News Report: India Foils the Online Agenda of Islamist Cyber-Terrorists

Police in the Indian state of Maharashtra, where Mumbai is located, have thwarted a major Daesh attempt to influence Indian youth by de-radicalizing several young people and blocking hundreds of Islamist propaganda websites.

New Delhi (Sputnik)- A police anti-terror operation in India is making headway with its renewed strategy to take on terrorist extremist groups by blocking their attempts to take advantage of cyberspace.

The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police has de-radicalized 70 youths, while the cyber cell of ATS has blocked more than 450 websites related to Daesh (ISIS) in the past two years.

According to Home Ministry sources, the NIA and various state ATS units have been closely monitoring the social media sites and keeping a close tab on the activities of suspects.

News Story: Indonesia proposes establishment of joint cyber-patrol to battle extremism in Southeast Asia

JAKARTA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian national police has suggested nations in Southeast Asia set up a joint force which will carry out a cyber-patrol in an effort to prevent spread of radicalism and extremism in the region.

Deputy Chief of Indonesian National Police Commissioner General Syafruddin disclosed on Tuesday that he had delivered the proposal at the 11st ASEAN ministerial meeting on transnational crime in the Philippines, scheduled from Monday to Thursday.

The deputy chief said that the joint force will immediately detect terrorist's activity in the cyber world.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Rody’s surrender demand unacceptable — Reds

New People’s Army (NPA)

By Artemio Dumlao

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has rejected President Duterte’s demand for the New People’s Army (NPA) to surrender first before peace talks can resume. 

“This is unacceptable,” the CPP said. “Does he really take the revolutionary forces for fools?”

The CPP said that the President, who earlier claimed having long-time friendship with the Left, “has lost all moral grounds to make such a demand,” citing the NPA’s declaration of a ceasefire on Aug. 19, 2016 that lasted close to 160 days supposedly as a response to Duterte’s signed commitment to release around 500 political prisoners through an amnesty proclamation.

Duterte, however, “wasted the goodwill of the NDFP when it failed to fulfill its commitment and took advantage of the ceasefire to deploy his soldiers and conduct military offensives,” the CPP said, referring to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Gravitation of highly educated Pakistanis to terrorism rings alarm bells

by Jamil Bhatti

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The recent emergence of a number of highly educated Pakistanis who were involved in extremist and terrorist activities has rung alarm bells in the power corridors of Pakistan.

Last week, law enforcement agencies busted an independent terrorist group Ansar-ul-Sharia Pakistan (the supporters of Islamic law in Pakistan), which comprises 10 to 12 highly educated people in the country's southern port city of Karachi.

According to police, all the members of the group are qualified from well-known universities, including Karachi University and NED University of Engineering and Technology, while the chief of the group namely Abdullah was working as an information technology expert in a university.

Rao Anwar, Senior Superintendent Police, said that all the group members were the students of science subjects and belong to noble and educated families and that the group was involved in the killing of police and security personnel.

The members got training from Afghanistan and were showing their presence in Karachi by terrorist attacks with a final aim to tie with Al-Qaeda, said Anwar, adding "emergence of such a group is a serious concern for the country which is struggling for peace."

Following the development, intelligence agencies have increased surveillance in all major universities of the country, while security audit of some of the educational institutes has already started.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Taliban Chief Says Foreign 'Occupation' Blocking Afghan Peace

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The fugitive leader of the Afghan Taliban renewed his call Wednesday for U.S. and NATO forces to leave the country, saying that would pave the way to peacefully resolve the armed conflict.

The remarks by Maulvi Haibatullah Akhunzada came in a message to mark the coming Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha in a bid to rally followers.

“The main obstacle in the way of peace is the occupation,” said the insurgent chief, referring to the presence of international forces in Afghanistan.

“Peaceful solution of the Afghan issue is the main pillar of the policy of the Islamic Emirate [the Taliban], should the occupation come to an end,” he added.

Akhundzada claimed the Taliban has established “administration over more than half of the country,” and the Islamist insurgency is determined to “liberate” from foreign “invaders” the rest of the Afghan territory.

News Report: Taliban Flatters Trump, Urges US to Pull Troops from Afghanistan

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The Taliban has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to pull out all forces from Afghanistan as a “responsible” leader of the United States and stop listening to “stooges” in Kabul.

In a so-called “open letter” to the American president Tuesday, the Islamist insurgent group asserted that “a number of war mongering congressmen and generals” are pressing Trump to prolong the Afghan conflict “because they seek to preserve their military privileges.”

About 8,400 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, training, advising and assisting local forces under a NATO-led military coalition, in addition to conducting counterterrorism operations.

“If you failed to win the Afghan war with disciplined U.S. and NATO troops, advanced technology, experienced military generals, consecutive strategies and mighty economy, you shall never be able to win it with mercenaries, notorious contractor firms and immoral stooges,” said the Taliban letter.

The insurgency's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, released the letter to media outlets, including VOA.

News Story: NPA on Rody’s war - We killed 12 cops, soldiers

New People’s Army (NPA)

By Gilbert Bayoran

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Central Negros claimed that the recent operations against government forces are the answer to the “all-out war” policy of President Duterte.

JB Regalado, in a statement posted on the NPA’s Leonardo Panaligan Command website, said that 12 policemen and military personnel were killed in month-long military operations in Negros Oriental.

Regalado cited the ambush conducted by guerrillas in Guihulngan City where six policemen and a civilian were killed while 17 firearms, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition and four cellular phones were seized by the rebels.

He justified the ambush of policemen, stressing that they are legitimate targets of the NPA.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Police to probe Al-Qaeda presence in Indian-controlled Kashmir

by Peerzada Arshad Hamid

NEW DELHI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A day after Al-Qaeda announced it has a group in Indian-controlled Kashmir to fight New Delhi's rule, the region's police chief Friday said it would investigative the presence of the global terror network.

"A militant is a militant, whichever tanzeem (outfit) he belongs. Somebody who has picked up a gun is a militant for us," said Director General of Police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid during a press conference in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

However, he said police would closely monitor the fallout of Thursday's announcement on militancy in the region.

"It's hard to predict any impact immediately, though there is a concern that it might sway youth toward the radical ideology," Vaid said. "We will investigate the arrival of Al-Qaeda in (Indian-controlled) Kashmir."

Al-Qaeda on Thursday officially announced it has a wing in Indian-controlled Kashmir and region's defiant Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Zakir Musa was its chief. The claim was made by the Global Islamic Media Front, online propaganda wing of Al-Qaeda.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Indonesia worried about radicalisation of children

Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesia is reportedly facing a growing threat of children being radicalised – either from exposure to extremist views online or from bad influence from adults.

The country’s Social Affairs Ministry recently released 161 people who had completed the government's rehabilitation and deradicalisation programme. Almost half of them were children.

The ministry's social rehabilitation director Nahar said the children had been exposed to extremist ideologies through their parents, who were already linked to radical groups, particularly the Islamic State (IS) organisation in Iraq and Syria.

The National Police and the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) have been closely monitoring all people, including children, who have shown an interest in going to Syria.

The BNPT also recently signed an agreement with the Indonesian Child Protection Commission on rehabilitating children who had been exposed to radicalism.

More are expected to join the programme in the near future, Nahar said.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Report: Maoist Rebels on the Run in India Over the Last Three Years

India has recorded a 22 percent decline in violence in Maoist insurgency-affected states since the Narendra Modi government came to power. Experts said the government has adopted a carrot and stick approach which is yielding results but challenges remain in wiping out leftist insurgents.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India's Deputy Home Minister Hansraj Ahir informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that the left wing extremism-affected areas have seen a reduction in incidents of violence.

Between July 2014 and June 2017, the number of incidents of violence committed by Maoists, or Naxals in local parlance, have come down from 3,999 to 3,109, registering a 22.5 percent decline compare to the preceding three years.

Experts said the Modi government and its predecessor governments have adopted a dual approach towards the problem.

News Story: Philippines warned - Mindanao seen as new battlefield of regional extremists

By Patricia Lourdes Viray

MANILA, Philippines — Mindanao might be a new battlefield accessible to regional extremists if the Abu Sayyaf Group-Maute coalition holds on to Marawi City, an American analyst said.

Thomas Sanderson, the transnational threats project director at influential think tank CSIS, warned that without a short-term solution to the fighting in Marawi and a long-term solution to problems in Mindanao, ISIS could come to see Mindanao as its primary destination.

The ongoing fighting in Marawi would eventually attract more foreign and local fighters, financial support and media attention, according to Sanderson.

"None of that is good for the security of the Philippine nation, especially local civilians (Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and others) in desperate need of economic development and responsive government," Sanderson said in his testimony before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

Sanderson noted that the battle in Marawi has become the focal point of activity of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Southeast Asia as more than 500 militant fighters have joined the fight.

The diversity of nationalities among militant casualties raises alarm in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency communities.

"Among the roughly 80 foreign fighters thought to have been in the battle, the dead included fighters from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Chechnya, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia," Sanderson said.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Report: Meet the Mastermind Behind Rebel Violence in the Philippines

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI — A second month of fighting between government troops and Muslim rebels in a southern Philippine city is turning to a search for a man sought by Manila as well as the United States for his leadership in terrorism over the past 20 years.

Philippine troops believe Isnilon Totoni Hapilon may be hiding in the largely demolished city of Marawi. Troops attacked Marawi May 23 because they feared Hapilon’s historically violent Abu Sayyaf group was forming links with another rebel organization there.

Hapilon thought to be in Marawi area

“The assumption of our ground commanders based on the lack of confirmation regarding his escape or flight from the area of Marawi is that he is still in the area,” Philippine armed forces spokesperson Restituto Padilla said Friday, as quoted by the presidential office website. “Our operations are focused on the possible area where he is believed to be still in hiding.”

Hapilon's death or capture would end the direct influence of a man who has helped lead Abu Sayyaf, a group known for kidnapping foreign tourists and beheading some, since 1997. He was recently trying to extend his influence to other Muslim anti-government insurgents in the Philippines to earn respect from Islamic State, some believe.

Early on, Hapilon had been deputy head and member of a “consultative leadership council” for Abu Sayyaf, which operates from Sulu Sea islands in the largely Muslim Philippine south, the policy nonprofit Counter Extremism Project says.

News Report: Police Clamp Down in Indian Kashmir on Anniversary of Militant Leader's Death

Anjana Pasricha

NEW DELHI — Thousands of troops patrolled Indian Kashmir on Saturday as authorities imposed widespread restrictions to foil protests planned for the anniversary of a local militant leader, Burhan Wani, whose killing in 2016 by armed forces has pulled the Himalayan region into a fresh spiral of violence after several years of relative peace.

Internet services were shut down and police raised barricades between neighborhoods. Shops and businesses remained closed in the Kashmiri capital, Srinagar.

Police fired tear gas in at least four places where protesters attempted to march in the streets.

The tightest security was in Tral village around the house of Wani, who had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group and is regarded as a hero in Kashmir. He belonged to a new rank of social media savvy young rebels who used Facebook and other social media to draw fresh recruits.

The call for a strike to mark Wani’s killing was given by local Kashmiri separatist leaders and by a Pakistan-based militant commander, Syed Salahuddin, whom the United States last week added to its list of global terrorists.

News Report: Afghanistan to Block Terror, Extremist Groups' Online Activities

Samsama Sirat

WASHINGTON — Afghanistan says it will begin blocking all online activity and websites linked to terror groups or extremists later this week, under terms of a cybercrime bill the government signed into law last month.

The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology said it is gathering a list of websites linked to terror groups or their supporters, based on information from the National Intelligence Directorate (NDS) and the Ministry of Information and Culture.

Najib Nangyal, a ministry spokesperson, said website-blocking will begin this Saturday, as authorized by the National Cyber Security Strategy of Afghanistan (NCSA) and the new Cyber Crimes Act.

News Story: Indonesia police discover IS propaganda leaflets targeting children

Hanoi (VNA) - Indonesian police have found hundreds of books containing Islamic State (IS) propaganda targeting children at the home of a suspect arrested in connection with the stabbing death of an officer, a police spokeswoman said on June 26.

The books aimed at children found at the home of the arrested man were written in Indonesian and included pictures and messages supportive of dying in jihad, or holy war, said police spokeswoman Rina Sari Ginting.

A day earlier, a police officer was stabbed to death at a police station in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. Another suspected militant was shot and killed by police during the attack.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Story: Aussie gov't plans to weed out terrorists on social media gains widespread support

CANBERRA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has said it is prepared to make it legal for social media websites to hand over vital information about suspected terrorists or terrorist operations, a plan which has on Monday been applauded by the opposition and a former army chief.

On Saturday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he had met with leading social media websites, telling them they "cannot continue to allow terrorists and extremists to use the internet and the big social media... to spread their poison", hinting that he would head to the upcoming G20 meeting in Germany to back a world-wide agenda which would ensure social media sites pass on dangerous information to authorities.

On Monday, Australia's former army chief Peter Leahy told Sky News that governments deserved more from big social media companies when it comes to clamping down on terrorism, saying it was not only a government problem, but a social obligation for the online giants to pitch in.

"There are many levels to this. Firstly, I think the tech giants deserve to show some social responsibility. They're letting this (terror-related content) on their sites," Leahy said.

"The government is more interested in the encrypted information on the net, the way terrorists are talking, so Facebook, Messenger, Viper, WhatsApp... the encryption on these, we can't break."

"The government needs to say we need some information from you to prosecute criminals, but I think we need to go further."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Report: Taliban Chief - US Troop Surge a 'Mistake'

Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD — The leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban says the United States will be "making a mistake" by increasing its troop numbers to combat the insurgents, who have vowed to fight until the end of the "illegitimate [foreign] occupation" of the country.

Maulavi Haibatullah Akhunzadah made the remarks Friday in a message ahead of the annual Muslim festival of Eid ul Fitr that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

"If you think that you may break our determination with your military presence and surge of troops, you are making a mistake! This is not the solution of the issue to continue your occupation on the request of the inept administration of Kabul," said the fugitive insurgent chief, who also warned that the U.S. troop surge would further destabilize the country.

He went on to blame foreign forces for being "the main obstacle in the way of peace in Afghanistan." The Taliban wants NATO forces to leave the country before it engages in any peace talks.

President Donald Trump recently authorized his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, to add several thousand more U.S. troops to the 8,400 currently deployed to Afghanistan, primarily tasked to train and advise Afghan forces, which are struggling to halt Taliban battlefield advances.

The U.S. military estimates that the government in Kabul controls only 60 percent of Afghanistan.

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 Story: ‘Maute holding on to 20% of Marawi’

By Roel Pareño

IS praises Marawi siege

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Maute and Abu Sayyaf militants in Marawi are holed up only in four barangays of the city, contrary to claims by the Islamic State (IS) that the local terror group now has control over almost the entire city, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez said yesterday.

“It only comprises 20 percent of the whole of Marawi City and it’s getting smaller every day,” Galvez said, referring to the four barangays where some 150 to 200 militants and their Abu Sayyaf allies have taken defensive positions.

That is at least double the area that the military had given a week ago, when it had said the terrorists were holed up in a sliver of urban terrain equal to just 10 percent of the city and shrinking. There are 96 barangays in Marawi.

At Malacañang, presidential spokesman Eduardo Abella said the situation could have been worse had the government not acted fast enough. “The early action of the military and the government has actually preempted their plans to be able to capture the city. So we need to credit that. Yes, there were (intelligence reports) but it was something that had to be vetted and to be authorized properly,” Abella said in a press briefing.

“Were it not for the early and decisive action of the military, then it would have been worse,” he added.

Almost the entire population of about 200,000 fled after the militants tried to overrun the city, but the military believes that beyond the checkpoints now fencing off its main roads there are still some 300 to 600 civilians trapped or being held hostage.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Australian hostage drama that left two people dead an 'act of terror' - authorities

by Matt Goss

MELBOURNE, June 6 (Xinhua) -- An incident in Melbourne which left two people dead is being treated as an act of terror, police confirmed on Tuesday.

Graham Ashton, Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, said that officers would investigate if Yacqub Khayre, 29, was trying to lure police into a deadly ambush on Monday night when he shot an apartment worker dead and took a woman hostage.

Khayre was killed by police on Monday night after a prolonged siege which began when officers discovered the body of a man, in the foyer of an apartment building in Brighton, 11 kilometers south-east of Melbourne.

Shortly after the discovery of the body, a woman called emergency services saying she was being held hostage by Khayre, prompting a specialist police operation.

Khayre emerged from the apartment building around 6:00 p.m. and started shooting at police, injuring three officers, before he was killed.

Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the incident on Tuesday, saying Khayre was "one of its soldiers."

However, Ashton said that the evidence indicated that Khayre had planned and coordinated the attack on his own.

Read the full story at Xinhua