Nuclear Site Has US Intelligence Worried

An unusual uptick in activity at North Korea’s underground nuclear testing facilities picked up by US foreign signals intelligence may mean another nuclear test is imminent.

According to Jerusalem Online, Washington is growing concerned that the Strategic Rocket Forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will launch yet another test of its nuclear weapons when senior Chinese leaders arrive in Washington for meetings with US leadership on Wednesday.

Just yesterday, US President Donald Trump thanked Beijing for its efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula but noted "it has not worked out." The statement was widely seen as an attempt by Trump to embarrass Chinese President Xi Jinping, Axios reported, for "failing to change Kim Jong-un’s deranged behavior and give him one last chance to fix it… and signaling to the Chinese that they’ve run out of time." 

News Story: U.S. commander says more combined drills with S. Korea needed

By Lee Chi-dong

UIJEONGBU, South Korea, June 20 (Yonhap) -- A top U.S. military commander in South Korea said he can't overemphasize the need for more combined exercises between the two countries, citing the seriousness of North Korea's weapons of mass destruction threats.

"I am never satisfied. I want to do more training." said Maj. Gen. Theodore D. Martin, the commanding general of the 2nd Infantry Division. "I want all training to be combined just like we got a saying, 'Train like you fight.' We want to get to very high-level live-fire exercises."

He was speaking in an exclusive interview at his office at Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, about 50 kilometers south of inter-Korean border, on Monday.

His comments came amid renewed concern about the future of the South Korea-U.S. alliance forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Speaking at a forum in Washington, D.C. over the weekend, Moon Chung-in, a special adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in on unification, security and foreign affairs, suggested that the allies scale down their joint defense drills and the presence of strategic U.S. military assets on the peninsula.

He set the freeze of North Korea's missile and nuclear programs as a precondition.

Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office, played down his personal view that's not helpful to the Seoul-Washington alliance, with the presidents of the two sides slated to hold summit talks next week.

The upcoming meeting will be the first test of chemistry between the liberal South Korean leader and his conservative American counterpart Donald Trump.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: Indian Army to Induct 108 Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers Worth $2 Billion

Pinaka Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS)

The Indian defense ministry has planned to float a tender to purchase six regiments of homemade Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers for $2 billion. Each regiment will comprise three batteries of six Pinaka launchers mounted on Tatra trucks.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — The tender is expected to be issued to firms by the next month while the acquisition order is expected to be placed within 18 months. Pinaka supplements the existing artillery gun at ranges beyond 30 km with quick reaction time and high rate of fire. Pinaka is developed by state-owned DRDO with private defense firms Tata Power SED and L&T.

Indian defense ministry had placed an order for two regiments i.e 36 systems last December. The Army intends to have 22 Pinaka regiments by 2026 including 12 regiments of Guided Pinaka. This is an advanced version of the Pinaka, wherein the firing range has been enhanced to 65+ km from the existing 38 km. India conducted two developmental tests of the 214-mm caliber Guided Pinaka earlier this year.