Thu Nov 30 2023, 06:48 AM

Islamic World News ( 3 Oct 2016, NewAgeIslam.Com)

Comment | Comment

Islamic State Chief Baghdadi Ill after Assassin 'Poisons' Food

New Age Islam News Bureau

3 Oct 2016

Baghdadi was seriously ill after having his food poisoned by an assassin

-------

• Erdoğan Calls On Muslim Countries to Unite Against US 9/11 Bill

• Germany’s Finance Minister Presses for a ‘German Islam’ Based On Liberalism And Tolerance

• India Arrests Six Suspected Of Plotting Islamic State Attacks

• Fata Minorities Lack Freedom to Worship, Say Rights Activists

Mideast

• Erdoğan Calls On Muslim Countries to Unite Against US 9/11 Bill

• Turkish Military Says 15 FSA Fighters Killed In Syria as Clashes Intensify

• Exhibition opening attacked in Istanbul’s Tophane for ‘alcohol consumption’

• Row over Lausanne Treaty continues to roil Turkish politics

• Exhibition organizer says bookings hurt by Turkey coup attempt

Europe

• Germany’s Finance Minister Presses for A ‘German Islam’ Based On Liberalism And Tolerance

• Italy Expels Five for 'Jihadist Messages' On Facebook

• Merkel ally urges peaceful refugee integration

India

• India Arrests Six Suspected Of Plotting Islamic State Attacks

• Terrorists Attack Army, BSF Camps In Baramulla, One Jawan Martyred

• Anti-terror message: Contractor turns translator to help Muslim body

• In PM Narendra Modi’s Varanasi, these Muslims are messiahs for wounded stray cows

• Muslims in meat industry mull countrywide strike to protest against rising vigilantism, harassment

Pakistan

• Fata Minorities Lack Freedom to Worship, Say Rights Activists

• Islamabad Reconsidering Ties with Kabul: Asif

• Sartaj Aziz: India and Pakistan’s National Security Advisors looking for peaceful solutions along LOC

• India, Pakistan must hold dialogue for peace: Kasuri

• Pakistan army flies media to LoC to ‘prove’ no surgical strikes by India

• Pak should ‘counter-threat’ India: Musharraf

• Fazl rejects report of Fata reforms committee

• Nawaz Sharif consults opposition after surgical strike by India

Arab World

• Fatah Al-Sham, ISIL Suffer Heavy Casualties in Army Attacks in Homs Province

• Syrian Army Launches Mop-Up Operation in Western Damascus

• ISIL Arrests Over 250 Civilians, Children in Mosul for Fear of Popular Uprising

• Syrian Army to Restart Anti-Terrorism Operation in Western Damascus If Peace Talks Fail

• Militants Launch Heavy Missile Attack on Hama's Neighborhoods

• Saudi Military Base in Assir Province Comes Under Yemen's Missile Attack Again

• Hospitals Become ‘Part of Battlefield’ after US Airstrike on Kunduz Hospital

• Senior Artillery Commander of Terrorists Killed in Army Attacks in Aleppo

• Syrian Army, Air Force Target Jeish Al-Islam's Defense Lines in Eastern Damascus

• Terrorists' Convoy Destroyed in Aerial Bombardments in Idlib Province

• Syrian Gov't Forces Tightening Noose on Militants in Aleppo City

• Syrian Army, Popular Forces Continue to Advance against Terrorists North of Aleppo

Southeast Asia

• IS May Be Recruiting Chinese-Muslims

• Abu Sayyaf Militants Release Three Indonesian Hostages

• Jakarta election and the rise of hip Muslim voters

• Indonesian jailed over IS-linked terror plots

• Bomb blast rocks village near Myanmar border

North America

• ‘Punched In Throat’ For Wearing Traditional Attire, Alleges US Muslim Scholar

• Trump Is Trying to Turn Gays against Muslims

South Asia

• Saving Afghanistan from the Edge of Failure

• Atmar strongly reacts regarding Karzai’s insult in Rabbani event

• Afghanistan welcomes $1 billion pledged by UK ahead of Brussels conference

• Top police official killed as Taliban launch major attack in Helmand

• Taliban launch coordinated attack on Kunduz city

• 1 killed, 2 wounded in an explosion in Kabul

• Bangladesh acquits student suspected in July cafe attack

• Muslims in Bangladesh to observe Ashura on Oct 12

Africa

• Vow to End Nigerian Hunger Overlooks Role of Insurgents

• French church reopens after priest killed in attack

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/new-age-islam-news-bureau/islamic-state-chief-baghdadi-ill-after-assassin--poisons--food/d/108747

-----

Islamic State Chief Baghdadi Ill after Assassin 'Poisons' Food

By IANS October 3, 2016

Baghdad: The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group ringleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was reportedly seriously ill after having his food poisoned by an assassin, a media report said.

Meals prepared for Baghdadi and three other commanders of the terrorist organisation were allegedly poisoned in Nineveh's Be'aaj district, the Daily Mail reported on Monday.

It quoted an Iraqi news agency as saying that four militants, including Baghdadi, were suffering from "severe poisoning" and "have been transferred to an unknown location under strict measures".

The IS terror group has reportedly launched a campaign of arrests to track down those responsible for poisoning the food.

The identities of the three other commanders are unknown.

Baghdadi is credited with transforming the breakaway al-Qaeda group and turning it into the independent IS group that is arguably the most powerful and wealthiest jihadi organisation in the world.

Al-Baghdadi's movements are known only by his inner circle, and the Caliph, as he is known to his followers, is constantly on the move, changing locations in Iraq and Syria to avoid airstrikes.

Under the leadership of Baghdadi, the group spearheaded a militant offensive that expanded into Syria in 2013 and overran much of Iraq's Arab heartland.

Baghdadi has been wounded multiple times in air strikes and been reported dead, but has re-surfaced each time.

Earlier this year, there were reports he had been killed by US-led coalition air strikes, but they turned out to be inaccurate, the Daily Mail reported.

Baghdadi, whose real name is Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim, is thought to have been born in Samarra, north of Baghdad, in 1971.

In October 2011, the US officially designated Baghdadi as "terrorist" and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or death.

Under Baghdadi's leadership, IS militants have shocked the world with their sadistic beheadings of captured foreign journalists and civilians.

Source: http://www.newsx.com/world/42752-islamic-state-chief-baghdadi-ill-after-assassin-poisons-food?utm

Erdoğan calls on Muslim countries to unite against US 9/11 bill

October 3, 2016

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 2 urged Islamic nations to unite in solidarity against a newly passed bill in the U.S. that allows families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for their losses.

In an interview with the Saudi Arabia-based TV station Rotana, Erdoğan said “despicable developments” were being formed against the Islamic world.

“Turkey and Saudi Arabia are being targeted … We see that all pitfalls and plans are pointed against the Islamic world. Therefore the states of the Islamic world need to be in cooperation and solidarity with each other,” he said.

“We have expressed disapproval due to adaptation of the 9/11 victims bill,” Erdoğan added.

“We will take a step at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC] where we are the term president. I have also directed Turkey’s foreign and justice ministers to stand with Saudi Arabia for the mending of this serious mistake,” he said.

The U.S. Congress voted overwhelmingly in favor to override U.S. President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice against State Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which is supported by the families of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington who hope to sue the Saudi government for its alleged role in the attacks.

Obama has argued that the bill would open U.S. military personnel and officials to lawsuits by foreign governments.

Erdoğan had on Oct. 1 criticized the legislation as “unfortunate,” speaking at the opening ceremony of the legislative year at the Turkish Parliament.

“First of all, this legislation is clearly against the ‘personal nature of criminal responsibility,’ a universal legal principle. We are hoping that this wrong step will soon be taken back, as it has the potential of creating a dangerous debate over the sovereign rights of states,” he said.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogan-calls-on-muslim-countries-to-unite-against-us-911-bill-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104521&NewsCatID=352

Germany’s Finance Minister Presses for A ‘German Islam’ Based On Liberalism And Tolerance

3 October 2016

Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on October 2 called on Muslims in the country to develop a “German Islam” that is based on liberalism and tolerance.

As reported by the Reuters news agency, the minister said the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants required a better understanding among Germans of what is important to them and how they want to live.

The arrival of large numbers of refugees has strained communities and led to a rise in far-right violence and attacks on migrant shelters, particularly in eastern Germany, reported Reuters. The influx also boosted support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Schaeuble, who is a stalwart of Angela Merkel‘s Christian Democrats (CDU), said: “Without a doubt, the growing number of Muslims in our country today is a challenge for the open-mindedness of mainstream society.”

In a guest article for conservative paper Welt am Sonntag, he added: “The origin of the majority of refugees means that we will be increasingly dealing with people from quite different cultural circles than previously.”

The 74-year-old, who is seen as a possible CDU candidate for Chancellor should Merkel not seek re-election next year, also told an annual conference on Islam last week that people of all faiths are part of Germany. This is a view that Merkel voiced in 2015 at the height of the popularity of the anti-Islam PEGIDA grassroots movement.

According to the German Press Agency (DPA), 890,000 refugees arrived in Germany last year, most of them Muslim. Germany has an existing Muslim population, largely due to the arrival of Turkish migrant workers from the 1960s.

Source: neweurope.eu/article/germanys-finance-minister-presses-german-islam/

India Arrests Six Suspected Of Plotting Islamic State Attacks

Mon Oct 3, 2016

Indian police have arrested six members of an Islamic State-inspired group suspected of plotting attacks on key figures and public places during the Hindu festival of Diwali, the national counter-terrorism agency said on Monday.

Islamic State has struggled to win over many recruits in India, which is home to the world's third-largest Muslim population.

But over the past year or so, the National Investigation Agency has found small groups of people in the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu who have either travelled to Syria to join the militant Sunni group or planned attacks inside India.

On Sunday, the NIA picked up six men while they were in a meeting in a hilltop shrine in Kerala and said they were gathering explosives and other material to mount attacks in southern India during Diwali later this month.

"During the searches, incriminating material including electronic devices have been seized from their possession and search of their premises," the agency said in a statement, calling them members of an "Islamic State-inspired terror module".

The men were between the ages of 24 and 30, an official at the agency said. Reuters was not in a position to independently confirm the police claims.

Earlier this year, investigators said 12 men, six women and three children went missing from Kerala and were later believed to have joined Islamic State.

Source: reuters.com/article/us-india-islamic-state-idUSKCN1230NG?il=0

Fata minorities lack freedom to worship, say rights activists

Oct 3, 2016

PESHAWAR: Rights activists from religious minorities have decried the lack of worship places and religious freedom in tribal areas of the country.

“If you go to the tribal area in all the Frontier Regions and agencies you will find mosques everywhere, but you could hardly find a temple, gurdwara or church,” says Monisha Arifa, who is a member of the National Minorities Network of Pakistan and coordinator of Faith Friends Welfare Organisation working since 2008 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and more recently in tribal areas.

For a population of about 50,000 living in tribal belt of the country following Christianity, Hinduism and Sikh faiths, there is very limited space for them to worship in religious places.

“There is no temple, gurdwara or church in many places in tribal areas. Even the dead have to be brought to the graveyard in Peshawar or other cities since there is no graveyard in tribal areas for the minorities,” says Haroon Sarbdiyal, a rights activist working in Peshawar on interfaith harmony and rights of the minorities.

Monisha, who recently interviewed some women from different minorities hailing from Fata, said that these women complained that they did not enjoy religious freedom. Since there was no church nearby the men and women gathered at a house to worship, but even then they were feeling their freedom was curtailed.

“Women and men gather in a house and worship. Often the neighbours object to the loud hymns singing which is an important part of our worship,” says Monisha.

If Hindu, Christian and Sikh families are not able to practice their religious rites how their children would get religious education, she asked.

Ainee Gul, who is working on divorce rights of Hindu women in Abbottabad, shared the same experience of Hindu people being unable to exercise their religious freedom.

Raveena Haroon working in Peshawar on peace in Faith Friends Organization said there was no religious freedom for Hindus too as there were not many temples in the tribal areas.

“A large number of Hindus and other minorities are living in Fata, but they can’t exercise religious freedom as much as we exercise here in Peshawar,” said Raveena. She said that there were other problems faced by the minorities like a negligible quota in government jobs. There was not just one religious minority living in the country so the government should increase their quota and implement it too. There should be technical centers for the women who need financial support, she demanded.

The population of different religious minorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is around 300,000 while around 50,000 hail from the tribal border region, says Sarbdiyal sharing rough estimates cited by different NGOs. However, the religious communities and their special needs for their socio-economic uplift are not visible anywhere on the government’s agenda.

“The government should ensure the rights of minorities in Fata in the ongoing reform process,” he said. He added that the minorities did not exercise the rights to buy or sell property or come out of the stigma of a B-category tribal domicile status despite the government’s decisions to upgrade them.

Monisha and her other activist friends say that usually minorities get jobs under the quota not above BPS-1 and usually they end up as sanitation staff. Lack of good income leads to poverty and usually girls from religious minorities don’t get married to good families.

Sadhna, who hails from Hangu, said that if girls were provided more quota than three per cent it would help them get higher education. There is no seat or quota for the religious minority students in the professional colleges.

Source: dawn.com/news/1287700/fata-minorities-lack-freedom-to-worship-say-rights-activists

Mideast

Erdoğan calls on Muslim countries to unite against US 9/11 bill

October 3, 2016

In an interview with the Saudi Arabia-based TV station Rotana, Erdoğan said “despicable developments” were being formed against the Islamic world.

“We have expressed disapproval due to adaptation of the 9/11 victims bill,” Erdoğan added.

Obama has argued that the bill would open U.S. military personnel and officials to lawsuits by foreign governments.

Erdoğan had on Oct. 1 criticized the legislation as “unfortunate,” speaking at the opening ceremony of the legislative year at the Turkish Parliament.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogan-calls-on-muslim-countries-to-unite-against-us-911-bill-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104521&NewsCatID=352

Turkish military says 15 FSA fighters killed in Syria as clashes intensify

October 3, 2016

Fifteen Ankara-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters have been killed in the last 24 hours during clashes in Syria as a part of the ongoing Euphrates Shield operation, the Turkish Armed Forces has announced, as clashes intensified in the region on the 41st day of the operation.

The military said in a statement that 15 FSA fighters were killed and 35 were wounded in clashes with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants by the early hours of Oct. 3. It added that the military had fired a total of 301 shots at 63 ISIL targets, killing militants nearby and destroying six vehicles, seven Katyusha positions and three tents spotted by surveillance vehicles.

FSA fighters engaged in heavy clashes with ISIL militants, especially in the Boztepe, Hardanah and Türkmen Barı regions on the Azaz-al Rai line, the military stated.

Ankara-backed FSA fighters have seized control in an area of around 960 square-kilometers in Syria since the beginning of the operation on Aug. 24.

Meanwhile, the Turkish military also stated that 13 ISIL militants were killed in 11 air strikes conducted by U.S.-led coalition forces in the Ziyadiyah, Bahrutah, Duvaybık, Aktarina and Türkmen Barı regions.

Four buildings, three vehicles and one mortar shell were also destroyed in the coalition air strikes, it added.

According to the statement, Turkish warplanes also destroyed nine buildings used by ISIL militants during air strikes in the Aktarin, Türkmen Barı and Dabıq regions.

The military said a total of 6,620 howitzers, 1,294 tank fires, and a number of rocket launcher and mortar shells had shot ISIL positions since the launch of the operation.

Some 28 mines and 993 hand-made explosives were destroyed under control in areas cleared of ISIL militants, it added.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-military-says-15-fsa-fighters-killed-in-syria-as-clashes-intensify.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104514&NewsCatID=352

Exhibition opening attacked in Istanbul’s Tophane for ‘alcohol consumption’

October 3, 2016

An exhibition opening in Istanbul’s Tophane district has been attacked by angry locals complaining about alcohol consumption.

A group of assailants, who said they were from the neighborhood, on the night of Sept. 30 attacked the exhibition in the first floor of a newly opened building titled “Kuytu,” which consisted of the works of a total of 21 female artists.

“A family including a grandfather, a grandmother, a mother, a father and their children started yelling in front of the gallery where the exhibition was being held, complaining about alcohol consumption and the exhibition crowd consisting of women and men mixing together,” Vardal Caniş, an artist whose work was included in the exhibition, told daily Cumhuriyet on Oct. 3.

“More people showed up at the exhibition than we expected. It was crowded, so those who wanted to smoke went outside,” Caniş said, adding that attendees outside were forced to go inside to protect themselves.

Saying that the assailants wanted to attack one of the artist’s father, Caniş noted that all of the people outside had to go inside to protect themselves.

“But although we went inside, they [assailants] didn’t calm down. In the end we had to close the exhibition,” she added.

Art galleries in Tophane have been subjected to a number of similar attacks, as generally conservative neighborhood locals clash with art lovers attending the galleries that have opened in recent years.

Caniş said they were aware of previous attacks on exhibitions and they were not surprised by this latest incident.

The owner of the gallery, Melih Apaydın, said nothing happened during the opening that could have bothered people in the neighborhood.

“There wasn’t any loud music. We were just talking to each other. The attackers came from the surrounding buildings,” Apaydın told daily Hürriyet.

“They swore at us and threatened us. Because we knew about previous similar attacks, we didn’t want to get involved ... Tophane is one of Istanbul’s culture and arts centers. If we can’t open an exhibition here, where else are we going to do it?” he said, vowing that the exhibition will continue.

Two people have reportedly been detained by police over the incident.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com/exhibition-opening-attacked-in-istanbuls-tophane-for-alcohol-consumption-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104522&NewsCatID=341

Row over Lausanne Treaty continues to roil Turkish politics

October 3, 2016

Turkish politics continues to be roiled by the debate over the 1923 Lausanne Treaty that established the Republic of Turkey, after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan derided it as “not a victory.”

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli criticized Erdoğan’s remarks, saying the issue should be left to historians.

“There are always unproductive conflicts and the search for polarization never ends. To be honest I’m surprised. Our new subject is now Lausanne,” Bahçeli wrote on his Twitter account, adding that Erdoğan “contradicted himself.”

“Erdoğan on July 24 said the Lausanne Treaty was the ‘title deed of the republic.’ After two months he said it was being wrongly presented as a victory. Isn’t this a contradiction?” he asked.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had previously also criticized Erdoğan’s statements, saying “no one has the right to betray their history.”

“Lausanne is Turkey’s deed. We defend [the Treaty of] Lausanne, they defended Sevres,” said Kılıçdaroğlu, referring to the Treat of Sevres of 1920, which marked the beginning of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.

Speaking to reporters late on Oct. 1, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım slammed Kılıçdaroğlu’s statements, saying that “engaging in politics over Lausanne won’t make Kılıçdaroğlu gain anything.”

“These statements are absolutely wrong. They have no benefit to the unity of the people,” Yıldırım said.

Speaking at a 27th gathering with village chiefs in Ankara on Sept. 29, Erdoğan said some had tried to present the Treaty of Lausanne as a victory.

“July 15 [coup attempt] is the second War of Independence for the Turkish nation. Let us know it like that. They [threatened] us with Sèvres in 1920 and persuaded us to [accept] Lausanne in 1923. Some tried to deceive us by presenting Lausanne as victory. In Lausanne, we gave away the [now-Greek] islands that you could shout across to,” he said.

“We are still struggling about what the continental shelf will be, and what will be in the air and the land. The reason for this is those who sat at the table for that treaty. Those who sat there did not do [us] justice, and we are reaping those troubles right now. If this coup had succeeded, they would have given us a treaty that would have made us long for Sèvres,” he added.

In July, Erdoğan had said the Treaty of Lausanne was the title deed of the republic in a message issued on the 93rd anniversary of its signing.

“The victory, which our glorious nation gained by faith, courage and sacrifice, was registered by transferring it to the ground of diplomatic and international law with the Treaty of Lausanne. This treatment is the title deed of our newly founded state,” Erdoğan said in his message.

Signed on July 24, 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne, which was signed by İnönü, who later succeeded Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as president, is regarded as the final treaty concluding World War I and which secured the foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey after the War of Independence against the occupying forces of Britain, France, Italy and Greece. The treaty recognized the boundaries of Turkey as well as the conditions under which non-Muslim minorities would live in the new republic.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com/row-over-lausanne-treaty-continues-to-roil-turkish-politics-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104493&NewsCatID=338

Exhibition organizer says bookings hurt by Turkey coup attempt

October 3, 2016

Exhibition organizer ITE Group Plc said on Oct. 3 that the attempted coup in Turkey in July had “significantly affected” international travel to the country, hurting the company’s bookings on Turkish events.

ITE reported an 8 percent fall in like-for-like revenue in its fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, despite recording benefits from the post-Brexit weakness of the pound.

Revenue for the period remained flat at 23 million pounds ($29.63 million).

ITE maintained its full-year 2016 revenue forecasts at 133 million pounds and added that it expected to see material benefits from the improvement in relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey from 2018.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com/exhibition-organizer-says-bookings-hurt-by-turkey-coup-attempt.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104519&NewsCatID=349

Europe

Germany’s Finance Minister Presses for A ‘German Islam’ Based On Liberalism And Tolerance

3 October 2016

Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on October 2 called on Muslims in the country to develop a “German Islam” that is based on liberalism and tolerance.

Source: neweurope.eu/article/germanys-finance-minister-presses-german-islam/

Italy expels five for 'jihadist messages' on Facebook

3 October 2016

Italy has deported five members of the same family "for reasons of national security", interior minister Angelino Alfano announced on Sunday.

Alfano said he had ordered the expulsions after a "long and complex investigation" into a Facebook account which had posted "countless" videos and documents in support of the terrorist group Isis.

Police identified the owner of the account as a 28-year-old Macedonian living in Gorizia, northeastern Italy.

The man's two brothers-in-law, aged 31 and 28, along with their 52-year-old father and one of the brothers' wives, aged 32, were also expelled on Sunday for posting numerous extremist messages on social media sites.

Alfano said the group were "all fanatic followers of the self-proclaimed Caliphate" and that they had praised both terrorist attacks in Europe and the actions of Isis in Syria.

The group had repeatedly criticized their imam and the local Muslim community for being 'moderates' and open to western influences.

Since January 2015, Italy has expelled 121 Islamic extremists as part of its strategy of prevention, including 12 imams.

Source: thelocal.it/20161003/italy-expels-five-for-jihadist-messages-on-facebook

Merkel ally urges peaceful refugee integration

OCTOBER 03 2016

A VETERAN ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Muslims in Germany to develop a "German Islam" based on liberalism and tolerance, saying the influx of people seeking refuge — many of them Muslims — was a challenge for mainstream society.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, stepping out of his usual finance remit, urged tolerance, saying the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants required a better understanding among Germans of what was important to them and how they wanted to live.

Almost 1-million migrants from the Middle East and Africa went to Germany in 2015, stoking social tension and boosting support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, which says Islam is not compatible with the constitution.

There has been a rise in far-right violence and attacks on migrant shelters, particularly in eastern Germany.

Schaeuble, a stalwart of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), said: "Without a doubt, the growing number of Muslims in our country today is a challenge for the open-mindedness of mainstream society."

In a guest article for conservative paper Welt am Sonntag, he added: "The origin of the majority of refugees means that we will be increasingly dealing with people from quite different cultural circles than previously."

Schaeuble is seen as possible CDU candidate for chancellor should Merkel not seek re-election in 2017.

He acknowledged that sexual attacks by migrants in Cologne and two attacks by migrants claimed by the Islamic State militant group over the summer had soured the mood.

"We should not, in this more tense situation, allow an atmosphere to emerge in which well-integrated people in Germany feel alien," Schaeuble said.

The migrant crisis and the integration of the large number of refugees has raised question marks over Merkel’s re-election prospects. Her Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union, have relentlessly blamed her open-door refugee policy for the CDU’s poor showing in recent state elections.

Source: bdlive.co.za/world/europe/2016/10/03/merkel-ally-urges-peaceful-refugee-integration

India

India Arrests Six Suspected Of Plotting Islamic State Attacks

Mon Oct 3, 2016

Islamic State has struggled to win over many recruits in India, which is home to the world's third-largest Muslim population.

The men were between the ages of 24 and 30, an official at the agency said. Reuters was not in a position to independently confirm the police claims.

Earlier this year, investigators said 12 men, six women and three children went missing from Kerala and were later believed to have joined Islamic State.

Source: reuters.com/article/us-india-islamic-state-idUSKCN1230NG?il=0

Terrorists attack Army, BSF camps in Baramulla, one jawan martyred

Oct 3, 2016

SRINAGAR: At least two terrorists and a soldier were killed, and one soldier was injured, when terrorists on Sunday night fired at and lobbed grenades on an army camp in Baramulla+ in northern Kashmir, four days after India conducted surgical strikes+ on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC).

The heavily-armed terrorists attacked a Rashtriya Rifles army camp+ , which also houses a unit of the Border Security Force (BSF), late last night, leading to a fierce gun-battle with security forces.

The martyred soldier+ has been identified as Constable Nitin and the injured soldier is Constable Pulwinder. Both are from the 40th battalion of the BSF, officials said.

A police official said that a gun battle with the remaining terrorists+ ended mid-morning and search operations were underway.

Senior BSF officials also arrived in the area. Sunday night's strike comes exactly a fortnight after terrorists struck at Army brigade headquarters at Uri+ , 102 km from here killing 19 soldiers.

The terrorists gained entry into the 46 battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles through an adjoining BSF camp. The skies in Baramulla, 54km from here, saw illuminators being fired by the Army to locate the terrorists.

The attack comes even as intelligence inputs over the last four days have alerted about possible terrorist attacks on security installations in Jammu and Kashmir after the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the LoC in Pakistan on September 29.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: "Colleagues in Baramulla town are phoning with reports of massive gunfire in their vicinity. Prayers for all in the area."

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Terrorists-attack-Army-BSF-camps-in-Baramulla-one-jawan-martyred/articleshow/54646883.cms

Anti-terror message: Contractor turns translator to help Muslim body

Oct 03, 2016

A 40-year-old contractor from Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh has taken up a key role in a Muslim body’s fight against terrorism—translating anti-terror texts from Urdu to English and Hindi.

Mohd Zaid Khan, a post graduate in Mathematics, has taken a sabbatical from his construction and fabrication business and is busy translating texts that expose the anti-Islamic face of terror outfits like Islamic State, Taliban, al-Qaeda and Boko Haram.

A 44-page book titled ‘ISIS Daesh: Ek Aatish Va Ajmaish’ was translated from an Urdu book written by a Hyderabad-based cleric Syed Hussain Madni and was released recently.

“It is part of a mission by the sub sect of Sunni Muslims, Ahle Hadees,” Khan said, stressing that it was their attempt to stop the lure of extremist groups and their false ideology among youngsters.

Already 1,000 copies of the book embodying fatwas (edicts) by Muslim clerics, have been distributed and a thousand more are slated for distribution in Seoni.

“I am now working on a more refined Hindi and English version of this book to further broaden the base in our drive against terror,” he said.

Seoni has more than 15,000 Sunni Muslims loyal to Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees Hind, the national body of Ahle Hadees followers. “With youngsters, particularly in neighbouring Maharashtra, falling prey to the terror and un-Islamic ideology of terror groups like ISIS, we’ve started a committed drive from Seoni to expose the true face of such outfits,” Ahle Hadees’s Seoni district secretary Maulana Abdul Qudoos ‘Umari’, said.

The programmes by Ahle Hadees in public places and mosques largely focus on telling youths that Muslim scholars across the world have issued fatwas against ISIS.

The taqreers (speeches) delivered by Ahle Hadees scholars and volunteers target the ISIS, by throwing light on the flawed idea of Jannat and Jihad being spread by the terror group.

“Islam has place for all colours, with particular preference for white, which symbolises peace and was espoused by the Prophet (Mohammed) himself. But all black colour worn by IS terrorists is proscribed by Islam, so the ISIS can never be Islamic,” Qudoos said.

The Jamiat is also planning to hold a major symposium against terror in Indore soon, he said.

Security and intelligence agencies have however kept a close watch on Ahle Hadees’s activities as the body has often been seen radicalising youths.

Reportedly, members of banned Students Islamic Movement of India, like 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts accused Abu Faisal alias Doctor, have revealed that they were inspired by Ahle Hadees’s ideology.

Qudoos, however, rejected the view. “The Ahle Hadees is a sect which doesn’t believe in violence and bloodshed, and has always been a preacher of peace.”

“Blunt opposition to terrorist activities has been the basic tenet of our ideology, hence projecting us as sympathisers of terror pains us,” he said.

Source: hindustantimes.com/bhopal/anti-terror-message-contractor-turns-translator-to-help-muslim-body/story-jQOIhF1M1VkROnYKQflW5J.html

In PM Narendra Modi’s Varanasi, these Muslims are messiahs for wounded stray cows

October 3, 2016

Even as the so called ‘gau rakshaks’ are trying to spread mistrust against Muslims in the country, a group of members of the community have been treating wounded stray cows for six years in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

Members of the group regularly come out of their homes at night to provide first aid to wounded stray cows and bulls.

Varanasi is considered to be one of the oldest existing cities of the world. While the city is famous for its narrow lanes, paan (betel), sarees and delicacies, the presence of a large number of cattle on road dents its image.

The stray cattle often get hurt by vehicles and are forced to roam around with the injury. For such helpless animals, members of Islamic Foundation of India (IFI) are like messiahs.

“Animals too have souls like human beings. Each of these souls should be treated with respect and compassion. However, their survival is tough if they are not kept as pet. Often on roads, they get hurt. In the absence of care, their injuries turn into severe wounds and take their lives. So we do our bit to save their lives,” said Rustom Ansari, founding member, IFI.

The IFI members go out at night in a group of four to five people with essential first aid items to nurse the stray cattle.

“Wherever we see cows, bulls and even dogs lying with injury, we clean their wound with liquid antiseptic. Then we apply Neem oil, required ointments and bandage the wound to save from dust and flies,” said SM Khurshid, founding president, IFI.

The IFI members have been carrying on the noble work for the last six years.

narendra modi, modi cow, narendra modi cow, muslims,muslim cow protectors, gau rakshaks, muslim gau rakshaks, muslims varanasi, varanasi muslims, india news, india, indian muslims, muslims in india, cow slaughter, cow care, varanasi, varanasi news, narendra modi, narendra modi parliamentary constituency, wounded cow, stray animals, stray cows, Uttar Pradesh, UP, UP live, UP news, Uttar Padesh news, UP live news, India, pakistan, Pakistan terrorism, baramulla, baramulla news, latest news, live news, breaking news, pakistan terrorism, Pakistan, Terrorism, Muslim news, indian muslim news, narendra modi varanasi, varanasi narendra modi Varanasi: IFI members started providing first aid to stray animals six years ago. They go out to help the animals after 9 pm at regular intervals. (FE Online)

“We started providing first aid to stray animals six years ago. Since then, we have been going out to help the animals after 9 pm at regular intervals,” said Khurshid.

However, the IFI members now rue that their good work is getting affected by the ongoing controversy over cow slaughter.

Earlier people used to call up IFI members to treat injured cows but now they see their activity with suspicion.

Khursid recalled a recent incident when some people opposed IFI members while they were treating a stray cow.

“Recently, a group of people came to us and started questioning our activity when we were treating a cow at night. One of them indirectly asked us if we were trying to kill the cow. This shocked us. After the incident, we changed the timing of our drive,” he said. He further shared the discourse of ‘Hadees Pak’ which advocates consumption of cow milk and asks to stay away from its meat.

“Our activity is purely aimed at saving stray cows and bulls from diseases and nothing else. If anyone wants to join us, he or she is welcome but we request everyone not to doubt our work,” he said.

Source: financialexpress.com/india-news/in-pm-narendra-modis-varanasi-these-muslims-are-messiahs-for-wounded-stray-cows/402501/

Muslims in meat industry mull countrywide strike to protest against rising vigilantism, harassment

Oct 03, 2016

The All-India organisation of Quresh – a Muslim subgroup that dominates the meat industry – has called a special general body meeting in Delhi in October to decide whether to call for a countrywide strike in protest against rising anti-cow slaughter vigilantism.

The idea behind the All-India Jamiat-ul-Quresh’s proposed strike – that will stop the supply of all kind of meat in the country – is to convey to the Union government that the growing belligerence of cow-protectionists has inflicted heavy economic losses on the Quresh community.

Intimidation and violence by cow-vigilantes has created an ambience in which local authorities, especially the police, have taken to extorting money from those engaged in the meat trade. The Quresh group wants both these tormentors reined in.

The Jamiat-ul-Quresh believes that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance at the Centre will not respond to the angst of Muslims because of its ideology, but could be prompted into action as the disruption in the supply of chicken and mutton will invite the ire of those Hindus whose staple is meat.

Contrary to the myth of India being the land of vegetarians, different surveys have shown that between 60% and 70% of Indians above the age of 15 are meat-eaters.

To rally support, the Quresh group will reiterate that it backs the existing ban on cow slaughter. Some members even say they want a uniform ban on beef all over the country, without exceptions. Differences in state laws that regulate cattle-slaughter have fuelled the illegal bovine trade. Cow slaughter is not banned in six states and a few states permit the slaughter of cows over a certain age, or on issuance of a fit-to-slaughter certificate.

Business hit

A consequence of cow vigilantism is that it even has had an impact on those who deal exclusively in mutton and chicken, not buffalo meat. This is because the protectionists have stereotyped the Qureshis as a community engaged in illegal cow-slaughter, breeding hostility against them for disregarding the religious sentiments of Hindus.

Full report at:scroll.in/bulletins/10/what-goes-into-creating-an-uber-luxurious-home-in-india-we-ask-the-experts

Pakistan

Fata minorities lack freedom to worship, say rights activists

Oct 3, 2016

PESHAWAR: Rights activists from religious minorities have decried the lack of worship places and religious freedom in tribal areas of the country.

For a population of about 50,000 living in tribal belt of the country following Christianity, Hinduism and Sikh faiths, there is very limited space for them to worship in religious places.

“Women and men gather in a house and worship. Often the neighbours object to the loud hymns singing which is an important part of our worship,” says Monisha.

If Hindu, Christian and Sikh families are not able to practice their religious rites how their children would get religious education, she asked.

Ainee Gul, who is working on divorce rights of Hindu women in Abbottabad, shared the same experience of Hindu people being unable to exercise their religious freedom.

Raveena Haroon working in Peshawar on peace in Faith Friends Organization said there was no religious freedom for Hindus too as there were not many temples in the tribal areas.

Source: dawn.com/news/1287700/fata-minorities-lack-freedom-to-worship-say-rights-activists

Islamabad reconsidering ties with Kabul: Asif

Oct 3, 2016

SIALKOT: Federal Minister for Defence, Water and Power Khawaja Asif claims ground realities have raised the curtain for the world from India’s false claims about a surgical strike in Pakistan.

He said this while talking to the media here on Sunday. The minister said the surgical strike “drama” was planned, staged and played by Indian intelligence agencies in a bid to divert the world’s attention from the Kashmir issue. He said the day of freedom of Kashmir will dawn soon and the oppressed Kashmiri people will get freedom from Indian yoke.

He also said Pakistan had strongly rejected the Indian claims of a surgical strike.

He further alleged that Afghanistan was supporting India against the interests of Pakistan due to which Pakistan was reconsidering its relations with Kabul.

He added that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project had become a universal truth.

FIRDOUS: PPP stalwart and former federal minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has asked all political elements to adopt “mature politics of issues” and not “personal” politics targeting personalities.

She stated this while talking to the media at the press club on Sunday. She added that the PPP would soon table a bill in parliament about Panama leaks and the government should not create hurdles in its way.

Firdous condemned India’s mounting war aggression and expressed solidarity with the people and armed forces of Pakistan. She asked all politicians to unite against Indian war aggression, besides shunning political differences in the larger national interest.

Source: dawn.com/news/1287645/islamabad-reconsidering-ties-with-kabul-asif

Sartaj Aziz: India and Pakistan’s National Security Advisors looking for peaceful solutions along LOC

October 3, 2016

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Monday that the National Security Advisors of both India and Pakistan have spoken over phone and are all set to reduce tensions on the Line of Control (LOC). The statement comes in the aftermath of India’s successful surgical strikes which had heightened tensions amidst the nations.

Aziz confirmed that a contact was established between India’s NSA Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua after recent tension between the two countries on the Line of Control (LoC). Aziz said they agreed to reduce tensions on LoC.

“Pakistan wants to reduce tensions on LoC and focus on Kashmir,” Geo News quoted Aziz as saying. He said that India wants to divert world’s attention from Occupied Kashmir by escalating tensions.

Last week the Indian Army said it had carried out surgical strikes on multiple terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control or LoC in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, inflicting heavy casualties on terrorists waiting to sneak into India. The surgical strikes came days after Pakistani terrorists had attacked an Army camp in Kashmir’s Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Pakistan has denied that the surgical strikes took place on Thursday, calling it “cross-border” firing. Talking about Sharif’s recent US visit, Aziz said that the Prime Minister had explained to the world leaders that incidents of border tensions would continue between both countries without the resolution of Kashmir dispute.

Source: siasat.com/news/sartaj-aziz-india-pakistans-national-security-advisors-looking-peaceful-solutions-along-loc-1033446/

India, Pakistan must hold dialogue for peace: Kasuri

Oct 3, 2016

LAHORE: The Indian Army has made it clear to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that war is not an option to settle affairs with Pakistan and both countries will have to negotiate for a peaceful resolution through dialogue.

India could not deprive Pakistan of the waters by the next 25 years as and when India was able to build dams on the run of river. This was stated by former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri during the 74th Fikri Nashist at Tech Society Club on ‘Future of Indo-Pak relations with special reference to Pakistan’s foreign policy’, according to a press release.

Former minister of state Qayyum Nizami, Manzoor Ahmed Sheikh, Dr Muhammad Sadiq, Jameel Gishkori and Zubair Sheikh also spoke on the occasion.

Mr Kasuri further said that use of tactical nuclear weapons and advanced technology were the best defence for Pakistan against any aggression in the future. Pakistan should ensure good governance and strengthen its economy besides focusing on soft power option because he said it lacked in these fields as compared to India which was bigger in size.

He said Pakistan needed to present its point of view worldwide in a befitting manner regarding the Kashmir issue. India understood that Pakistan was a nuclear power and it would have to settle its affairs with the country amicably.

Mr Nizami indicating the reasons for distrust between India and Pakistan said Indians were afraid of Pakistanis who could hoist a flag at Lal Qila and Pakistanis afraid Indians would create another Bangladesh. Had Pakistan not been a nuclear state India would have attacked it, he added.

Source: dawn.com/news/1287654/india-pakistan-must-hold-dialogue-for-peace-kasuri

Pakistan army flies media to LoC to ‘prove’ no surgical strikes by India

October 3, 2016

New Delhi: Pakistani military officials point to an Indian Army post high on a forested ridge along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir, insisting any incursions are impossible, after skirmishes ignited dangerous tensions between the nuclear rivals.

The army took the rare step of flying international media to the de-facto border to make its case in a battle of competing narratives, after India said its commandos penetrated up to three kilometres into Pakistan on anti-militant raids.

The presence of Indian forces so far across the Line of Control (LoC) would be a stinging blow to Pakistan, particularly after the 2011 US raid that killed Osama bin Laden that took place on its territory without its consent.

The media visit came Saturday as India’s army chief Gen Dalbir Singh congratulated commandos involved in what New Delhi has described as “surgical strikes” to take out terrorist launchpads after a deadly attack on an Indian army base last month.

Pakistan has flatly denied the claim, saying two of its soldiers were killed but only in cross-border fire of the kind that commonly violates a 2003 ceasefire on the LoC.

The helicopter tour took journalists to sectors just two kilometres from the dividing line, and near the locations India said it targeted in assaults on four militant camps.

On hand were senior local commanders as well as army spokesperson Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa — an omnipresent media personality who has taken centre stage on Pakistani television since the tensions erupted.

In villages like Mandhole, daily life was going on largely as normal despite the tensions, with shops and businesses open and children in pressed white uniforms walking to school.

“You have seen the lay of the land,” said Bajwa, speaking from a command post overlooking the lush green Bandala Valley, with Pakistani and Indian fortifications visible on the opposite hill.

“You can see the way the fortifications are built and the way Pakistan has layers of defence and they have layers of defence… the LoC cannot be violated,” he said.

“If they’ve caused that damage to us, we don’t know any has been caused to us! You can go and meet the civilian population. Our side is open: to the UN mission, to the media, to the general public,” he said.

‘News spreads’

It was not possible to verify the general’s claims, though villagers who spoke with a second AFP reporter in the area independent of the military-guided trip were also incredulous.

Sardar Javed, a 37-year-old journalist for Kashmiri newspapers and a resident of Tatta Pani sector, which lies just west of India-controlled Poonch sector where one of the strikes was said to have been carried out, said he had seen no evidence of a raid.

“I’m not saying it’s not true because that’s the army line. It’s because I’m from the LoC and I’m a local journalist. News spreads fast around here and people get to know whatever happens,” he said.

Mountainous Kashmir is seen as one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, where Indian and Pakistani soldiers watch one another across valleys divided by barbed wire and land mines.

The bitter neighbours agreed on the de-facto border in 1972, but both claim the territory in full. Two of their three wars have been fought over the Himalayan region.

Areas close to the 720 kilometre (450 mile) LoC are normally off-bounds even for Pakistani nationals, and the past three years have seen a surge in cross-border shelling.

Express Tribune reported that India still has not given evidence to substantiate its ‘surgical strikes’ claim.

“No such incident took place nor will we allow any such incident to happen in future,” Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), told the visiting journalists according to the Express Tribune report.

The BBC reported that “The area seemed intact, but if there were more dead bodies we would have no way of knowing. We only saw what we were shown.”

However on Sunday rubbishing Pakistan’s claims that the attack was false, IANS reports that Indian Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh lauded the Indian soldiers for making the country proud by carrying out “surgical strikes” across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian report say that the Indian Army had ‘significant casualties’ during the operation.

Source: siasat.com/news/pakistan-army-flies-media-loc-prove-no-surgical-strikes-india-1033343/

Pak should ‘counter-threat’ India: Musharraf

October 3, 2016

Washington: Former Pakistan army chief Pervez Musharraf, the architect of Kargil aggression in 1999, has said he would have “counter-threatened” India in response to the strong statements by Indian leaders following the terror attack on an Indian army camp in Uri.

“I would be counter-threatening India,” the retired general said in response to a question while speaking at the Washington Ideas Forum on Thursday.

The 73-year-old former Pakistani military dictator was referring to the statements made by Indian leaders and military officials after the Uri terror attack on September 18.

Asked about his suggestion of “counter-threatening”, Musharraf said, “Yes, because they are threatening us that they are going to strike us at the time and place of their choosing. Now, this has been said by nobody less than Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the military general, the director general military operations.

“This is a very serious matter,” Musharraf, said, adding that threats like “striking at the time and place of choosing”

Should not be made.

“What will Pakistan do? Obviously, we will strike at the time and place of our choosing,” the former President said.

“That will escalate the war. So don’t do it. I think the war hysteria that is being created in India, I repeat, India, not in Pakistan, is an issue. They do that always. This is not the only time. Every time they do that,” he alleged.

Source: siasat.com/news/pak-counter-threat-india-musharraf-1032983/

Fazl rejects report of Fata reforms committee

Oct 3, 2016

TIMERGARA: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has shown reservations over the report presented by Fata reforms committee in the Parliament, saying it includes incorrect statistics.

He was addressing a ‘Paigham-i-Aman conference’ here on Sunday that was attended by JUI workers and elders of Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Bajaur Agency.

The conference was also addressed by Federal Minister for Housing Akram Khan Durrani, JUI-F provincial chief Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, Maulana Rahat Hussain, JUI-F provincial general secretary Maulana Shujaul Mulk, Dir JUI-F emir Maulana Zahid Khan, Bajaur emir Maulana Abdul Rashid and Qazi Fazlullah.

The JUI-F chief said that tribal people were patriotic citizens of the country but they were displaced in the name of war against terrorism.

He said that Fata was declared a hub of terrorism and tribesmen were tortured, displaced and insulted.

Mr Rehman said that the future of Fata should be decided according to the wishes of tribal people. He rejected the report of Fata reforms committee, saying the report was full of incorrect statistics and information.

Criticising the USA, he said that innocent people were killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen but peace was not established there. He also demanded dignified repatriation of Afghan refugees.

The JUI-F chief also criticised Nadra for blocking national identity cards of tribesmen and asked the authorities to unblock their identity cards. He said that foreign policy of the country needed overhauling.

Mr Rehman said that workers of his party would fight alongside army if India attacked Pakistan. He said that religious scholars and students of seminaries always defeated aggressors.

“People of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will see real change after 2018 general elections,” Mr Rehman said, adding that JUI-F would form next government in the province.

He said that JUI-F would celebrate its 100th foundation day in Peshawar in April next year. He asked people to ensure their presence on the occasion.

Addressing the conference, Akram Khan Durrani said that JUI-F came into power after ‘Aalami Deoband Conference’ was held in Peshawar. He said that the party would again come into power after the three-day 100th foundation day celebrations in Peshawar.

Mr Durrani said that no change was brought anywhere in the province as provincial government was busy on Facebook and media only. He said that the PTI government even did not know how to spend funds on development projects.

Mr Durrani said that MMA government had initiated mega development projects in backward districts of the province. He said that MMA government ensured distribution of free textbooks among students of the province.

The federal minister alleged that PTI was following foreign agenda and wanted to mislead the young generation. He also criticised JI and ANP for what he called their failed policies.

Source: dawn.com/news/1287689/fazl-rejects-report-of-fata-reforms-committee

Nawaz Sharif consults opposition after surgical strike by India

October 3, 2016

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today chaired a special meeting of all parliamentary leaders to evolve a united stand and response in the wake of surgical strikes by India on terror launching pads across the LoC.

Pakistan and India have been engaged in the war of words after surgical strikes by India last week.

Pakistan has denied India’s claim of surgical strikes and termed it crsoss-border firing.

Radio Pakistan reported that Sharif chaired the important meeting of all parliamentary leaders in capital Islamabad.

“The Prime Minister will take the political leaders into confidence about the developing situation at the eastern border in the wake of blistering statements from the Indian leadership,” it reported.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry briefed the meeting about the latest situation in Kashmir and the Line of Control.

Imran Khan, who is protesting to remove the prime minister over alleged corruption, skipped the meeting but his party was represented by former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Source: siasat.com/news/nawaz-sharif-consults-opposition-surgical-strike-india-1033444/

Arab World

Fatah Al-Sham, ISIL Suffer Heavy Casualties in Army Attacks in Homs Province

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian Army troops hit hard ISIL's centers in Eastern Homs and positions of Fatah al-Sham Front (the newly-formed al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group previously known as the al-Nusra Front) in the Northern territories of the province, inflicting major losses and heavy casualties on the militants.

Syrian government forces struck heavily Fatah al-Sham's gatherings in Jorat Hasyan, al-Za'afaraniyeh, Ezzedeen, Talbiseh, Abu Safa towards Jabourin, Um Sharshouh and the village of Tal Zahab, claiming the lives of scores of militants.

In the meantime, ISIL's strongholds in al-Moshrefiyeh al-Janoubi, al-Maher oilfield and al-Bardeh region in Eastern Homs came under massive attacks by the Syrian military forces.

ISIL's military vehicles sustained major damage in the army attacks.

In relevant developments in the province on Sunday, Syrian Army soldiers and National Defense Forces (NDF) launched joint offensive on ISIL positions near al-Sha'er oilfield and pushed the terrorists back from more strongholds in the region.

Syrian government forces stormed ISIL's centers near al-Sha'er oilfield, the regions of Huweisis and al-Katibeh al-Mahjoureh near al-Tifour airport of the ancient city of Palmyra (Tadmur), and beat the terrorists back from a number of strategic positions after inflicting dozens of casualties on them.

The Syrian fighter jets played a crucial role with their air support in the ground forces' advances.

In the meantime, gatherings of Fatah al-Sham Front (the newly-formed al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group previously known as the al-Nusra Front), Rejalallah and Ahrar al-Sham in al-Rastan, Deir Foul, al-Za'afaraniyeh, Taldou, Kafr Laha, Tal Zahab and Borj Qa'ei in al-Houleh in Northern and Northwestern Homs came under attack by the army.

Early army reports from the region said the terrorists sustained scores of casualties and damaged vehicles and equipment in the attack.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000716

Syrian Army Launches Mop-Up Operation in Western Damascus

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian military forces pushed back Fatah al-Sham Front (the newly-formed al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group previously known as the al-Nusra Front) from a strategic region in Western Ghouta and started chasing the fleeing militants in a rapid cleansing operation.

Syrian army soldiers inflicted major casualties on Fatah al-Sham and took full control over Deir al-Khabiyeh and its surrounding areas.

Fatah al-Sham left scores of dead members, army and ammunition behind and retreated from the battlefield, while Syrian government forces carried out a mop-up operation to capture or kill the remaining pockets of the terrorists.

A tanks and several machinegun-equipped vehicles of Fatah al-Sham were destroyed in the army attacks.

The Syrian army has liberated 10 kilometers of Deir al-Khabiyeh's surroundings and is advancing towards the small town of al-Wadi.

The government forces have gained military control over Deir al-Khabiyeh-Maraneh road.

Army sources said on Sunday that pro-government troops in Syria were resolved to continue anti-terrorism operations in Western Ghouta to restore security to the entire territories bordering Lebanon.

"The large-scale operations in Khan al-Sheih will land a crushing strike on the militants in Western Ghouta and will end their threat to the capital Damascus," the sources said.

"Deployment of the 68th Division of the Syrian army in Western Ghouta has cut off the supply lines of the terrorists in Beit Jin from Khan al-Sheih, so they will not receive any aid from their comrades outside the region," they added.

"The 68th Division of the Syrian army is ready to fend off any terrorist attack and is preparing for massive operations in the region," the sources underlined.

"The operation underway in Western Ghouta will ruin the dreams of the Israel-backed terrorist groups to carve out this region from Damascus," the sources pointed out.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000670

ISIL Arrests Over 250 Civilians, Children in Mosul for Fear of Popular Uprising

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The ISIL terrorists went on a house-to-house search in different parts of Mosul and arrested tens of Iraqi civilians, including children, after charging them with spying for the government.

"Over 250 Iraqi youth, children and elderly people were arrested in al-Hamrat, al-Eqtesadeen, Moshirfeh and al-Havi districts of Mosul city," a local source said on Monday.

The source reiterated that arresting a large number of civilians by the ISIL comes as the terrorist group is terrified of an impending popular uprising.

On Sunday, informed local sources in Nineveh province disclosed that the ISIL had blocked the roads leading to Wadi al-Hajr district in the Southern part of the city of Mosul and set up military outposts after the M resistance movement (an opponent group of the ISIL) increased its activities in the region.

The ISIL's intensified security measures came after the letter M appeared on all walls of al-Hajr district.

M stands for the Arabic word 'Moqavamah' or 'Resistance' in English.

The ISIL terrorists are very much fearful of people's uprising in areas under their control in Mosul city.

In late August, the ISIL executed several civilians in a new brutal method after charging them with spying for the government in Mosul city.

"Six civilians were put between two trucks with their hands tied up to them; then the trucks moved in opposite directions as ISIL terrorists poured oil on the six and lit them up," the Arabic-language media quoted a local source as saying

The Mosul citizens were burned and maimed before the eyes of other people in a square near Hamam al-Alil square in Mosul city

Also in August, the ISIL terrorist group executed several civilians in a new brutal method after charging them with spying for the government in Mosul.

The Mosul citizens were burned and maimed before the eyes of other people in a square near Hamam al-Alil square in Mosul city.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000858

Syrian Army to Restart Anti-Terrorism Operation in Western Damascus If Peace Talks Fail

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian Army troops are ready to launch fresh rounds of anti-terrorism offensives in Western Ghouta if militants do not accept to lay down arms or refuse to be evacuated from two key towns in the region, a field source said on Monday.

"If terrorists in Elhameh oppose to join the peace agreement with the government, the Syrian army soldiers will start offensive on militants' positions," the source said.

"The Syrian army will not allow militants to turn Elhameh into a safe heaven for their terrorist acts, but our soldiers will not have any military operation in the region and they only target some specific targets of the militants in Elhameh," the source added.

Local sources said on Sunday that at least 6,000 civilians in another small but key town in Western Ghouta took to the streets and urged anti-government militants to leave the town.

"A major part of people in the town of Qodsiyeh poured into the streets to call on those militants, who have not joined the peace agreement with the Syrian government, to leave their town immediately," the sources said.

"Some of the anti-peace militants opened fire at the demonstrating civilians, but in a surprising move, scores of the people engaged in fighting with the terrorists and seized their weapons," the sources said.

A member of the peace committee announced on Saturday that scores of militants in two towns in the Western countryside of Damascus city were getting ready to surrender to the government authorities or be evacuated to other cities across the country.

"Most of the militants in Qodsiyeh and Elhameh have agreed to lay down their arms and turn themselves in to the government officials," the source said, adding, "Some paragraphs of the peace agreement with the government is giving this chance to those militants, who do not wish to surrender, to leave the towns only with light arms to be relocated to other militant-held regions."

"Militants' leader in Qodsiyeh and Elhameh are preparing a list of fighters who want to lay down arms and join the peace plan with the government," the source said.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000582

Militants Launch Heavy Missile Attack on Hama's Neighborhoods

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The missile batteries of Ahrar al-Sham terrorist group opened heavy fire at residential areas in Hama city, inflicting a heavy death toll on the civilians.

The terrorist group released footage of the shelling of Hama with at least 40 grad missiles, claiming that they were targeting the Syrian Army positions at Hama's military airport with a weapon well-known to be among the very least accurate weapons known to cause disproportionate carnage on civilians.

Several civilians were killed and several more were wounded in the terrorist attacks.

A militant commander revealed last month that several foreign states gave rebels surface-to-surface Grad rockets of a type not previously supplied to them in response to a major Russian-backed offensive in Aleppo.

The Grad rockets with a range of 22 km and 40 km were supplied in excellent quantities and would be used on battlefronts in Aleppo, Hama and the coastal region, rebel commander Colonel Fares al-Bayoush said at the time.

While Grad missiles had previously been supplied to rebels, Bayoush underlined that it was the first time this particular type was delivered.

Each salvo contains 40 rockets, he said, without giving further details. The rebels had previous stocks of the rocket captured from army stores, he added.

The militant commander claimed that there was as yet no sign of the rebels being supplied with anti-aircraft missiles they have demanded, while other terrorist groups, including Fatah Al-Sham Front (the newly-formed al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists group previously known as the al-Nusra Front) and ISIL already started using such weapons systems.

A video posted on YouTube last month showed Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants firing Grad missiles at Syrian government positions near Aleppo. Meanwhile, Bayoush confirmed the weapons being fired in the video were newly supplied.

Militant groups fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner have received military aid from states opposed to President Bashar al-Assad via a US-backed coordination center in Turkey.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000492

Saudi Military Base in Assir Province Comes Under Yemen's Missile Attack Again

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Yemeni army and popular forces hit Saudi Arabia's strategic military positions and bases in the kingdom's Assir province with a Zalzal-3 ballistic missile in retaliation for the Saudi airstrikes on residential areas across Yemen.

The Yemeni missile attack inflicted heavy losses on the Saudi troops in al-Montazah military base in Assir province's al-Zahran region.

Early reports indicate large casualties on the Saudi forces in the missile attack. The Saudi army and its coalition members have lost, at least, over a hundred troops each time they have come under a ballistic missile attack by Yemen.

The Saudi-led forces' armored vehicles were destroyed during the Yemeni missile attack.

Informed sources announced on Sunday that the Yemeni army and popular forces have fully taken control of four strategic regions in three Saudi provinces.

The Yemeni forces are now in full control of Jabal (Mount) al-Doud in Jizan province, Jabal (Mount) al-Dokhan in Jizan, Jabal (Mount) al-Sar in Najran province and Jabal (Mount) al-Rahwa in al-Rabou'a region of Assir province, Ahd al-Jadid wrote on its Twitter page.

Ahd al-Jadid said that the mountains that are under Ansarullah's control are overlooking Jizan, Najran and Assir provinces and for the same reason Saudi Arabia is now in a very critical situation meaning that Riyadh has earned nothing and rather lost territory in the last 18 months of war on Yemen.

Ahd al-Jadid called on those who claim that Saudi Arabia is still in control of these mountains to release a video on areas under their control.

The Saudi military has been pounding Yemen since March 2015 to undermine Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and to restore power to the former fugitive President Mansour Hadi.

Over 11,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in Riyadh’s military aggression which lacks any international mandate.

The UN human rights office said in August that the Saudi military is using cluster bombs against residential areas in Yemen in violation of international law, blaming the Riyadh regime for most of the civilian casualties in its impoverished southern neighbor.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the United States in May for selling cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom had used various types of US-made cluster munitions in its war against Yemen despite evidence of mounting civilian casualties.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000903

Hospitals Become ‘Part of Battlefield’ after US Airstrike on Kunduz Hospital

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- International medical group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Monday that since one year ago after MSF hospital in Afghanistan was hit by over 200 shells in an infamous US airstrike, medical facilities have become “part of the battlefield”.

Speaking to reporters in Kabul on the anniversary of the deadly Kunduz strike, MSF president Meinie Nicolai said the organization has “recorded 77 attacks against medical facilities operated or supported by MSF in Syria and Yemen”, RT reported.

Calling the situation “unprecedented,” Nicolai said that “hospitals are now part of the battlefield". Most of the facilities, according to Nicolai, are targeted “in the name of war against terrorism.” She noted that attacks against civilian medical centers and ambulances are “systematic” in Syria.

One year after the Kunduz attack, the organization is still not back in the Afghan city, and has also left Northern Yemen. The organization said it is struggling “to give support to the people of Syria.”

The Kunduz attack prompted a rare apology from President Barack Obama at the time, but former CIA officer Jack Rice told RT that there is “no excuse” for the deadly assault.

“…What we find is that Doctors Without Borders made it very clear to all sides exactly where they were, so the Americans have absolutely no excuse whatsoever, when it comes to the airstrike in this particular case,” Rice said.

According to MSF, the Kunduz raid, conducted by an AC-130 gunship, lasted nearly an hour and left patients burning in their beds. Some were decapitated, while others suffered amputations as a result of the strike.

Although the organization has called the attack a war crime, the US military concluded in an investigation earlier this year that the troops responsible would not face war crimes charges because the airstrike was a mistake.

Guilhem Molinie, MSF country representative in Afghanistan, said he had access to 700 of the 3,000 pages of the US report on Kunduz. The rest are classified.

“The US forces, operating in Kunduz on that date, assumed that self-defense was allowing them to attack,” he said. “The entire city of Kunduz was judged as hostile. This is extremely shocking for us which means that everybody in the city on the date was assumed to be hostile.”

MSF has repeatedly called for an independent international inquiry into the incident.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000992

Senior Artillery Commander of Terrorists Killed in Army Attacks in Aleppo

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the artillery units of Ahrar al-Sham was killed in a missile attack on his car in the Southwestern part of Aleppo city.

Abu Nour al-Turki, who was also a notorious commander of Jeish al-Fatah terrorist coalition, was killed in a thermo missile attack by the Syrian Army and Hezbollah's missile units who hit the convoy of his vehicles in Housing Project 1070.

In addition to al-Turki, a number of Ahrar al-Sham fighters were also killed in the attack.

Reports said earlier today that Syrian Army soldiers and their popular allies have taken back more positions from the terrorist groups in the Northern outskirts of Aleppo city, and are preparing to take yet another major stride in completing the siege of the terrorists.

"Syrian government forces drove out Jeish al-Fatah terrorists from al-Shaqif region in the Northern outskirts of Aleppo city and launched mop-up operation in the newly-captured region," the sources said.

"Al-Shaqif region is now under the full control of the Syrian army men and other pro-government combatants," the sources added.

"With the seizure of al-Shaqif region, al-Kandi hospital and Handarat camp, the Syrian government forces are tightening their siege on the militants trapped in the Eastern districts of Aleppo city," they underlined.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000948

Syrian Army, Air Force Target Jeish Al-Islam's Defense Lines in Eastern Damascus

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian Army troops, backed up by the country's fighter jets, continued to hit hard Jeish al-Islam's positions in Eastern Ghouta, claiming the lives of scores of militants.

Syrian army soldiers stormed Jeish al-Islam's lines of defense near the militant-stronghold town of Douma, inflicting major losses and casualties on the terrorists.

The Syrian fighter jets, for their part, struck Jeish al-Islam's positions near Douma, Jobar, al-Reihan farms, town of al-Reihan, Arbin, al-Mid'ani region and a region between Ein Terma and Kafr Batna, killing or wounding scores of militants.

Last month, Syrian Army troops and National Defense Forces (NDF) continued to advance against Jeish al-Islam in the Northeastern side of the militant-held town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta.

Syrian Government forces, after hours of non-stop battle, pushed Jeish al-Islam back from farms between al-Reihan and Tal Kurdi in the Northeastern side of Douma's farms, inflicting tens of casualties on the militants.

Syrian army, in its operation, discovered a long network of tunnels and defused a number of bombs and landmines planted by the terrorists in the region.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000860

Terrorists' Convoy Destroyed in Aerial Bombardments in Idlib Province

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian and Russian air forces destroyed the military hardware of the terrorists in Idlib province.

The aerial bombardments on the militants' military positions in Idlib province left scores of the terrorists dead and wounded.

Meantime, the Syrian army and popular forces also hit hard the military positions of the terrorists in other key provinces across Syria.

Idlib

A long convoy of Jeish al-Fatah's vehicles carrying fresh forces, arms and ammunition to the battlefields in Northern Hama came under heavy bombardment by the Syrian and Russian fighter jets in Southern Idlib, military sources said.

"The Russian and Syrian warplanes targeted the Jeish al-Fatah convoy in Southern Idlib," the sources said, adding, "Most of the vehicles that were carrying a large volume of weapons and a number of fresh terrorists to the Northern and Northeastern territories of Hama were destroyed in the air raids."

In the meantime, Russian fighter jets pounded Jund al-Aqsa's bases at television-radio building complex, al-Hal bazaar and cooking-oil Company in Saraqib.

The Syrian army troops, for their part, engaged in heavy fighting with terrorist in Northern Hama, and killed tens of militants, including commander of Abna al-Sham Abu Riyan al-Homawi and Belgian Abu Abdullah.

Earlier on Sunday, the Syrian air force bombed Jeish al-Fatah's positions in al-Tamanna, al-Mutawaseteh, Maarat al-Nu'aman and Eastern side of Khan Sheikhoun, claiming the lives of dozens of militants.

Jeish al-Fatah also suffered a heavy death toll and its hardware sustained major damage in the Syrian fighter jets' attacks on the group's stronghold in Saraqib.

The Syrian army planes, meantime, dropped surrender-now leaflets over militant-held regions in Saraqib.

Hama

Syrian warplanes carried out scores of combat sorties over the concentration centers of Jeish al-Fatah terrorists in Northern Hama, slowing down militants' movements in the region.

Syrian Army aircraft launched heavy airstrikes over Jeish al-Fatah' defense lines in Ma'ardes, Qabeibat Abu al-Huda, al-Naqra al-Biada, Morek, Tal Jadid, Tal al-Naseriyeh, Kafr Zita, Khafsin and Dahret al-Soada in Northern Hama, destroying the militants' vehicles and equipment.

The Syrian fighter jets also targeted the positions of Jeish al-Fatah in Atshan, Skeik, al-Shatha, al-Tlisia, al-Kbarya and Soran in the Northern territories of Hama, destroying several tanks and vehicles.

Full report at:en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000501

Syrian Gov't Forces Tightening Noose on Militants in Aleppo City

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian Army soldiers and their popular allies have taken back more positions from the terrorist groups in the Northern outskirts of Aleppo city, and are preparing to take yet another major stride in completing the siege of the terrorists, battlefield sources said Monday.

"Al-Shaqif region is now under the full control of the Syrian army men and other pro-government combatants," the sources added.

On Sunday, the General Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces called on terrorists in the Eastern districts of Aleppo to leave the city via the specified corridors under the protection of the country's soldiers and their Russian allies.

The General Staff of Armed Forces, in a move to protect the civilian population, called on militants, trapped in the Eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo city, to leave the city.

"The Russian and Syrian Army soldiers will allow the militants to leave the city through the government-established corridors without any problem," the General Staff said, vowing to provide the militants with full assistance.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000431

Syrian Army, Popular Forces Continue to Advance against Terrorists North of Aleppo

October 3, 2016

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian government forces stormed the positions of Jeish al-Fatah in the Northern outskirts of Aleppo city and pushed them back from more farms in the region.

Syrian military forces, following hours of non-stop battle, inflicted major casualties on Jeish al-Fatah militants, and pushed them back from 16 more farms Southwest of the Handarat Palestinian Refugees Camp in Northern Aleppo.

In the meantime, the Syrian army seized full control over al-Kandi hospital and fortified its positions in this strategic region.

The government forces launched mop-up operation in areas surrounding al-Kandi hospital and are chasing the fleeting terrorists.

On Sunday, Syrian army soldiers and their popular allies continued their advances against Jeish al-Fatah in the Northern districts of Aleppo city and captured one of the main positions of the terrorist group following hours of non-stop battle.

Syrian government forces inflicted major losses and casualties on Jeish al-Fatah in Bostan al-Pasha districts and captured Bakarah quarries.

"Jeish al-Fatah has left tens of dead or wounded members behind and retreated from the battlefield," army and popular forces said on Sunday.

Source: en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950712000363

Southeast Asia

IS May Be Recruiting Chinese-Muslims

Mon, October 3 2016

IPOH: Bukit Aman believes that the Islamic State is looking to recruit Chinese-Muslims after discovering a video on the Internet promoting its ideology.

Its Special Branch officer Deputy Supt Tan Kok Thean said the video, which was found earlier this year, featured religious songs sung in Chinese.

"Although no Malaysian Chinese has been found joining the militant group, we are still on high alert as such a recruitment drive is something we must not take lightly," he said during a seminar on national security threats here yesterday.

The seminar was jointly organised by non-governmental organisation Gandingan Bersatu Malaysia and Persatuan Keselamatan Sukarela Menglembu Perak.

DSP Tan said 61 Malaysians had flown to Syria to join the fight against the Syrian military so far.

"Since 2001 to August this year, we have arrested 550 people found to be involved in extremist activities," he said.

He also said that Malaysians should not label laws introduced to protect this country - Sedition Act, Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, Prevention of Crime Act and Prevention of Terrorism Act - as "draconian".

"It's wrong to say that. These laws are necessary to protect our country against national security threats like IS. If we don't have them in place, militants will take advantage by carrying out bombings," he said.

DSP Tan urged parents to be vigilant and keep their children under close watch as they were exposed to various influences online.

"We found a magazine available for download on the Internet that highlights IS' latest activities.

"Social media can be a challenge for us, as the group is known to use social media platforms to recruit members especially those who are from the younger generation," he said.

Saying that everyone had a role to play, DSP Tan appealed to the public to keep an eye out on militant-related threats.

"Please contact us if you find any militant publications," he said.

Source: news.asiaone.com/news/malaysia/malaysia-police-may-be-recruiting-chinese-muslims

Abu Sayyaf Militants Release Three Indonesian Hostages

Mon, October 3 2016

Islamic militants in the Philippines have freed three Indonesian sailors abducted at sea, officials said, in the latest release by the Abu Sayyaf group after a kidnapping spree in the restive south.

The Abu Sayyaf handed over the three men on Jolo island to a major rebel group which then released them to authorities yesterday, government peace negotiator Jesus Dureza said.

“The turnover was smooth and now the three will get a medical check-up and a debriefing before being turned over to an Indonesian representative,” Dureza told AFP.

The three were part of a group of sailors abducted by the Abu Sayyaf in June, authorities said.

The terms of the release were not disclosed, but the Abu Sayyaf typically releases hostages after hefty ransom payments are paid.

Indonesia’s foreign minister Retno Marsudi also confirmed the three hostages — Ferry Arifin, Edi Suryono and Muhamad Mabrur Dahri — had been freed and would be handed over to a team from the Indonesian embassy.

Yesterday’s handover was the latest hostage release overseen by Nur Misuari, an elder Muslim rebel leader with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) group.

After a decades-long insurgency, the MNLF is currently engaged in peace talks with President Rodrigo Duterte. The Abu Sayyaf is not part of the peace process.

“These recent breakthroughs were a convergence of efforts that President Duterte initiated, getting the co-operation of the MNLF,” Dureza said.

In mid-September, a Norwegian hostage kidnapped in 2015 and three other Indonesian seamen were handed over by the Abu Sayyaf to Misuari who then passed them on to the government. A few days later, another kidnapped Indonesian sailor was freed through the MNLF.

Military sources say the Abu Sayyaf are still holding a Dutch hostage, five Malaysians, two Indonesians and four Filipinos in their jungle stronghold.

The militants beheaded two Canadian hostages earlier this year, after failing to collect a ransom.

The Abu Sayyaf is a loose network of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, and has earned millions of dollars from kidnappings-for-ransom. While its leaders have in recent years pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, analysts say it is mainly focused on a lucrative kidnapping business rather than religious ideology.

Source: gulf-times.com/story/515976/Abu-Sayyaf-militants-release-three-Indonesian-host

Jakarta election and the rise of hip Muslim voters

Mon, October 3 2016

Life has been particularly hard lately for Yusril Ihza Mahendra, leader of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), one of the last vestiges of Indonesia’s Islamist politics that reached its heyday during the Sukarno era.

After months of engaging in absurd theatrics that included sporting a Mickey Mouse T-shirt while shopping at a wet market in West Jakarta and the intensive lobbying of leaders of secular political parties, the former law and human rights minister just had to accept the fact that the current political mood —driven mainly by talkative, demanding, judgmental millennials with their smartphones — does not favor his political bid in the capital.

Yusril had worked hard. He was only days away from clinching a nomination when Anies Baswedan, a Muslim scholar who had no formal affiliations with any political party, suddenly showed up and snatched his only chance to become a Jakarta governor.

Neither the Cikeas Coalition, led by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, nor the Kertanegara Coalition, led by former general Prabowo Subianto, thought Yusril had a good chance to win the race against the incumbent: Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.

Yusril’s failure to join the gubernatorial race symbolizes the post-Islamist turn of Indonesian Muslims, particularly in Jakarta.

In recent years, the country has witnessed the emergence of what author Ariel Heryanto calls post-Islamism in his book, Identity and Pleasure: The Politics of Indonesian Screen Culture. The term, coined by Iranian sociologist Asef Bayat, has several meanings, but it generally refers to a departure from Islamism, a political ideology that aims to create a formal Islamic state.

There is no doubt Indonesians have become more religious, but that does not necessarily mean they are supporting Islamist agendas. Islamists and post-Islamists have totally different attitudes toward many issues, be they religious or secular. For Islamists, for example, the hijab is a political statement (imagine the female Islamic activists, the akhwats, at universities in the late 1980s). For post-Islamists, the hijab is a fashion statement (imagine performers Zaskia Adya Mecca and Dewi Sandra).

The former denounce cinemas as symbols of “Western decadence”; the latter support production of Islamic-themed films so they can go to cinemas without having to compromise their faith. Post-Islamists represent a new generation of Muslims, young and affluent, who can easily blend Islamic values and popular culture. In short, they are “cool” Muslims.

How Islamic, or cool, are they? In his study, Heryanto made it clear that — just like Islamism and the term “cool” itself — post-Islamism is not monolithic. Some post-Islamists are more liberal/conservative and hipper/lamer than others.

Hijab-wearing Muslim college girls can listen to Swedish R&B singer Maher Zein and local band Wali, or they can scorn Wali as alay (uncool) and choose to post filtered photos of themselves in a Kings and Convenience concert on Instagram.

I argue that post-Islamists could make up the majority of voters in Jakarta and the three candidates in the race will be competing for their votes.

Amalia Ayuningtyas, founder of Teman Ahok, who wears a hijab to show her identity as a Muslim, represents the city’s post-Islamists who see Ahok as the right person to lead the capital regardless of his race and religion.

A July survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) showed that many Jakartans do not care about race and religion in choosing a leader, which explains why Ahok could top many political surveys in terms of electability.

The LSI survey, however, does not necessarily mean Jakartans are not racist or will not look into a candidate’s race and religion. It is possible that the people interviewed in the survey just did not want to come off as racist or sectarian, so they claimed race and religion did not matter in elections.

Post-Islamists are too urban, too hip and too educated to be lumped together with members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and their ilk.

The other explanation for it would be the fact that a few months ago Ahok was the only candidate to have what it takes to lead Jakarta. Other than Yusril, Ahok’s initial rivals included gaffe-prone songwriter Ahmad Dhani and United Development Party (PPP) politician Lulung Lunggana, who are basically the embarrassing uncles of anyone who hates Ahok.

But the game changed with the nomination of Anies, the poster boy of Indonesia’s post-Islamist culture and politics. Unlike Agus Harimurti, who seems to have no idea whatsoever about what he is doing after having been nominated as gubernatorial candidate at the 11th hour by his own father, Anies, a renowned scholar and former education minister, offers what Yusril, Dhani and Lulung could not give: the type of Islam that does not make you look medieval.

Anies, therefore, could be a formidable rival for Ahok. Jakarta’s Muslim voters may not be racist and sectarian, as the LSI survey claimed, but if they have to choose between Anies and Ahok, regardless of the candidates’ programs and leadership skills, they would likely be more comfortable with the former.

That said, despite all the noises made by anti-fun Islamists and their snotty liberal foes, the Ayat-ayat Cinta (Verses of Love) generation, with their stylish hijab and cool blogs, may have the final say in this election.

Source: thejakartapost.com/news/2016/10/03/jakarta-election-and-rise-hip-muslim-voters.html

Indonesian jailed over IS-linked terror plots 0

Mon, October 3 2016

JAKARTA: An Indonesian militant was jailed for six years Monday over a series of failed plots hatched under the guidance of an Indonesian jihadist fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria.

Arif Hidayatullah plotted to assassinate Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, and bomb a Jewish community center and a mosque used by members of the Muslim Shia minority, a court heard.

The 31-year-old, who was detained last December on the outskirts of Jakarta, did not carry out any of his plans because he was not confident his homemade bombs were ready.

The Jakarta court heard he concocted the plots under the wing of Bahrun Naim, a leading Indonesian militant fighting with IS, who has been linked to several botched assaults in his homeland, from a plot to fire a rocket at Singapore to a suicide attack on a police station.

There has been an upsurge of violence and attempted attacks in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country over the past year due to the growing influence of IS.

Hidayatullah was found guilty of possessing explosive materials intended for use in terror attacks.

“The defendant is declared to be convincingly guilty of terrorism offences and is sentenced to six years in prison,” Judge Siti Jamzanah told the court.

He also helped five Indonesians travel to Syria and helped a Uighur radical enter Indonesia, the court heard. The Uighur was later arrested outside Jakarta as he prepared to carry out a suicide bombing.

Indonesia has long struggled with Islamic militancy, suffering attacks in the 2000s including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

A sustained crackdown weakened the most dangerous networks but IS has proved a potent new rallying cry for Indonesia’s radicals, stoking fears that militants fighting with the group could seek to organize attacks back home.

In January an IS-claimed suicide bombing and gun attack in Jakarta left four civilians and four attackers dead.

Source: manilatimes.net/indonesian-jailed-over-is-linked-terror-plots/289246/

Bomb blast rocks village near Myanmar border

03-10-2016

NK More, Imphal, Oct 3 : A powerful bomb was detonated along the Manipur-Myanmar boundary, near a Muslim village, officials said on Monday.

Official sources said the blast took place near boundary pillar No.79 at 8 p.m. on Sunday, hardly 40 metres from a Muslim village.

Soon after the blast, the police and Assam Rifles troopers rushed to make investigation.

No arrest was made. There has been no claim from any underground organisation either. The police said the motive behind the blast is yet unclear.

Some villagers said, "We feared more blasts and exchange of fire. Most of us fled towards the town to stay in the houses of relatives and friends."

Source: newkerala.com/news/2016/fullnews-127154.html

North America

‘Punched In Throat’ For Wearing Traditional Attire, Alleges US Muslim Scholar

Oct 2, 2016

Washington: A Muslim researcher in the United States who was on his way to deliver Friday sermon wearing traditional attire was allegedly punched by an unknown man in Washington, a media report said.

Rashid Dar, a researcher at Brookings think-tank, was walking along with his brother near Dupont metro station when a man approached him and punched him in the throat. His brother ran behind the attacker but he managed to flee.

Dar, who was about to finish up a sermon he was set to give downtown, was donning a black overcoat often worn by imams and a hat for praying.

"I believe I was attacked for the way I was dressed," Mr Dar was quoted as saying by DCist news website.

"It is generally my habit to wear overtly Muslim clothing on my way to Friday prayer. I'm a proud Muslim. I don't feel the need to apologize for it," he said.

Mr Dar reported the incident to the police and tweeted the incident.

"I was just walking to the subway near Dupont Circle, and am clothed in traditional Muslim grab on my way to give a Friday sermon. An individual suddenly dropped his bag and punched me in the throat, and ran away. Multiple eyewitnesses in the street saw it. Still in a state of shock," Mr Dar tweeted.

Mr Dar said this is the first time that he has faced harassment in Washington, but his wife, who wears a headscarf, has dealt with Islamophobia on a more consistent basis. Mr Dar said in his experience, Muslims are facing more discrimination now than after 9/11.

"Things that were previously kept in the shadows and not within polite company could now happen in broad daylight. This happened in broad daylight," he said. "Aside from getting punched in the throat, I think I had a pretty good day. This incident hasn't decreased my faith in the kind of people I am surrounded by, even on the streets," Mr Dar said.

Source:deccanchronicle.com/world/america/021016/punched-in-throat-for-wearing-traditional-attire-alleges-muslim-scholar.html

Trump Is Trying to Turn Gays Against Muslims

OCTOBER 03 2016

Donald Trump is pinning his hopes for the presidency on generating high enthusiasm and turnout among conservative white evangelicals, who make up a big part of the Republican Party base and who have been intensely opposed to every advance in legal equality for LGBT Americans. But there’s a group of conservative gays doggedly trying to convince LGBT people that the religious right-embracing Trump would be a better president for LGBT people than Hillary Clinton. It’s absurd, but it’s an absurd election.

Let’s review how Trump has courted members of the religious right: He allowed them to write discrimination into the Republican Party platform; he picked the solidly antigay Mike Pence as his running mate; he has promised to fill the Supreme Court with justices in the mold of the equality-despising Antonin Scalia; and he has promised to make conservative churches more politically powerful by eliminating legal restrictions that prevent churches, like other tax-exempt nonprofits, from engaging in direct electoral work. None of those things are remotely good for LGBT Americans.

Of course, gay Republicans are used to denying or at least making peace with the realities of their party. This week the Log Cabin Republicans celebrated their annual Spirit of Lincoln gathering with an address by Newt Gingrich, whose theme in recent years has been “Rediscovering God in America.” A few years back, Gingrich funneled $125,000 to the campaign to unseat Iowa Supreme Court justices who ruled in favor of marriage equality, and his own presidential campaign featured attacks on “gay and secular fascism” and pledges to support a constitutional ban on same-sex couples getting married. He defended anti-equality language in this year’s GOP platform, saying, “It’s a fact that we are the socially conservative party.”

So what is the rationale for Trump’s gay apologists? At the surreal Gays for Trump party during the Republican National Convention, the focus was on Muslims as the real threat to gay people. The party, which featured speakers from the racist American alt-right and the anti-Muslim European far right, was attended by white nationalist leaders.

Full report at:advocate.com/commentary/2016/10/03/trump-trying-turn-gays-against-muslims

South Asia

Saving Afghanistan From the Edge of Failure

Mon Oct 03 2016

In the last two years, Afghanistan has been facing unprecedented challenges. However, several major development projects have initiated, launched or completed. But the government has failed to deliver its promises. Thousands of Afghans died in violence. The government lost control of several districts across the country and hundreds of thousands of Afghans forced to flee their home. Unemployment and corruption is at its peak. Disunity among the Afghans have increased and the country is more fragile than ever. If the world community does not engage immediately, Afghanistan will turn into a second Iraq.

After a major election crisis and controversy, the coalition government of national unity inaugurated in September of 2014. Without release of the election results, in a mediation of the US Secretary of State John Kerry, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani introduced as a president and his political rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah as his chief.

unnamed-81

Secretary of State John Kerry between Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani, after he succeeded to convince both candidates to establish a coalition government (August 8, 2014. Photo by U.S. State Department)

Since its establishment, the legitimacy of the National Unity Government (NUG) has challenged and called unconstitutional. Following the deal for the new government, Afghanistan and the US signed the Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO Status of Forces Agreement, allowing the US and its NATO allies to stay in Afghanistan, beyond 2015.

U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, James B. Cunningham signs the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar and NATO Ambassador Maurits Jochems signs the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) on behalf of allies in Kabul on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. (Photo by/U.S. State Department)

U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, James B. Cunningham signs the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar Sept. 30, 2014. (Photo by/U.S. State Department)

Paying $ 4 billion a year to the Afghan National Security and Defense Forces (ANSDF) and $1 billion for development projects, the US is the largest donor of Afghanistan. In 2011, during the second Bonn Conference on Afghanistan, the world community has agreed to support Afghanistan for ten years, the Decade of Transformation (2015-2024).

Overall Afghanistan is more prosperous than ever. Beyond the repetitive stories of Afghanistan’s new constitution, three times presidential elections, ten million students enrolled in schools, 352000 ANSDF, international partnerships and global recognition of the government, women’s rights, use of cell phone, internet and much more, there are some other great stories as well.

Full report at:khaama.com/saving-afghanistan-from-the-edge-of-failure-02000

Atmar strongly reacts regarding Karzai’s insult in Rabbani event

Mon Oct 03 2016

The National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar has strongly reacted towards the insulting of the former Afghan President Hamid Karzai during an event to mark the death anniversary of Burhanuddin Rabbani.

In a statement released by the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Atmar has called Karzai an influential personality in the history of the country for his role as the Afghan President and a national figure.

Atmar blamed the outsiders for using some specific circles to insult Karzai who was invited during an event organized on Friday to mark the death anniversary of Rabbani.

Expressing his strong condemnations towards the move to insult the former Afghan President, Atmar warned that such moves against the former or current president or other national figures would have negative consequences.

The remarks by Atmar came as the prominent security official General Abdul Razaq earlier reacted towards the move against Karzai with angry remarks.

Gen. Raziq took some further steps not only to react towards the insulting steps against Karzai but to denounce the so called allocation of privileges of jihad to some specific groups.

Expressing his strong opposition for the event and offering privilege to certain Mujahideen leaders, Gen. Raziq warned that the people of Kandahar will not remain silent, insisting that supremacy of jihad is not limited to a particular ethnic group.

He went on to say that ‘no one is allowed to labe a thief to her’ emphasizing that the real Mujahideen like Mullah Omar and the group’s slain military commander Mullah Dadullah have no properties or businesses left behind them.

Source: khaama.com/atmar-strongly-reacts-regarding-karzais-insult-in-rabbani-event-01999

Afghanistan welcomes $1 billion pledged by UK ahead of Brussels conference

Mon Oct 03 2016

Afghanistan welcomed the announcement by the United Kingdom to provide up to $1 billion in aid as the government is preparing to host a major conference in Brussels this week.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani thanked Prime Minister Teresa May for this generous contribution of the government and people of the United Kingdom, and said “this contribution is a testimony of the strong partnership of the two nations and a clear vote of confidence to the reform agenda of the government of Afghanistan”

He said “the government of Afghanistan will do all it can to make sure every single cent of it is used transparently to alleviate poverty and promote development and peace.”

The United Kingdom is expected to pledge $970 million in development aid to Afghanistan as a major conference is due to kick off in Brussels on 4th October.

Britain’s International Development Secretary Priti Patel has told The Independent that the aid will be utilised from 2017 to 2020.

“The UK’s presence in Afghanistan over the last decade has helped improve security and prevent it from once again becoming a base of operations for global terrorists that would threaten the streets of Britain. We have improved the lives of Afghans significantly – with millions more children in school, better healthcare, and greater prosperity. But huge challenges remain – not least the continuing threat from the Taliban,” Patel has said.

She also added that “That is why the UK will commit up to £750m, from the aid budget, to Afghanistan between 2017 and 2020 to help create a more stable country and improve people’s lives – particularly for women and girls. The money will support the provision of services like health and education. In addition we will contribute to the urgent UN flash appeal to help protect internally displaced people who have fled their homes. Our support will also help clear deadly mines from areas where people live – reducing the human suffering brought about by years of conflict, and letting children go back to school and people get back to their daily lives. The British people have a proud history of supporting mine clearance. And with conflicts burning across the globe, it is vital that Global Britain, while taking steps to end those conflicts, is also there to help with their deadly aftermath.”

This comes as the United States earlier said it expects the upcoming international conference will bring pledges of over $3 billion a year to Afghanistan for development support.

“We expect strong pledges of renewed support to be announced next week, collectively totaling over $3 billion a year in development support through 2020,” the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson said.

Olson further added that the aid would be dependent on Afghan progress in implementing reforms including countering corruption.

He said he expects the Afghan government to announce “ambitious” medium-term plans to wean itself of donor support and stimulate economic growth.

The conference in Brussels will be hosted by the European Union and Afghanistan on 4th and 5th of October and some 70 countries and 30 international organizations and agencies will participate.

Source: khaama.com/afghanistan-welcomes-1-billion-pledged-by-uk-ahead-of-brussels-conference-02001

Top police official killed as Taliban launch major attack in Helmand

Mon Oct 03 2016

A top police official was killed in a major coordinated attack launched by the Taliban militants in the restive Nawa district of southern Helmand province.

The district police chief of Nawa was reportedly killed during the clashes with the Taliban militants earlier this morning.

There are reports that the Taliban insurgents have managed to take control of some of the areas of Nawa district during the gun battle with the Afghan forces.

However, the local government and security officials have not commented regarding the report so far.

Helmand is among the relatively volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are actively operating in a number of its districts and often carry out insurgency activities.

The Taliban insurgents have launched several coordinated attacks to take control of the key districts of Helmand, including a major attacck that put the provincial capital Lashkargah on the brink of collapse.

The Afghan forces took control of Nawa district for the first time by launching a major assault against the Taliban insurgents earlier last year.

Source: khaama.com/top-police-official-killed-as-taliban-launch-major-attack-in-helmand-01998

Taliban launch coordinated attack on Kunduz city

Mon Oct 03 2016

The Taliban militants launched a coordinated attack on Kunduz city to recapture its control a year after the control of the strategic city was briefly taken by the militants.

The provincial officials have said the attack was launched from different areas on the city late on Sunday night and sporadic clashes still continue in the outskirts of the city.

An official in the provincial council confirmed the launch of the offensive by the Taliban and said the militants have managed to reach Se Saraka area of the city.

The official further added that the militants have blocked some key routes to the other districts of Kunduz including the highway connecting to Aliabad district.

There are no reports regarding the casualties as a result of the coordinated attack so far.

The Taliban militants have launched numerous attacks on Kunduz city since it was retaken by the Afghan Special Operations Forces earlier in the month of October.

The Taliban insurgents were accused of horrific criminal activities after they seized control of the city, including target killings, rape, kidnappings, use of civilians as shields, looting of public and private properties.

The Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan said at least 50 civilians were killed and over 350 others were wounded.

However, the rights organization said the number could be relatively higher as AIHRC said their statistics was based on hospital reports and several others had not been taken to hospital after they were killed or injured.

Source: khaama.com/taliban-launch-coordinated-attack-on-kunduz-city-01997

1 killed, 2 wounded in an explosion in Kabul

Mon Oct 03 2016

A relatively heavy explosion rocked capital Kabul earlier this morning leaving at least one person dead and two others wounded.

Eyewitnesses in the police district 10 of the city have said several people have sustained injuries in the blast.

An official in the Ministry of Interior confirmed the incident and said the blast took place around 6:50 am local time.

The source further added that the incident took place in Charqala area of the city after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted in a bicycle was detonated.

According to the official, at least one person was killed in the incident and another two were injured but the eyewitnesses are saying that two people were killed and several others were wounded.

No group including the Taliban militants has so far claimed responsibility behind the incident.

Source: khaama.com/heavy-explosion-rocks-kabul-01996

Bangladesh acquits student suspected in July cafe attack

Sun Oct 02 2016

A man who was dining in a Dhaka cafe when it was attacked by Islamist militants and who was later detained as a suspect has been acquitted of terrorism charges and released on bail, police said on Sunday.

Tahmid Hasib Khan, 22, was at the Holey Artisan Bakery on the evening of July 1 when it was stormed by militants, beginning a 12-hour siege in which 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, two police officers and six suspected attackers died.

In video footage filmed by witnesses and militants, Khan appeared holding a pistol and talking to the hostage-takers, but police said forensic analysis had shown the Toronto University student had been forced to do so.

Based on these findings and there being no witnesses or other evidence of Khan's involvement in the attack, a court in Dhaka had acquitted him, Masudur Rahman, spokesman of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police told Reuters.

Khan is the second person to be released without charge in an investigation that has led to only seven arrests, leading to criticism of the police by some newspapers and social media.

The cafe attack was the worst in a recent escalation of violence by Islamist militants in Bangladesh that has included a rise in killings of liberals and religious minorities in the mostly Muslim nation of 160 million.

Although Al Qaeda and Islamic State have been making competing claims of responsibility, the government has dismissed suggestions that Islamic State has a presence in Bangladesh, even though 'selfies' of some of the attackers posing with an automatic rifle were posted on the jihadi group's propaganda outlets during the siege.

Khan's case, and that of another man, Hasnat Karim, who has British and Bangladeshi dual citizenship, has also drawn criticism from human rights groups who say they were illegally detained and denied access to a lawyer.

Karim and Khan were among 32 survivors rescued by police and taken into custody for questioning. Karim, a 47-year-old engineer, was at the cafe with his family to celebrate his daughter's 13th birthday.

Source: in.reuters.com/article/bangladesh-attack-bail-idINKCN1220R1

Muslims in Bangladesh to observe Ashura on Oct 12

Mon Oct 03 2016

Muslims in Bangladesh, specially the Shia community, will observe the Ashura on Oct 12 as the moon of Islamic month Moharram has been sighted.

The day, observed to mourn Imam Hussein Ibn Ali, the second grandson of Prophet Muhammad who was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD, will be a public holiday.

The Islamic Foundation in a media statement on Sunday said the National Moon-Sighting Committee announced the date for Ashura after a meeting.

It is mostly Shia Muslims who observe the day in Dhaka and across Bangladesh by taking out Taazia processions and engaging in self-flagellation.

In the traditional processions, devotees lacerate themselves with sharp weapons to demonstrate their grief and echo the sufferings of Imam Hussein.

Muslims in the country will observe Ashura a day after the Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu religious festival.

Source: bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2016/10/02/muslims-in-bangladesh-to-observe-ashura-on-oct-12

Africa

Vow to end Nigerian hunger overlooks role of insurgents

October 2, 2016

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s president promised Saturday to drive hunger out of Africa’s most populous nation but made no mention of a conflict-driven famine threatening to kill tens of thousands of children in northeast Nigeria.

The United Nations has warned that 75,000 children could die of starvation in a year if speedy action isn’t taken in northeast Nigeria, where underfunded aid agencies say 4.4 million people need food and 65,000 are living in famine-like conditions amid an Islamic insurgency by Boko Haram extremists.

Children with matchstick limbs and protruding ribs already are dying but a regional official for Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, Muhammad Kanar, denied Friday that the region had even one case of malnutrition. He spoke after the U.N. Children’s Fund doubled its funding appeal to $115 million, calling it one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made no reference Saturday to the food emergency in a speech marking the West African nation’s 56th anniversary of independence from British colonizers.

Instead, he painted a rosy picture of military successes against Nigeria’s homegrown extremists in the northeast, repeating that Boko Haram “was defeated” by December 2015.

“Now, residents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States … go about their daily business in relative safety,” he claimed. “Commuters can travel between cities, towns and villages without fear.”

Aid workers and residents of Borno, the worst-hit state and birthplace of Boko Haram, say they fear to venture out of Maiduguri, the biggest city in the northeast, for fear of attack. As a result, Doctors Without Borders said people in newly liberated towns are “entirely reliant on outside aid that does not reach them.”

Famine and malnutrition are among many emergencies hitting Nigeria, a nation that has fallen into recession this year and lost its position as Africa’s biggest oil producer as militant attacks in the south slashed petroleum production. Nigeria also is beset by separatists in the southeast, an ever-deadlier conflict in the Middle Belt pitting mainly Muslim nomadic herders against Christian farmers, and mounting crime including a slew of kidnappings for ransom.

The latest victim, the wife of Central Bank of Nigeria Gov. Godwin Emefiele, was rescued by security forces Friday night within 24 hours of being abducted by gunmen, the bank said Saturday. Some Nigerian families have bankrupted themselves to pay ransoms and complain that police did nothing to help.

Amnesty International this week accused Buhari’s government of trying to muzzle dissent by arresting and intimidating journalists and protesters. The London-based rights group cited examples of police violently blocking peaceful protesters, including activists demanding the government rescue more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014.

The Bring Back Our Girls Movement, marking the girls’ 900th day in captivity Friday, reminded Buhari of his words last year that “we cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage.”

The father of one of the kidnapped girls was among the civilians killed in a Boko Haram attack on a village near Chibok last week, bringing the number of parents who have died since the mass abduction to 23.

In his speech Saturday, Buhari did not even refer to the kidnapped girls.

Instead, he promised big infrastructure and agricultural projects that “will revive the economy, restore the value of the naira (currency) and drive hunger from our land.”

Source: columbian.com/news/2016/oct/02/vow-to-end-nigerian-hunger-overlooks-role-of-insurgents/

French church reopens after priest killed in attack

3 October 2016

Two months after its priest was murdered by teenage jihadists, parishioners of a Catholic church in northern France will gather today for a solemn re-opening ceremony to seek solace and solidarity.

The Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray church, a focal point of a small town of some 27,000 near the city of Rouen, will hold a special penitential mass to mark the occasion and pay tribute to Father Jacques Hamel.

The 85-year-old priest had his throat slit at the foot of the altar on July 26 in an attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. “He was a good priest. I always went to see him and he never refused to be of service,” said 81-year-old Mafalda Pace, who lives just next door to the 16th-century church.

Pace said yesterday she would be among those following the penitential rite of cleansing and subsequent mass presided over by ArchbishopW of Rouen Dominique Lwebrun.

“The rite consists of ‘cleansing’ the church through the sprinkling of holy water,” said the archbishop, who also celebrated an August 2 funeral mass for the slain priest at Rouen Cathedral which was attended by President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

In a show of inter-faith solidarity, Muslims and Jews were among the mourners on that occasion. Today’s rite is designed to wipe away the profaning of the church at the hands of jihadists Adel Kermiche, a local man, and Abdel-Malik Petitjean, both of whom were shot dead by police following a siege.

Local clergy will join the archbishop for today’s services, which will follow a mid-afternoon procession to the church with members of the local Muslim community pledging to join.

“It will be a day of brotherhood ... I hope that all local people will be there, believers or not,” Mohamed Karabila, representing the local mosque, told AFP.

Source: millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=327253

URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/new-age-islam-news-bureau/islamic-state-chief-baghdadi-ill-after-assassin--poisons--food/d/108747

New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism

Donate Now

Islamic World News ( 3 Oct 2016, NewAgeIslam.Com)

Islamic State Chief Baghdadi Ill after Assassin 'Poisons' Food

Loading..

Loading..