News Report: India’s New Combat Intelligence Service to Track Activities in Nepal, Bhutan

The Indian government had been receiving inputs of an increased presence of Chinese and Pakistani spies in Nepal and Bhutan who could foment trouble in India with the help of local elements in those countries.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India’s armed border force, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), has operationalized its new intelligence unit to track the activities of China and Pakistan along its visa-free stretches of Nepal and Bhutan. The combat-ready intelligence wing has 650 trained field agents and other staff members who will gather actionable information.

Due to centuries-old cultural and economic linkages among peoples across the border, the Indian government has been in agreement with Nepal and Bhutan to allow visa-free trans-border movement of people across the frontier areas that mainly comprise densely populated foothills and plains as well as thick jungles, underdeveloped regions and inhospitable terrains, making it easy for criminals and rogue entities to move freely in the areas.

“There is trans-border movement of criminals and anti-national elements which pose a major challenge on the border in the context of the visa-free regime,” a senior official of the SSB said.

News Story: New UN sanctions on North Korea - what do they mean?

By Hwang Sunghee

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted new sanctions on North Korea, including restrictions on oil shipments, to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.

But Washington toned down its initial proposals to secure backing from China and Russia.

Here are some key questions on UNSC resolution 2375, and its attempt to end the North's nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

What impact will the oil measures have?

The new resolution ends natural gas shipments to North Korea, caps crude oil shipments at their current levels, and puts a ceiling on refined oil products such as petrol and diesel.

North Korea has little oil of its own, relying on imports to keep its citizens and soldiers moving.

The US initially sought an oil embargo, which China -- North Korea's sole ally and main trading partner -- strongly opposed.

Instead the resolution limits crude oil shipments from any country to the amount sent to the North in the last 12 months.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Report: 'There is None' - Moscow on Russia's Alleged Support for Taliban in Afghanistan

Afghan Taliban with a Russian AK-47 Assault Rifle

Russia provides no support to the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, pointing out that suggesting otherwise hinders Afghan conflict settlement dialogue with the United States.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Zakharova's statement comes after the head of the US State Department accused Russia of alleged arms supplies to the Taliban during a briefing on August 22.

"There is none. Such statements do not contribute to the establishment of effective cooperation between our countries on Afghanistan," the spokeswoman stressed.

The fresh portion of accusations from the US came in the wake of President Donald Trump's announcement of America's new strategy in Afghanistan.

News Story: Pakistani forces recover cache of weapons, foil terror plot

ISLAMABAD, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani security forces on Tuesday seized a cache of weapons in the country's northwest and frustrated a major terror plot, the military said.

The weapons were being transported to Wana, a main town in South Waziristan tribal region, but the security forces recovered the consignment when they searched a truck near Kohat city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The weapons were loaded in the truck at Darra Adam Khel, a town some 45 kilometers from Peshawar. Darra Adam Khel is famous for locally-made arms.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia to tighten noose on IS allied terrorists

MANILA, June 22 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia closed ranks on Thursday, committing to tighten the noose on Islamic State (IS) militants in Southeast Asia like tightening the flow of funds to finance the terror cells operating in the region.

The three Southeast Asian countries also vowed "to work together to jointly develop and implement counter-terrorism measures and strategies" to ensure that the IS militants will not gain foothold in the region.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman attended the meeting aimed at enhancing cooperation to nip in the bud efforts of IS terrorists to establish a caliphate or base in the region.

High-level officials from the countries respective armed forces, national police and intelligence agencies also attended the meeting.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Indian Intel Agencies Warn of Terror Trade Along India-Myanmar Border

India is concerned that the free movement regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar is being misused by terrorists to smuggle arms and drugs across the porous border between the two countries.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Indian intelligence agencies have submitted a detailed report to the Home Ministry outlining the routes and ways terrorists are trading weapons, drug and counterfeit currency along the border.

Accordingly, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has ordered the formation of a committee to examine the rules under the FMR between the two countries.

“Government will constitute Special Secretary, Internal Security-headed committee to examine the present rules adopted by border states for implementation of Free Movement Regime. The committee will submit its report in three months after consulting the states and other stake holders,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said after a review meeting of the India-Myanmar border issues.

The Free Movement Regime allows visa free travel up to 16 km across the India-Myanmar border on each side.

India shares a 1,643 km-long border with Myanmar which include the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Story: Thailand stays vigilant about IS entering southern region

Bangkok (VNA) – Authorities of Thailand were on alert as it was possible that militants of the self-claimed Islamic State (IS) have entered the country’s southern region.

Earlier, Malaysian authorities wiped out a group of IS in Kelantan state and arrested six suspects, who admitted their involvement in smuggling fire arms from southern Thailand in more than one year to prepare for attacks in Malaysia and other countries.

Muhammad Muzafa, a member of the group, was believed to have fled to southern Thailand with many weapons.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Report: Malaysian Security Forces Arrest 6 Daesh Suspects

Malaysian security forces arrested six individuals suspected of being involved in activities linked to the Daesh terrorist group, outlawed in Russia, media reported Wednesday, citing authorities.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the television Channel NewsAsia, the arrests were made between March 24 and April 25. All the arrested persons — four men and two women — are Malaysian nationals.

"One male suspect was arrested on Apr 25 in Penang… He is aged 41, unemployed and has been actively promoting Daesh through his 15 Facebook accounts since 2014. He also planned to launch an attack on a Shia mosque in Penang… The two [other] men abetted in the activities of smuggling weapons from southern Thailand to be used by Daesh terrorists in Malaysia," Malaysia’s Inspector-General of police Khalid Abu Bakar said, as quoted by the media outlet.

According to Khalid, a female student was also arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International airport on April 4 on her way to Syria via Turkey.

Since the beginning of 2017, Malaysian counterterrorism forces have arrested dozens of individuals suspected of links to the Daesh jihadist group.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Report: Taliban Unleashes ‘Spring Offensive’ in Afghanistan

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — The Taliban has unleashed its annual so-called “spring offensive” in Afghanistan, saying it will mainly target U.S.-led foreign “occupation” troops to force them to quit the country.

In a formal announcement released Friday, the Islamist insurgency claimed “Operation Mansouri” went into action early Friday morning across all 34 Afghan provinces.

It explained the offensive has been named after Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who was killed by an American drone last year.

“These operations will involve conventional attacks, guerrilla warfare, complex martyrdom (suicide) attacks, insider attacks, and use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) to achieve their objectives,” said the statement by the Taliban’s so-called leadership war council.

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh dismissed the insurgent announcement as just another name terrorists are using for propaganda purposes and attacks against innocent civilians. He told VOA that Afghan forces are fully prepared and, as they did in the previous year, will defeat the Taliban’s so-called new “Operation Mansouri.”

News Story: U.S To Review Afghanistan Strategy Following Army Base Attack

By Mirabed Joyenda

U.S Defense Secretary James Mattis has said that the U.S will review its strategy on Afghanistan, days after Taliban insurgents stormed the 209 Shaheen Army Corps base in northern Balkh province.

He said that one of the reasons of his visit to Afghanistan was to assess the situation and report back to U.S President Donald Trump about the situation in the country.

He said that 2017 will be another tough year for Afghan security forces; however he reiterated that the U.S will continue its support to the Afghan forces.

"We are under no illusions about the challenges associated with this mission," he said, adding that "2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood and who will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism."

He said that the purpose of his visit was to help make recommendations on America's strategy in Afghanistan moving forward, but he declined to share what those recommendations might be.

Read the full story at TOLOnews

News Report: Afghan Official - Russian Advisers Help Taliban in Contested Province

Noor Zahid

Russia's role in Afghanistan was questioned again Tuesday when the provincial police chief in Uruzgan told Afghan media that intelligence reports showed visiting Russian generals were providing Taliban militants with weapons and training.

"Eleven Russians, including two women, dressed in doctor's uniforms and guarded by four armed Taliban, along with an Afghan translator, have been spotted in various parts of the province," Ghulam Farooq Sangari, Uruzgan police chief, told VOA's Afghan service. "They have been enticing people against the government, providing training and teaching how to assemble land mines."

Russian military advisers have been spotted twice recently near Tirinkot, the Uruzgan capital, Haji Abdul Bari, a tribal elder in the province, told VOA.

Taliban connections with Russia have increasingly come under the spotlight as Moscow seeks to increase its influence in the nation it once occupied and to counter Islamic State expansion from Afghanistan to neighboring Central Asian countries.

News Report: Russia Outraged by US Claims on Moscow Alleged Support to Taliban - Grushko

Russia was outraged by US top military commander's remarks on Moscow alleged support of Taliban terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia) and expressed its indignation during recent NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meeting, Russian envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko said Friday.

LONDON (Sputnik) — The relevant claims were made by Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations Curtis Scaparrotti last week. In particular, he accused Russia of arms supplies to Taliban.

"We were outraged when the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said that we allegedly support the Taliban in Afghanistan. And we raised this issue at the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council," Grushko told reporters.

News Story: Russia and Tajikistan to strengthen cooperation in security

Russian President Vladimir Putin (File Photo)

ASTANA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, while visiting Dushanbe on Monday, declared readiness to cooperate with Tajikistan in the field of security and stability.

The decision was made in a joint statement following Putin's meeting with Tajik President Emomalii Rahmon, local reports said.

The two presidents discussed current situation in Afghanistan and highlighted the importance of ensuring its stability and development.

Putin and Rahmon also discussed necessity to work on law enforcement and coordination of the states' security agencies, as well as in the military and military-technical fields.

Read the full story at Xinhua